Favourite Fell Days : Skiddaw, Skiddaw Little Man and Lonscale Fell

views over keswick on the climb up skiddaw

Continuing the next in the set of my favourite and most memorable mountain days, Skiddaw last October sticks in my mind. It wasn't the best weather wise but it was one of those days at the end of a week of high level walking where everything comes together and you feel great. No aches and pains, no tiredness, no effort to be honest; days when you feel you could go on for miles.

crepuscular rays over clough head

The day was misty, a bit murky and blowing a gale at the top. The clouds scudded over the landscape as we climbed, giving tantalising glimpses of the views, then hiding them again. After climbing Jenkin Hill, we reached the plateau that leads to the base of Little Man where it was very quiet, the wind had dropped and the mist had settled. On Little Man’s summit however, the wind hit again with some force; strong enough not to try and get the camera out, so we carried on towards Skiddaw which was completely hidden in cloud at that point but at least you couldn’t see how much you had to climb!

little man on little man

As we approached the final pull up to the summit, the mist lifted and we had amazing views down to Keswick and Bassenthwaite basking in the sun that was eluding us. On the summit plateau (which we had to ourselves at that point), the wind was so strong you had to brace against it, but it was exhilarating. At the trig point though, it really was strong and much colder, so we hunkered down in the shelter for some refreshment and were joined by a fell runner donning more clothing before racing off back to Little Man.

sumimt of skiddaw

the cloud lifting for views of bassenthwaite

back o’skidda

As we made our way back down, the summit became much busier, the sun came out and the wind weakened. We dropped down along the path on Skiddaw's eastern flank towards Lonscale Fell which was pretty flat and straightforward, with views to Blencathra and the Back o'Skiddaw accompanying us all the way.

Lonscale Fell is a fairly easy grassy up and back and, after a bite to eat, a bit of 'off roading' saw us back on the path down to the car again which we did at a jog - it only took 20 minutes or so from there and was good fun.

The best part of the day was the Bean on the Fells van serving hot chocolate with marshmallows, lovely home made cakes. free doggy treats and chatting with others about their day in the hills; the perfect end to a perfect day.

loving it