Skiddaw and the Little Man on a perfect day

[MusicalHiker]

On Saturday, we drove down from the Orkney islands.
It was dark when we got to Keswick. In the morning, I opened the curtains in our apartment and there was Skiddaw in the sunshine, the summit capped with snow.

I grabbed my stuff and went for it - who knew when the weather would be like this again? I wasn't feeling too energetic after a solid day travelling, but I knew the route was easy and it was a good forecast.

I packed my ice spikes which I put on pretty much straight away as the paths were icy and very slippery - they were FAB and no problems until I took them off near the bottom on my return and had a spectacular near-fall on the tarmac in a car park

My boots for this walk were a pair of old crappy leather Hi-Tecs, £3 from a charity shop - I'm in the market for a new pair I think!! However they did the job.

It is a very simple route but a long uphill slog. Thankfully the views made up for any aches and I felt really exhilarated up there. The snow made it feel magical although it wasn't deep, and I was so glad I'd brought the ice spikes as it meant I was completely secure and didn't slip once!

When I got back down and back to base I had a long hot bath to get warm again.

Glad I dragged the "big" camera up there - it was spectacular!

View from Briar Rigg

Great views for a short amount of ascent

Coming out of the trees and starting to climb...

Derwent Water and Keswick

Coming to the snow......

Summit of Skiddaw Little Man, looking more like a broken old fence?!

Summit at last - looking back to Little Man. So cold I could barely breathe! The coldest summit I've ever experienced.... couldn't eat or even work the camera without gloves and it took my hands half an hour to thaw out!

Coming back down.

[davekermito]

Great photos!

looks like you had plenty of company up there - and I'm not surprised looking at those conditions!

[tdm900]

I have done a lot of walking in this area , I usually camp at Castle rig campsite , I did Skidaw during the summer a bout 15 years ago , just followed the crowd , it was like 5 buses had tipped everyone out at the same time , great pictures by the way

[MusicalHiker]

Yep - loads of people, and I do prefer it quieter but the weather was superb.
Even worse was Scafell Pike 3 years ago on Easter weekend - must have been a thousand inappropriately dressed people up there, with bored kids and sandals.....

[johnkaysleftleg]

I was in the Central fells on the same day and it was a cracker. Some lovely pics, Skiddaw has some great views. As for the crowds I last climbed Skiddaw from the back in September setting off at about 8 in the morning and only crossed paths with about 6 people. It is possible to find solitude in the Lakes.

[trailmasher]

I was there the day before and the clouds were hanging very low so not much to see Glad that you had a cracking day on Skiddaw with a grand walk and some great photos to look back at on a bad weather day

[Alteknacker]

What fabulous weather - it doesn't get much better than that!

I couldn't suppress a wry smile at your description of the cold - almost a year ago to the day I was up there on a similarly cold day, with similar results .

Don't be too hard on your Hi-Tecs - I find mine perfect for weather like that. They're comfortable, and take crampons if necessary, no problem. I only use "real" boots when it's heavy ice.