Ullock Pike, Long Side, Carl Side, Skiddaw, Little Man and Lonscale Fell

Lil and I were staying at the Skiddaw Hotel in Keswick on their Daffodil Break deal, making an expedition onto Skiddaw entirely appropriate. Skiddaw is formed from a particular type of slate appropriately called Skiddaw Slate. There was no way I was going to do the popular route designed by early Victorian pioneers—the wide, well-made path all the way up from Latrigg via Jenkin Hill. Much too boring and much too busy for me! I wanted something more dramatic and a quieter approach.

Fortunately, with Lil as my taxi driver, I chose to be dropped off at the Ravenstone Hotel on the A591 between Keswick and Bothel.

Once dropped off, I followed a track through a gate adjacent to the hotel driveway and immediately confronted a steep start skirting the east of Dyke Nook plantation. It woke me up instantly! Pushing up the incline, I reached a gate opening onto the open fell after gaining 80 metres. Pausing to catch my breath, I watched the clouds rising, promising a great day ahead.

Following the Allerdale Ramble route toward Ling How, I climbed another 150 metres over 500 metres of distance. Exhausted but driven on by the rewards, I caught my first magnificent sight of Ullock Pike.

Ullock Pike appeared as a majestic rounded dome along my ridge approach as swirling cloud lifted rapidly. Climbing another 300 metres over the next kilometre, I reached Ullock Pike and took a well-earned rest. I had bagged my first Wainwright fell of six, covering a quarter of the distance while completing more than half the total ascent.

The next mile along the ridge over Long Side and Carl Side was much easier, gaining only 60 metres. I bounded along in high spirits before preparing for the final haul up Skiddaw.

From Carl Side, the final ascent of Skiddaw is devoid of grass—a grey-black mound of weak slate that crumbles and slides underfoot. Struggling upward alongside other hikers, the cartoon-character efforts to retain balance provided comic relief and lightened the pain of the climb. Passing families and grumbling teenagers, we pushed through patches of lingering winter snow until the summit plateau came into view.

Though warm on the lower ridge, Skiddaw's summit plateau was cold and breezy, with snow patches still clinging to the rocks. I found sheltered refuge in the cairn circle to eat a sandwich and chat with a couple from Eastbourne before heading off toward Little Man.

Walking off Skiddaw, I noticed a steady stream of people ascending from the south—reinforcing my conviction that approaching via the northern ridges was vastly superior to the busy tourist highway.

After a roller-coaster dip and rise over Little Man, I crossed Jenkin Hill toward Lonscale Fell, my sixth and final Wainwright of the day. As I reached the small summit cairn, I spotted two familiar figures approaching: "I bet you think we're stalking you!" laughed the couple from Eastbourne when they reached me.

Leaving Lonscale Fell, I descended toward Latrigg with lovely views of Keswick and Derwent Water. Arriving at the car park, Lil was waiting in the car just as a military aircraft flew past on a low-level crossing of Skiddaw—a fitting, celebratory flypast to conclude a wonderful linear mountain journey.