For the first time in over a decade of visits, we finally managed to get 3 full days of near perfect weather in the English Lake District. The Lakes are beautiful and green for a reason, they get rain. So on days when the clouds move and the mountains are revealed, it becomes a truly special place to be. Long have I wished for the perfect day when visiting here, but rarely can I say that it has been delivered. There are a number of reasons for this, and not least of which is the limited times and days we get when we can actually drive there. Add to this the scarcity of camping sites availability at short notice and the whole thing becomes a lottery when you have to book well in advance. Don’t get me wrong, I have still enjoyed my time up here even when the weather wasn’t optimal, but I can’t say the same for Debs. In fact this would never be her first choice for a day in the hills, preferring far more a trip to the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland or even the coast.
So in advance of this long awaited trip, I was on weather watch for the best part of 2-weeks. As the departure date drew near, my hopes of good high mountain weather were sinking. Even on the day of arrival, our planned hike up the 4th highest mountain range in England wasn’t looking great, with a low cloud base forecast resulting in us hiking through the clag once again. Nonetheless we were here and up we would travel regardless.
On the day of our ascent, the outlook was slowing changing and there was half a chance that we might just be able to get a view from the top of Skiddaw. Carrying a heavy rucksack, strapped to the dog and my trusty Nikon in hand we set off. Very soon it became evident that the morning clag was slowly rising and our destination was taking shape. Skiddaw is a handsome looking mountain and at 3,054ft, is the 4th highest peak in the Lakes, but first we needed to tackle Latrigg. Know as the local’s favourite mountain and with a peak of 1,207ft, Latrigg offers some amazing views of Derwent water, Keswick and the mountains behind.
As we left Latrigg and Skiddaw came into full view my mind was finally beginning to slow down. A mixture of the 1,200ft climb, developing blisters from rubbing boots (later these were discarded as the leather was old and brittle and causing no end of problems when climbing mountains) and the promise of a cloud-free summit, is what facilitated this, but I was under no illusion that this would stay like this.
When a mind is as active as mine is you come to realise, over time, that it rarely becomes fully silent but it does quieten down and the joy of this stillness is one of many reasons why I embark upon such journeys. The ascent of Skiddaw from Latrigg is quite an easy one under foot, with no scrambling or tricky mountain paths to negotiate. It is, however, a long and fairly steep climb which produces a number of false summits along the way. Never have the words, “are we there yet?” been more appropriate and having summited Skiddaw Lesser Man, the opening up of the next few summits became evident.
It was shortly after 1pm by the time we reached the trigpoint of Skiddaw and we settled down for some lunch on Skiddaw Middle Top. The trusty MSR pocket rocket came in handy, as did our puffer jackets, as the light wind dragged the feel like temperature down to 3 or 4 deg C. It’s incredible how many people we saw still wearing shorts and a vest up there, all of whom had to make a swift departure and didn’t have time to enjoy the views. Such a shame having done the work to get there, but it was a lesson learned I guess.
When we made our descent from the Skiddaw it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Sadly I’d chosen (not deliberately I might add) a very steep shale covered zigzag track which resulted in Debs having to hold herself upright using my backpack whilst I had the dog pulling me down and two Leki poles holding us all upright. It did seem to go on for quite some time and yes, my mind was absolutely racing by the time we’d made it to the bottom of that stretch of our return. Whilst these types of descent can carry with them some jeopardy, they are generally speaking not quite as bad as you may think. The key is to allow the shale to move underfoot and escort you downward like a travelator. Provided there are no steep drops or sharp jagged rocks it’s a little like skiing in hiking boots and actually quite fun. Just not when you have a petrified wife and crazy Spaniel also adding to the gravitational pull. We made it though and all was good in the end, just not something we’ll be repeating any time soon.
The rest of the return was pretty uneventful but the views were outstanding and it was the mountains through the trees (see the image at the top of the post) that gave me the most amount of stillness. Maybe the heartrate-raising descent from Skiddaw, or maybe the pain of the blisters in my boots who knows but this view brought a level of tranquillity that only the mountains or the sea can ever give me. I was so grateful for this day and will carry its memory with me for a long number of years yet.
