The rather grey and dreary start we’ve had to summer this year means that we’ve not really been over to the Lakes for any Wainwright bagging day trips. In fact, we’ve not hopped over just for the day since we bagged Selside Pike and Branstree back in November – but what’s the point in a 90 minute drive to be faced with an uphill slog through a cloud, with no views?
Happily the lovely weather last week hung on to the weekend, and on the Saturday we drove over to the Lakes so that Sam could reccy part of the route for the Grand Tour of Skiddaw. He’s run a fair bit of the route before so he just wanted to recce a short stretch between Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite, so I looked for a walking route starting from the same place Sam would start running from (and which would enable me to bag a few new Wainwrights). Ultimately I chose this 5 mile circular route from the OS maps app, bagging Skiddaw Little Man and Lonscale Fell.
We’d tried to do this walk a few years ago, but a slow puncture when we arrived meant we abandoned the plan after getting it repaired: the chances of getting parked up in the Latrigg car park after 9am are slim to none! Instead we had a good walk at Whinlatter, but it did mean that Skiddaw Little Man and Lonscale Fell have remained as stragglers on our to-do list as we rattle through the Northern Fells.
Given that it’s August and the forecast was good, we set off from home at 5.30am and got to the car park at 7.15am – it was just over half full, so I was extremely glad the early alarm had paid off and we weren’t left tired and grouchy with nowhere to park! The route picks up a good track from the end of the car park and sets out towards Skiddaw Little Man – it starts off fairly flat, which I enjoyed while it lasted…
Very soon the path steepens and it’s hard work climbing uphill for a fair while – although there is a lovely view of Derwentwater, the Newlands Horseshoe and the Coledale Horseshoe to sustain you as you go, and it’s not quite as ankle shreddingly steep as the ascent of Skiddaw via Carl Side. There’s a brief reprieve as the path flattens about two thirds of the way up, before the route steepens again for the final slog to the summit. True to character of the Skiddaw range, the cloud descended and we got absolutely no views from our 117th Wainwright – but it was still good to get another fairly big one in the bag.
Here we parted ways, with Sam and Merry continuing on to Bassenthwaite via Skiddaw, while Coal and I retraced our steps back down to the junction where we’d started the final climb up to Skiddaw Little Man. I use the term ‘junction’ rather loosely here, as the main path just carries on up Skiddaw Little Man. This time though, we picked up a grassy track running alongside a fence to begin our walk across to Lonscale Fell. I’m always happy to have a walk along a fence as it massively reduces the chance of going wrong!
The walk across was easy going, mostly gently downhill, and happily (unlike many grassy trails) it wasn’t really boggy at all either. The route follows the fence all the way to a corner where it crosses another fence at a right angle: here you must cross the fence in an out-and-back detour to the summit of Lonscale Fell. This crossing is not great for dog owners, with no stile or handy gaps to squeeze dogs through. I really didn’t fancy lifting a 30kg labrador over a chest high fence, so I walked along it for a bit until it turned to drystone wall with wire across the top – eventually I found a place where Coal could just about squeak through.
After the ascent to get up Skiddaw Little Man, the incline to get to Lonscale Fell was a breeze. The summit is marked by a small cairn, and while the views are modest by Wainwright standards, at least I could see them! Close to the top I’d noticed a gate in the fence on my left, and remembering a gate a short while before I’d crossed the fence at the bottom, I took a chance and switched to the opposite side of the fence line in the hopes I could avoid the dodgy fence/dog issue again. I’m happy to report it worked – so if you do this route, around 50 metres before the fence crossing you’ll pass a gate on the left: cross here instead of going over the fence, then begin the ascent keeping the fence on your right, until you reach a gate to cross to the summit of Lonscale Fell.
The descent starts by picking up a grassy trail near the gate – I think this could be missed easily, especially in inclement weather, so keep your eyes peeled so as not to miss it. The trail runs gradually downhill on a narrow trail, and soon the lovely view of Derwentwater from the start reappears. Eventually it joins the main track you started on and you descend down the way you came up – steeply! I definitely had very shaky legs coming down.
Walking back down the path was much busier than it had been when we set off, with a near constant stream of people passing in the opposite direction. I couldn’t believe how many there were given the size of the car park – which, I realised when I got back down, was because the car park was full, but people had just parked nose to tail down the side of the road and in all of the passing places for half a mile down the road. All I can say is I hope they didn’t meet many cars coming the other way when they left at the end of the day! Please do park sensibly if you choose to do this (or any) walk, and don’t use passing places as a parking space – have a back up plan (or two) for somewhere else to go if the car park is full.
Dog friendly rating – 3/5. There are sheep throughout this walk, so you’ll need to keep your dog on a lead, and there’s not that much in the way of water either. The dodgy fence crossing can be avoided by using gates, and other than this there are no stiles to worry about. Get there early if your dog prefers quiet walks (although I suspect that Lonscale Fell is always much quieter than Skiddaw Little Man, not being on the direct route to Skiddaw).
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