Cumbrian Way: Start from Keswick YHA to Latrigg, skirted Lonscale Fell through the Lonscale Crages on the Cumbrian Way to Skiddaw House, Sale How, Little Man, and return to Keswick via Cumbrian Way.
Total Time: 6 hours 10 Minutes; Total Distance: 20.31km; Total Ascent: 1,439m; Avg. Moving Speed: 3.89kmph
Journey Planning
Weather: Weather reports were gathered from Met Office, Special Forecasts - Mountains, from MWIS, by watching the Midweek "Fleeting View" and checking the Lake District forecast, as well as checking the 'Lake District Ground Conditions' Facebook page and Lake District Weather Line - 'Lake District National Park Fell Top Assessors' blog. The forecasts were pretty accurate. Visibility was good to 600m, then I walked into cloud cover on the way up to Sale How. Visibility was down to about 20m ascending towards Littleman. from the east. Walked back down into visibility again on the west side of Skiddaw at 600m. Ground conditions had reported frozen ground above 500m, but I only encountered slushy snow at aroun700m on the east side of Littleman. The Cumbrian Way path was mud, with snow along the sides of the path. High winds averaging around 30mph were continuous throughout the day, with continued periodic light rain.
Route Planning: The route for this journey was planned from the OS Explorer OL4 map, which I carried and used on the trail. I ran a simulation on the OS Maps App on my computer before hand. I have been up Skiddaw from the west several times in the past, but had missed out Latrigg, and for this journey I also wanted to get to the east side to check out Skiddaw House. The OS map shows a 'track' running west from Skiddaw House, over Sale How, and joining the Cumbrian Way near the base of Littleman. There was a trail that was obvious from Skiddaw House to Sale How summit, which became an intermittent, barely visible trail after Sale How, but no track. Also, because the visibility was so low between Sale How and Littleman I was paying close attention to the contours on the map compared to contours on the ground. There is a gully at Stile Gill southwest of Sale How. I followed a baring that took me slightly south of the non existent 'track' to meet up with the Cumbrian Way. The contours showed I should have been walking uphill, but I was instead walking along a steep slope. The difference was so pronounced I stopped several times to pull out my GPS just to confirm my exact location and direction of travel. I have not encountered such an anomaly between the ground and map before. I had to turn steeply back up hill to where the 'track' was supposed to be, which, according to the map, I should have been walking along a contour, not straight up. Strange, but verified by close observation.
Safety: Walking in the Borrowdale area a while ago I experienced having no reception on my mobile, not only on the Fells, but including in the valley at the YHA I was staying at, which meant that in an emergency situation I would not have communications capability. To alleviate that short fall I now carry a Garmin InReach Mini, with a 'Professional' level subscription. I have now tested the text capability to communicate with home base, and it works well, with Bluetooth to my mobile. Though not cheap, it provides significantly improved safety on the Fells. I also carry a 4-6 person emergency shelter and Blizzard Bag blanket, and as always, my First Aid Kit. I also left a copy of the route plan at home.
Area :
Northern Fells
The Northern Fells occupy a circular area about 10 miles in diameter. The centre is slightly lower, an area of upland grazing and marshland known as Skiddaw Forest. This name may be misleading since the only trees form the windbreak of Skiddaw House. This isolated building, was once a shepherd's bothy. It currently serves as a youth hostel. Skiddaw Forest stands at the head of the three major rivers of the Northern Fells. The Caldew, Dash Beck and the Glenderaterra. These streams divide the circular area into three distinct sections.
