An early start for this tough walk as parking at our intended spot is difficult. I was driving, and picked Susan up and then Paul. Then it was on to meet two more cars at M65 J3. We were on the Motorway by 7.25. Before 9am we had parked on the Bell Close car park in Keswick for a break and had some toasties from the extortionately priced cafe before heading off to the lay-by on the Orthwaite road. After manoeuvring around a silly old woman in a 4x4 who would not reverse 20 ft., we finally parked up and started the walk at 9.40

It was reasonably fine with some sunny spells as we we reached Watches, a natural rock deposit. at the foot of the ridge to Ullock Pike. Mist was hovering above Skiddaw. The weather was changing all the time and a 5 minute shower on the upper slopes of Ullock Pike forced us to get the waterproof's out. By the time we had reached the top it had stopped. Some of the party had never attempted a walk of this magnitude and had done superbly so far. After Ullock Pike, Long Side and Carl Side were easy to scale, though Carol did wonder why we did Carl Side when there was a short cut to Skiddaw which omitted the short climb to Carl Side. We had lunch on Carl Side with the vista of Keswick and the NW fells below us. Then it was time for the final 780 foot climb to the south top of Skiddaw. Not difficult, but a steep ascent, though one or two of the party were unimpressed by it. After taking our time, and some off us having to wait for Susan to apply blister patches to her feet, we finally met up with everyone in a shelter on the south top. The wind was very strong and loud - making it almost impossible to hear anyone. Paul and I took compass bearings as the mist had cut out all views and Skiddaw is difficult to navigate off in thick mist as paths cannot be seen on the slate surface of this massive mountain. And then we set off for the summit. We didn't linger as there was no view and a strong biting wind did not make it an hospitable place. Very soon we were off the summit, and suddenly the wind ceased, there was silence. At the same time the mist simply evaporated and we had views to Skiddaw House to the east and the coast to the west. Arriving at the 831m point we took a bearing to lead us in the direction of Cockup, then making a sharp turn to descend the steep slopes of White Horse. After the log steep descent we took a breather at Barkbeth Gill, filling bottles with the crystal clear mountain water. From there it was a small climb over sodden ground to Little Knott then a gradual descent all the way to the cars A tough 6 mile walk with 4 summits all (above the 2000ft) that we all accomplished with ease, with sore feet or aching legs being the only problems. I enjoyed it and I hope everyone else did. Anyone who climbed this today can climb any summit in the Lakes.

Links to previous walks and to be able to see different weather conditions are here

Photo's by J. McCormick unless otherwise stated