Early Mornings on Latrigg

Despite the hustle and bustle you might see at midday on a Saturday on the market square, Keswick is for the most part a sleepy, quiet town. This is never more obvious than on an early morning, before the B&B's have started serving breakfast. Take a stroll in the town and you'll see what I mean.

This is a lovely time to grab an early fellwalk up to the summit of Latrigg. Heading out of town, past the leisure centre and over the A66 at Spooneygreen Lane, you'll probably only meet the occasional fellrunner - especially in the Winter months when these photos were taken.

Latrigg is and always will be a popular fell, but on a number of mornings recently I have more or less had the place to myself. Either following the path as it works its way round to the car park and then following the wide track to the summit, or leaving the path for a direct climb up the steep grassy slopes, it is only a short walk to the top.

Often a very windy spot, a couple of times recently I've almost struggled to take a picture from the top overlooking Keswick, but after taking in the morning air and enjoying the view, you can easily be back down in town in time for breakfast - and you still have the whole day ahead of you!

Uldale - Walking in the Northern Fells

Longlands - Longlands Fell - Brae Fell - Little Sca Fell - Great Sca Fell - Meal Fell - Trusmadoor - Great Cockup - Over Water

In various situations in life I find myself rooting for the underdogs. It's always uplifting to see someone or something come out on top despite the odds. I have a similar approach when picking a walk to do in the Lakes. Sure a walk up Blencathra, Scafell, Helm Crag or Coniston Old Man is pretty hard to beat. But the Lake District is also full of unsung heroes, fells which don't have the height, views, challenges and legends that the big guns do. Nonetheless they each have a charm of their own, and with such fells you also get a chance to escape the crowds.

This walk around the Back o' Skiddaw meant a chance of a quiet walk on a busy weekend. The Uldale Fells are a group of fells right on the northernmost edge of the National Park, with only Binsey beyond. As far as walking goes these fells are more leisurely than lively. Most of the walks are on grassy slopes, with the occasional steeper climb here and there but overall it's straightforward.

If anything, as they are all fairly similar in look and feel, you do have to keep your wits about you when navigating.

We parked at the small car park at Over Water and made the short walk along the road to Longlands, then headed out on our grassy climb. The walk up to Longlands fell was straightforward without much chance to go wrong and as we got higher the views behind back over Binsey, the Solway Firth and Scotland beyond opened up.

From Longlands Fell our next target was Brae Fell, which on paper looked like a short hop away, but the relatively deep Charleton Gill meant making a detour before the final ascent to reach the bulky cairn that adorns the summit of Brae Fell.

Here we left the views over Solway behind, heading "inland" into the heart of Uldale. It was a straightforward walk across to Little Sca Fell and Great Sca Fell just behind. By this point with the fells are quite similar-looking it can be disorientating, but you do get a wonderful feeling of solitude and serenity.

The next part of the walk saw us head in an almost straight line, coming down from Great Sca Fell, onto Meal Fell and then Great Cockup. The summit at Meal Fell was an interesting collection of lumps, cairns and a decent shelter and so it was here that we settled down for our lunch.

The most challenging part of the walk lay ahead as we had to cross the wonderfully Tolkienesque Trusmadoor to get to Great Cockup.

This ravine actually looked worse than it was, and the purple heather clad slopes made it all very picturesque. Once we had completed the steep climb up it was a simple walk over to the summit of Great Cockup and then down to Little Cockup.

The end of the walk was actually the hardest part, as there didn't seem to be a direct path back down to the road. We headed for what looked like a track towards the farm buildings of Stockdale but it was soon evident that this was private land, and a farmer's wife who saw us soon afterwards was friendly enough but it was clear that we had gone slightly wrong!

Apart from that this was a delightful excursion to the north of the national park and an area what we will be revisiting for sure.

To Skiddaw And Beyond!

It has been a couple of years now since myself and crag rat Rainer tackled Skiddaw, and on that occasion the summit was shrouded in cloud on a bright Summer's day, so I have been looking forward to enjoying the views from there for a while.

A walk up Skiddaw seemed like a great way to start the walks for 2014, so with the rains easing off, Claire and I set off from Keswick town centre - no sneaky drive to the car park at back of Latrigg for us!

I don't know if it is my imagination, but there seems to have been a fair amount of work done on the footpath up Skiddaw since my last ascent. We stopped briefly at the Hawell shepherds memorial for a glance back at the Helvellyn range with its dusting of snow, and looking ahead at the steep climb ahead of us.

