Applethwaite, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Cumbria.
[ 17.4 km with bus distance removed] Thu 26 June 2008

The weather forecast was gloomy. I arrived at the Skiddaw car park and set off just after 8 heading back down the road towards Applethwaite. The plan was to walk over Skiddaw along a one way walk over Ullock Pike. To get to the start I needed to reach Parker Gate, some miles along the busy A591. The road doesn’t have a footpath and is not safe to walk along so I decided to catch the bus. The X4 leaves Keswick at 9:14 so I needed to be at the Millbeck Road end for 9:21am. I am not very good at estimating my walking times so I set of walking quite briskly. I reached the Underscar Hotel and realised I was going to be very early. I continued along the lanes to the bus stop on the A591. It was only 8:35 when I arrived so I was far too early. I didn’t fancy hanging around for nearly an hour so decided to brave the traffic and set off along the main road until I reached a bus stop with less of a waiting time. I kept going for a bit over 2 miles until I reached Little Crosthwaite at 9:19am. There was a bus stop and the time was just right. Within a few minutes the bus arrived and I paid £1.30 to get to Parker Gate bus stop. It was only a couple more miles but I’m glad I did because of the safety aspect. I got off the bus and set off up the lane in light drizzle. Just past the small car parking area on the right is gate which leads up towards the fell.

The east side of Ullock Pike

The path is signposted up above Kennedy Plantation and on towards Ullock Pike. I hadn’t been climbing long before the wind began to pick up and as soon as I got to the wall just before the top stile I took some shelter to have a quick drink of coffee from my flask. The path continues up ‘The Edge’ towards the summit but not far up ahead was cloud. To my left I was looking down into Southerndale and across to where Skiddaw should have been if it wasn’t for the cloud. The clouds higher up were moving rather fast and I wondered how windy it would be on the summit. The summit of Ullock Pike is unremarkable and I don’t even remember seeing a cairn as I passed in the mist. Further on is Long Side and a low cairn. The wind was coming in from the west so I decided to descent to the east of the ridge a short way to get some shelter and have my lunch. I found the ideal spot which was out of the wind and gave a good view back down the side of the ridge. I set off again towards Carl Side where the path turns left and across a saddle. Keeping left a steep diagonal path climbs the west side of Skiddaw and though I could see part way up it I was soon in thick cloud again. The full force of the wind didn’t hit me till I reached the summit. It was a short way to the left before I saw the Ordnance Survey trig point and it was a bit tricky reaching it with strong side wind. At least the wind was constant.
I set off back the way I’d come along but continued south towards Little Man and the main path back to the car park. I was soon out of the worst of the wind and had a very pleasant walk down. I eventually emerged from the cloud and had some partial views of the surrounding fells. It was about 13:20 when I got back to the car.