Walk : Skiddaw Little Man (2,837ft), Skiddaw
(3,053 ft) and Bakestall (2,189 ft) from
Date : 29th April
2021
Weather : High winds, freezing cold, driving snow 1
°C
Distance : 8
miles round trip
Time Taken : 1 hour 50 mins to first summit (Skiddaw
Little man)
Which
part of Lakeland is this walk situated
Terrain Overview
Overview
A week on from
our last walk in the Far Eastern region where we actually got sunburn, this
walk in the Northern region could not have been more
opposite on what was supposed to be the best
weather day of the week. Spring like conditions at the start of the walk at the
Latrigg to horizontally driving snow and
freezing cold wind at Skiddaw summit. For myself it was a chance to bag Bakestall and for Sue & Ste to also
collect Skiddaw Little
Man to their Wainwright tallies. Good paths throughout so therefore safe in
mist driving snow or anything else
The
From the car
park turn right through the gate and keep to the line of the fence
Looking back to
the Helvellyn range from the fence
The path turns
left and reveals the Engineered path that initially
leads up to Jenkin Hill
We pass the Halwell monument erected in memory of two Skiddaw shepherds
At this point in
time the weather is beautiful and giving very rewarding views – here looking
back to the North Western fells above Keswick
Just at the
start of the climb. The stone track meanders up towards Jenkin
Hill, the grass path cuts out a number of twists and turns but is steep
Looking back
towards Derwent Water from the path
And then … the
weather turned
After tussling
against gravity and driving sleet we eventually reach the fence at Jenkin Hill. If you are going directly to Skiddaw keep straight on
through the gate. We make a left turn to climb
initially Skiddaw Lesser Man en route to Skiddaw Little Man
The first belt
of weather eventually passes over us ….
Leaving clear
conditions but freezing cold wind as wwe climb up to Lesser Man first
From Skiddaw Lesser Man there is a clear path up to Skiddaw Little Man
As another belt
of weather comes in as we continue on to Skiddaw`s
South Top
Clear view to Derwent Water for the moment
The next belt of
weather arrives as we continue on to Middle Top from South Top
Bassenthwaite from Middle Top
You ok there Spud ??
Skiddaw
Main Top (High Man) – Sue Ste and Spud at the summit cairn
Click here for a
360 degree view from the summit of Skiddaw … https://youtu.be/4WrVHYtSj0g
The weather
comes in again
We continue
along to North Top to pick up the fence line that leads unerringly towards Bakestall. There is about thousand feet drop
Looking back to
North Top as we descend towards Bakestall
The
path down to the fence line. At the corner take a right turn to drop steeply down to Bakestall. The path leading to its summit can be seen in
the
middle of the shot
Another belt of
snow on Bakestall summit
Click here for a
360 degree view from the summit of Bakestall (NOT !!!) … https://youtu.be/QOxtCbYsnR0
From Bakestall we return steeply to Skiddaw
North Top to pick up the path back to Jenkin Hill
In between
weather belts and a welcome break from the diving snow
So clear that
Coming
down off South top.
The path to the left avoids having to climb Little Man again and leads directly
to Jenkin Hill
Looking towards Blencathra from near to Jenkin
Hill
Looking north across
to the Uldale Fells
This shot taken
from the path down to
Team selfie on the way back down
Nearly back down
… where has all the snow gone … did we imagine it ??? The 4 seasons in 1 day micro climate of
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