Glastonbury, injury and exams saw a reduced trio of Pete, Lewis and Tav head back to Michelle’s place in Braithwaite for a weekend of Lake peak bagging.
Arriving on a glorious Thursday afternoon we immediately set out for a warm up, with a stroll up Barrow where we were rewarded with stunning views before returning to the village for a couple of Jennings.
Day 1: Skiddaw Despite our many visits to the Lakes and Michelle’s we’d never attempted the mountain that dominates the view from her house; Skiddaw. Its reputation is poor compared to most of it’s Lake District siblings, but with glorious weather and the thought of bagging our final English 3000 FT mountain we set out from Millbeck.
The early part of the walk, cutting across country and up Howgill Tongue is suitably sporty, with an every steepening and narrow path traversing alongside How Gill before eventually turning and shouldering across the lower shoulder of Little Man and picking up the main tourist route. This section did prove to be a bit of a motorway, but with stunning views all around no-one was complaining. The top is easily reached from here, even with a little detour over Little Man on the way up. And the rewards on a clear day are spectacular.
To the north the shores and hills of South West Scotland, to the north west the hills of the Isle of Man can be seen while to the west and south west the remainder of the Lake District peaks provide a wonderful background. The path off of the top and down to Carl Side provided the next challenge, along and down a very steep scree path. Slow and steady going was the order of the day, along with being suitably grateful that we were going down it rather than up. Lunch alongside Carlside Tarn provided a great place to watch ant like walkers navigate the slippery path we’d just descended. The day still being young we strolled along Longside Edge to Ullock Pike before returning to Carlside and the steep descent back to Millbeck.
Day 2: The Coledale horseshoe (reprise) Saturday saw a reprise of one of our favourite walks, the Coledale horseshoe, this time in reverse order, which meant a very steep and slow slog up Grisedale Pike to start. After the exertions of the previous day this was a tough start, but eventually we topped out at the summit to more wonderful views. The walk stays high after Grisedale as you wander across to Hopegill Head and Sand Hill before dropping to Coledale Hause and lunch.
Post lunch we followed the stream up the cross road of paths and deciding to forego Grasmore on this occasion we then climbed up to Crag Hill. The walk then becomes a wonderful ridge of mountains, strolling along The Scar to Sail, then onwards above Scar Crags to Causey Pike, with lovely views down the valley and across to Grisedale Pike. Causey Pike was a stunning mountain (and the only one we hadn’t done before) with a rocky top and views across Derwent Water. A steep descent followed before a wander through lanes back to Braithwaite.
