Skiddaw via Ullock Pike

Friday 28th November 2008

For my first full day of this holiday in the Lake District I did a walk that must rank as one of the best in the Lakes: climbing Skiddaw over the Ullock Pike and Long Side edge, and just to make it more interesting: over snow. I parked just off the main road and took a bridlepath through muddy fields to the fell wall where the fun really began as I climbed onto the Watches, which are a bizarre collection of rocks at the foot of the Edge. Once onto the edge I followed the path up the ridge beyond the snow line and up onto Ullock Pike. Having reached the top my climbing was briefly over and I had a blissful spell of fantastic ridge walking as I proceeded along the top towards my second Wainwright, Long Side. The snow underfoot were making things absolutely fantastic and the scenery was as good as I could have hoped for. At Carl Side, another Wainwright, I rested and surveyed the views across Derwent Water and the whole of the Lake District. There is simply nothing better with such exceptional views. Reluctantly I turned around and began to climb up Skiddaw taking the widest path that gradually climbs the interminable scree on its way up to the summit. I had been up Skiddaw only once before back in 2004 when I had descended along the Edge. On that occasion I recall coming down the scree from the south top by a faint path that zigzagged to the Carlside col. The weather on that occasion had been good, but during this walk the weather worsened as I climbed and once I reached the summit it started to snow. This still didn't detract from my enjoyment of being up there and in fact the bad weather seemed to make it even better! When I was up there four years ago it was Easter Sunday and the place was packed but now I was all on my own, which in these conditions is not surprising. After lingering at the summit for a while I continued north along the summit ridge to the north top and then down towards Bakestall.

As I dropped down I passed over a col and the flat top of Broad End. In the poor weather I needed an aid in navigation and there were a few cairns around the place that should have been a help, but the area was absolutely littered with them. One could go round in circles trying to follow these piles of stones. Littered is certainly the right word for them as they are the result of people messing up the landscape, littering the fells, and they aren’t necessary as there is a fence not far from the top that unerringly follows the route down to Bakestall. At this was a new Wainwright for me I stopped and had my lunch while gazing out on the northern fells, the views having cleared wonderfully while I'd descended to reveal awesome scenery that included the fells I’d walked the day before, and Great Calva that I’d been up last January. At this point I was on the last top of my walk so I would be back at my car not long after lunch so while eating I considered prolonging the walk by going over Great Calva but in the end I decided against that as it would spoil what had been a really good walk. The Edge had been a fantastic climb with some amazing views, while Skiddaw, although it has its detractors, is over three thousand feet high, and is a fantastic, massive mountain that totally dominates the scenery all around it. Great Calva is just a heathery bog that doesn’t deserve to be associated with Skiddaw.

After lunch I descended Birkett Edge, keeping right to the edge of the awe-inspiring Dead Crags. At the bottom I joined the Skiddaw House service road that led me away from the fells, and at the bottom I took a bridlepath through fields past Barkbeth back to my car. As I’d thought I reached the car early with a couple of hours of sunshine still left so I decided to do another walk and go up Dodd. I'd been up this fell five years ago not long after the trees were felled from the summit so I was interested to return and see if it had changed (it hadn’t as far as I can recall). I started from Dancing Gate as the main car park charges for parking, and zigzagged up the steep hillside following the maze of forest tracks and paths using Wainwright's guide to keep me in the right direction. At the summit I noticed there is a route up Dodd on the north-west ridge that Wainwright hadn’t mentioned (probably didn’t exist when he was writing his guides, when the summit was tree covered). It looked like a fun way up, so I’ll have to go that way next time I decide to do this outlying fell of Skiddaw. Leaving the summit I descended by a different route that took in the col with Carl Side and the path to Millbeck. This was a good little walk and a perfect end to a great day on the fells. I was really lucky with the weather as I was going up one of the highest hills in England, but I had clear views at just the right moments and it gave me more experience of walking in wintry conditions.