Captain's Log

Inspiration

I sometimes get inspiration for particular walks by watching an item on YouTube. Today’s walk was inspired by Andrew Foster and his dog, Billy ‘Rock Star.’ Click the link to see his excellent video of the walk.  

After a week of poor weather it was nice to see some blue skies and sun as I looked out of the window at our digs in Braithwaite. Even the top of Skiddaw was clear of clouds. That was encouraging because that was where we were heading. We set out early in order to reserve a spot at the popular free carpark at the end of the Underscar road. There wasn’t really a need, since at 07:45 we only found one car and a camper van. It was a different story when we finished the walk though, with cars packed in the terminus area and parked for quite a distance along the edge of the road. The marvellous thing about setting off from this carpark was that we'd already gained 300 metres without any effort.    

The Kapitan and Cabin Boy were with me today and we set off towards our first hill, Burnt Horse. 

Burnt Horse

Although the sun was out there was a nip in the air. We followed the Cumbria Way path that heads along the hillside contour of Lonscale Fell to Skiddaw House. It was a good path and made for easy walking. Despite the good weather conditions, there was a bit of a haze that we didn’t really lose for the rest of the day. The path took a spectacular journey along the valley formed by Lonscale Fell and Blease Fell on Blencathra. Looking up we could see the impressive Longscale Crags. In an hour or so, we would be at the top of the crags at Lonscale Pike, looking down on this path. Down at the bottom of the valley we could see the Glenderaterra Beck draining the northern fells. It was cold enough for there to be occasional ice on the path and so we had to watch our steps in a few places. There was very little undulation on the path and we made fast progress. As we went further down the valley, the crags of Burnt House came into view. They weren’t as high or quite as extensive as the Lonscale Crags, but they were still impressive, nonetheless. Just before reaching Skiddaw House we branched off the path to follow the wire fence and stone wall uphill towards the top of Burnt Horse crags. It was a surprisingly gradual and easy ascent and we soon found ourselves at the top. The ridge summit provided a great view across the northern fells and the back of Blencathra. After consultation with the Kapitan and Cabin Boy we decided to accredit Burnt Horse with Wainwright’s Missed Gem status. WGM ticked, we started following the top of the crags towards Lonscale Pike.

Lonscale

If the track up to Burnt Horse had been gradual, then the one up to the Lonscale Fell wasn’t. It was so steep it turned out to be a 15 minute ‘step’ exercise, with the steps provided by previous walkers. Lonscale Pike was clearly visible over to our left and it was  a relief to get to the top of the steep section and follow a sketchy path along the contour of the fell towards the crag. I’ve been to Lonscale Pike many times, but I can never remember being there when it wasn’t misty. I’d therefore not attached any merit to the location. What a difference a clear day makes though! There was a sheer drop at its edge to the Cumbria Way that we’d walked along earlier in the morning. There were also stunning views across to Blencathra and Great Calva. Why Wainwright nominated the unremarkable, nearby rounded summit of Lonscale Fell, rather than the superb Lonscale Pike, in his Wainwright’s list is a bit of a mystery. I convened another Wainwright’s Missed Gem committee and we decided to set the record straight, by placing Lonscale Pike in our WGM list. There was quite a flat section between Lonscale and the Skiddaw range and we set off to cross it. 

Skiddaw

There are a number of Explorer hills on the Skiddaw range, the first one being Jenkin Hill. To be honest, it is hardly a hill in the sense of a summit, but there were a few stones gathered to mark its top. It was then a steep climb up to Skiddaw Lesser Man and nearby Little Man. Both of these provided excellent views down to Keswick, Derwent Water and the northwestern fells beyond. Now that we were near to the Skiddaw tourist path there were a lot more walkers about. We dropped down from Little Man and then started the climb up to Skiddaw’s South Top. We reached the snowline on the climb up, although  it was only a light coating and it wasn’t iced over. Skiddaw has a long summit ridge and we headed north along it, ticking off the Explorer hills as we went. After Skiddaw South Top, we came to  Skiddaw Middle Top. After that we reached Skiddaw summit itself. A few people had gathered around the trig and toposcope. A CB radio enthusiast had set up base in a nearby stone shelter and was just packing his gear up when we arrived. You’d have to be an enthusiast to cart all that gear up for the purpose of talking to somebody on a freezing cold summit. We continued northwards along the ridge to Skiddaw North Top. Its stone shelter was unoccupied and so we settled down to have a lunch break. We had an incredible view across the Solway Firth to Scotland. Lunchtime views don’t come much better. 

Return

After lunch we started retracing our steps back to Skiddaw's summit, and then to its Middle Top and South Top. As we descended, the wind dropped and it started to feel a little warmer. The Skiddaw tourist path avoids Skiddaw’s Little Man and Lesser Man and so we decided to take this easier option on our return. We’d seen  a couple of paragliders flying around these summits, but we saw a great deal more once we’d gone further down the path. I’d guess there were around 20 or so and they were launching from the area just beyond How Gill. Some of them were so high or so far away that they were quite difficult to spot. They must have had a great view today, as long as you’ve got a head for heights…and a strong bladder. We watched them for a while, some swooping low with one pilot waving to us. The tourist path got steeper as we descended to the carpark. We’d met some people in short sleeved tee shirts making the ascent and some even in shorts. It was warm enough down below, but they'd be in for a shock when they neared the top.

As I approached the car, I noticed a dog had crapped directly behind my boot and near to the driver’s side passenger door. There was so much of the stuff, I wondered whether it had been a bear, rather than a dog. Despite this shitty end of the walk, it had been a cracking day in the hills. Burnt Horse provides an excellent ascent route and you can’t really go wrong with the Skiddaw ridge.