Skiddaw and its House - Photo Gallery
After two big weekends I'm going to do a shorter walk today to try and give my knees a bit of a rest. I have climbed Skiddaw several times but have no photos of it because the weather has always been bad, but that is not surprising because I usually treat it as a safe winter walk.
At the roundabout at the junction of the A66 and A591 roads take the A591 signposted to Carlisle and after about 4 miles on the right a small road turns off towards Orthwaite. Within half a mile is a small parking area overlooking Bassenthwaite Lake which is where I left the car, it is bright and sunny, the beginning of a beautiful day?
Shortly after setting off uphill at a farm gate on the right is a signposted footpath, follow this path and follow the blue marker arrows, turning right where you have the choice of two directions. As soon as I turned on to the footpath it became obvious that it might actually be a beautiful day on Skiddaw for a change.
The footpath across the fields is green but obvious enough, at a gate and stile an inviting looking path heads up the valley of Southerndale itself but I wanted to get onto the ridge. I turned right alongside a wall and at the highest point of the wall turned left and headed straight up the ridge over steep grass, as the gradient eased I rejoined the path. This leads to the curious outcrop of rocks named Watches, a natural occurrence but you get the feeling that some of the rocks have been rearranged.
For the first time on this route I can see the ridge ahead to Ullock Pike and on to Longside, Skiddaw is still as grey as ever with the clouds seeming to rush above it. There are excellent views over Bassenthwaite Lake and the hills beyond and a very green and pleasant view of Binsey surrounded by bright green fields.
The obvious path becomes steeper, on grass at first and then becoming stony, the concave slope of The Edge becomes obvious as the higher you get, the steeper and stonier the path becomes. There is an unexpected rocky scramble on the final part of the climb up to the delightful summit of Ullock Pike, no danger or exposure just the pleasure of walking up a rocky ridge.
The hard work is done for now and the walk along Longside Edge is enjoyably easy, in good weather it is exhilarating but safe with excellent views and a steep drop on either side. The walk along the edge gives an unusual end on view of Derwentwater making it look circular in shape. For the first time I could see the path that I have walked several times up the side of Skiddaw, it looks a lot more intimidating than it actually is. Don't forget the view behind, the ridge you have walked up and the beautiful greenness a long way beyond.
From the summit of Long Side you drop down to a small col, and at the lower of two fairly large cairns the main path goes off towards Carlside Tarn. To get to the summit of Carl Side you need to walk south eastwards, there is a faint path that is quite visible in the bright sunshine. When you reach the summit cairn of Carl Side, for what it's worth, you can't miss the path going across the summit. The summit might not be worth much but as with all fells it has its own views that can't be seen from anywhere else and today the bulk of Skiddaw and its Little Man are impressive for their size and greyness. Turn left for an easy walk to Carlside Tarn from where Derwentwater looks just like a tarn nestling in its corrie.
The walk up to Skiddaw is on a grey path over a grey slate fellside, but at least today I can see the steepness of the slope and realise just what a good path this is, climbing the steep slippery slope with a minimum amount of trouble and effort. As I got closer to the ridge the wind became stronger and colder, the fast moving clouds I saw before weren't telling lies, once again I was walking in shorts, jacket and gloves. As the gradient eases and it becomes obvious that the ridge is close by, a couple of unnecessary cairns lead you to a shelter which is not the summit. At the shelter turn left and follow the wide path until you each the Ordnance Survey column at the summit, for a sunny August day the wind is strong and cold.
Continue to follow the path and descend gently, there are a couple of cairns that seem to have lost their significance because the new fence cuts across the line of the original path. Follow the fence anyway and after a while the old path crosses back on to your side of the fence. Out of the wind now it soons becomes warm enough for tee shirt again. When the fence makes a more obvious turn to the right you need to continue onwards for about 150 yards or so to reach the summit of Bakestall.
By now there is no longer anything that could be called a view, Skiddaw Forest stretches far away in the distance surrounded by insignificant looking higher ground. What does catch the eye are the patterns in the heather fields on the fellside at the base of Great Calva. Strange patterns reminiscent of cave drawings looking like animals and people that couldn't possibly be naturally formed. On closer inspection these shapes are caused by patches of heather that have died off and grass has grown instead, a natural phenomenon?
From Bakestall you descend the steep grass of Birkett Edge which is fairly easy in today's dry conditions until you reach the Skiddaw House road. Looking back up Birkett Edge it looks as though two different fellsides have been joined together at the fence, and they just don't match. Turn right and go through a gate and there is a lengthy walk through the forest with no trees and no animals and not much of anything really. After a couple of miles pleasant walking on a good footpath you arrive at Skiddaw House, recently used as a Youth Hostel but now closed.
There are also a large number of ruined buildings near the house, this must have been a substantial sheep farm at one time but now everything is closed and there is not a sheep in sight.
From the house carry on walking along the good path and it leads to the valley of Glenderaterra Beck, the path traverses the steep side of Lonscale Fell high above the beck. The view of the back side of Blencathra belies the rugged nature of the front and as you walk further south an unexpectedly extensive view comes into sight. At first High Rigg in the foreground and the Helvellyn range behind but as you traverse the southern side of Lonscale Fell almost every significant fell in the Lake District becomes visible. I haven't visited Glenderaterra Beck before but I am very impressed, a good path through excellent scenery and one of the best views I have seen.
Eventually after crossing the beautiful Whit Beck, this secluded path meets the Skiddaw tourist route just before reaching the car park at the end of Gale Road. The walk back down to Keswick is pleasant and almost park like in the afternoon sun.
Andy Wallace 2nd August 2003