The further you head upwards the views behind just get better and better so that is a good enough excuse for frequent stops. The higher up we got, the windier it also got, which was bearable for now but got pretty hairy later on.

From the main path we took the route up the short steep climb to the twin summits of Skiddaw Little Man, and its fantastic views back over Keswick to the south and Bassenthwaite Lake to the west.

From here it was a simple enough hike over to Skiddaw, but at this point the freezing wind was so strong, at times we had to simply stop still and wait for the gusts to pass. This meant the camera stayed firmly wedged in a pocket on the summit, and we so once again I missed out on the views from the top of the Northern Fells.

We carried on quickly across the high ground of the Skiddaw summit ridge, dropping sharply down to reach the top of Bakestall. It's funny how some of these fells look very insignificant when approaching from higher ground - for example Birks from St Sunday Crag, or Base Brown from Green Gable, yet when you reach the base of the fell they start to look like mighty crags, and Bakestall was no exception. Approaching from Skiddaw you ask yourself why this was included as a fell, but from the bottom the majestic rocks that build Bakestall tell a different story.

Here I was well and truly experiencing the Back o' Skidda for the very first time, on the Cumbria Way meandering alongside some of the rounded grassy fell-tops. A lovely place for a picnic stop and it was a real relief to be out of the howling winds. The walking here felt quite different to other parts of Lakeland, almost reminiscent of walking on the North York Moors - it felt tranquil and remote compared to the busy slopes of Skiddaw.

We followed the path as it swept past Skiddaw House, and through the mighty gorge between Lonscale Fell and Blencathra. I really enjoyed the views of Great Calva and Little Calva and this is a quiet part of the world I look forward to exploring.

Somehow the walk around Lonscale fell seemed really long and dusk was fast approaching, so it was time to get back to civilisation.

We had head torches with us and had we been out for another 15 minutes or so they would have been more than useful, but as it was we hit the outskirts of Keswick just as the last rays of daylight were disappearing.

Once again a highly enjoyable exploration of the Northern Fells and one of contrasts, with the crowded paths of Skiddaw giving way to the peace and tranquility of the Cumbria Way.

Taking The Wainwrights Onto The Fells

Like many other walkers, I like to head out onto the fells, moors and dales well prepared. Normally I have a clear idea of the route I want to take and I have the full range of navigational aides stuffed into rucksac and pockets - maps, GPS, compass and usually a guide book. In the case of trips in the Lake District this inevitably means having a Wainwright Pictorial Guide in the pocket of my walking trousers ready to refer to at any given time.

Having done a fair amount of Lake District walks I have now embarked on visiting fells in each of the 7 regions that Wainwright divided the fells into, and every now and again I've taken a picture of the guidebook somewhere near the summit, so here I'm pleased to share with you my gallery of Wainwrights on the Fells.

Book One: The Eastern Fells - enjoying the sunny summit of Great Dodd

Book Two: The Far Eastern Fells - lounging on the High Street

Book Three: The Central Fells - guiding us up Grange Fell

Book Four: The Southern Fells - enjoying the panorama from Wetherlam

Book Five: The Northern Fells - the sights are set on Bannerdale Crags

Book Six: The North Western Fells - a wander up Wandope

Book Seven: The Western Fells - visiting Haystacks

Latrigg: Gateway to the Northern Fells

Today's walk is about a return to Latrigg, previously visited in October 2012, Keswick's family fell and gateway to the Skiddaw family beyond. We had a special occasion recently, a welcome return to these shores for crag rat Rainer. He was on a whistle-stop tour of the UK, and of course on such a trip you have to make time for a visit to the Lake District even if only for a brief stop to say hello. With time up against us as usual, we decided on a half day in Keswick, having some breakfast in Booths, a look around the shops and a quick hike up Latrigg.

We took the "usual" Keswick route, along Spooney Green Lane and the bridge over the A66. At this point we followed the Cumbria Way as it climbs rapidly skirting Brundholme Wood.

As always, each step upwards was greatly rewarded as the views opened up over the vale of Keswick behind and the North-Western fells beyond, as well as the Skiddaw group directly ahead of you.

The walk is a short fairly steep one, with a very well made and maintained footpath, and so with a minimum of fuss we found ourselves on the summit plateau of little Latrigg. AW said of Latrigg:

"a small hill, an excellent viewpoint, a great favourite of local folk and visitors"

and that captured our requirements for today's walk perfectly - an easy walk with friends to share some of the fantastic Lake District scenery. Looking eastwards you have an excellent view of Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell on the edge of Lakeland.

