Skiddaw,the fourth highest peak in England & rumoured to be Lakelands oldest fell, as long as I’ve been fell walking Skiddaw or Skiddall as my mate Ste calls it (I swear to god if I hear him say that one more time I’m gonna swing for him!) I can honestly say from day one I’ve wanted to climb this fell , god knows how many times I’ve drove past & thought next one Paul “Skiddaw” & just never got round to it, not to mention the scare mongers ‘oh its a hard one, no give just climb, climb, climb so yeah, I guess maybe they might of been tiny factors as to why I left it so late, but I set a date & nothing was going to stop me this time except, mmmm.. maybe an over celebratory drink over Wigan’s last minute injury time goal against Burnley on the Saturday afternoon definitely didn’t help with the steep slopes but I have only myself to blame for that to which I’m not complaining, trust me we needed the points.

Wainwright Guidebook

Skiddaw Little Man seen from Gale Road car park, to the right the start of the steep zig zag path.

At the bottom of the path lies the Hawell Monument, it reads ‘Great Sheppard of Thy heavenly flock, These men have left our hill, their feet were living rock, Oh guide bless them still’ a memorial to the three Hawell Sheppard’s of Lonscale.

My start route, & I’m in good spirits I knew this would be steep so in my head I’m going to hit this like Usain Bolt!, that was all in my head of course! Its one of the steepest ascent routes In the Lake District, needless to say I’ve got my satsuma’s so onwards & upwards minus a stop every ten minutes.

Looking over to the North Western fells, here we have Causey Pike, Sail Barrow & Robinson just to mention a few.

And one of the many pictures I took of Keswick & Dewent Water flanked by Catbells & Maiden Moor.

I’m yet to master the angle of the camera showing the path & its steepness, but just ask my legs! This section is steep.

Views over Latrigg & beyond.

Almost at the top of the steep section when I came across these fellow Wiganer’s, the guy sat down donning a Wigan Athletic scarf … lad after my own heart me thinks !

On approach to my first summit, Skiddaw Little Man , I’ll have to admit I wasn’t too sure weather to scale Little Man on my descent but by the time I’d got to the path where it parts i’d made my mind up, Little Man it was.

I’m almost sure this was a glider of some sort because I definitely didn’t hear no engines.

Heading straight ahead over the sty would take you straight to the summit, but for me its the path on the left towards Little Man.

There is in actual fact two summit’s to Little Man & this is the smaller one, number two summit is just a few hundred yards away.

Paul .. you was definitely at the back of the queue when they were handing noses out !

The Skiddaw Ridge from Little Man.

Zooming in on Ullcock Pike.

And looking East toward Mungrisdale Common & Blencathra.

On the approach to Skiddaw’s summit & the wind is almost frightening.

Bassenthwaite Lake & Sale fell.

The summit in sight, & at this point i’d set myself just a few minutes on the summit, the wind was so fierce at one point I honestly thought its going to turn my jacket inside out! So no coffee on the summit today Paul.

Skiddaw Summit, Shelter & trig point.

I honestly felt like I was going to take off!

Skiddaw summit, & time to start heading back before I get blown off!

I guess it wasn’t just me feeling the wind today, least for a while I had the summit to myself.

Out of the wind at last & seeing as I’ve made such good time (2hrs inc Little Man) & it wasn’t even lunch yet, why not make my way over to Lonscale Fell, seen here centre of the picture .

Its just a case of following the fence for most of the way .

And a mile or so further on my Third summit of the day, Lonscale Fell.

Looking south, Tewet Tarn bottom left & a hazy view of Thirlmere centre flanked by the Dodds.

And looking North East, Skiddaw house.

In between Lonscale & Little Man I decided on lunch & coffee.

What a difference an hour makes, Skiddaw totally engulfed by cloud & by the looks of it not shifting for the rest of the day.

Zooming in on the car park, its still quite a way to go yet.

Almost back at the car & I can honestly say Skiddaw was better than I ever imagied, note to self Paul, never listen to the scare mongers.

What a fantastic day