It is a real pleasure to walk along the summit which has an amazing view over Keswick, Derwentwater and the huge collection of fells beyond.

We carried on along the summit, taking the route back down towards Lonscale farm. This leads down to the C2C cycle path and footpath that follows the old railway track between Penrith and Keswick.

On this sunny day the path was very busy with walkers and cyclists and it's not hard to see why this is a popular route. Soon enough we were back at the old train station and it was smiles all round after a great little walk.

Latrigg

Once again recovery from my breakage places the bigger and more challenging fells out of bounds. It also really puts into perspective just how some things that we tend to take for granted are impossible for millions of others.

Latrigg is interesting for me in this case as it is "wheelchair accessible", with a new path running from the car park at the end of Gale Road to the fell top. I would suggest that even with the new footpath, as with all fells this is no stroll in the park and of course basic precautions and safety measures need to be followed.

Latrigg nestled in front of Skiddaw in the distance

Rather than taking the same path up and down from Keswick we approached the fell from the east, having previously visited Castlerigg Stone Circle. The crossing of the A66 is made safe by an underpass and this takes you to the excellent path that follows the former rail lines from Keswick to Scales, more or less following the path of the river Greta.

After following the railpath back towards Keswick a short while, we turned up the narrow valley that separates Latrigg and Lonscale Fell from the slopes of Blencathra. This is a steep picturesque little farm road that rises above Glenderaterra Beck until it reaches Lonscale Farm.

Pretty soon we headed off the road and onto the open fell. We had big open views of the Skiddaw range right before us and looking over towards the North Western Fells which revealed themselves a little more with every step and altitude gained. Once we reached the crest the ascent, Keswick was revealed in all its glory beneath us in spectacular fashion. From there is was a simple case of finding a comfortable bit of ground to sit on and enjoy the view whilst eating our pasties. Yet another perfect picnic spot!

Pasties and drinks consumed and full of fresh air, we continued along the path that curves around the summit of Latrigg. This is indeed a well managed path that eventually takes you back to the car park. We turned off the path and onto the Cumbria Way. This took us back down the wooded lower slopes giving us very picturesque views across the Vale of Keswick through the trees.

Eventually we crossed the A66 on the bridge at the interestingly named Spoony Green Lane which brought us back into Keswick and a welcome cup of tea and piece of cake in the Lakeland Pedlar.

Souther Fell more Northern Fells fun!

Following some recent roaming around the Skiddaw range, Claire and I had a few hours on our way home from the Lakes, so we headed off the A66 for a quick stop at Mungrisdale village and a nip up the slopes of Souther Fell.

Souther Fell

Strictly speaking this is an extension of the Blencathra range and when coming eastwards on the A66 it is Souther Fell that hides the bulk of Blencathra itself. Its smooth slopes up from the pretty village of Mungrisdale mean an easy enough climb - just right for the day after a long hard slog! If you had a full day it is also a great alternative route up some of the busier neighbouring fells.

looking back towards Mungrisdale

The walk out of the village is steep but easy going up the grassy slopes. Stopping every once in a while the view behind you really stretches out, across the plains to the Pennines and over Little Mell Fell and Great Mell Fell until the Eastern and Far Eastern Fells come into sight.

looking across to the Mell Fells

Without any scrambling to do this might be considered dull by many, but for a quick walk for an hour or two this was just right. The sun was beating down but the relative ease of the fell meant it wasn't too hot. The views juest kept getting better, coming round the curve of the fell we could also see over towards Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags.

Bannerdale Crags

The summit is a long flat ridge, not at all your typical textbook fell top - but a bit of level walking is always welcome after a steady climb. Once you have reached the summit plains the "saddle" of Blencathra reveals its full glory with great views of some of its classic ridges.

Blencathra rising in the distance

Instead of retracing our steps we carried on westwards slowly coming off the fell until we reached Mousthwaite Comb. Slowly the ants we could see in the distance revealed themselves to be fellow walkers making the pilgrimage up towards Scales Tarn on the way up to Blencathra via Sharp Edge.

Sharp Edge and Foule Crag

When we met the river Glenderamackin we turned back eastwards and followed the stream back along the valley, with steep grassy on either side. The descent off the fell top seemed fairly gentle and it was a suprise to see just how far we had descended when looking back up at Souther Fell.

the return route along the bottom of the valley

The rest of the return journey along the valley was easy walking and we soon walked through the gate that brings you back into the pretty village of Mungrisdale. Did I already mention how pretty Mungrisdale is?!

the gateway to the village