Skiddaw summit - Lake District National Park

Skiddaw - Lake District National Park

The climb up Skiddaw (931 m.) from Latrigg Saddle (290 m.) is known for its unremitting slog, including a set of zig-zags that can be seen from the A66 below. It’s a straightforward walk-up, nothing technical about the climb except the slog: there’s no babbling beck alongside and you’re above the tree line on one of the bleakest fells in the Lake District. The satisfaction is the climb, keeping going as the view back to Derwent Water and the Lakeland Peaks grows as you gain height. It’s good fitness training, would-be Mt. Everest mountaineers have used it as a training session: the view is better than three hours on a machine in a gym, but it’s a bit of a wonder why the stomp up Skiddaw is so popular with a more general public.

Skiddaw is immense, there are two main peaks (Old Man Skiddaw, 931 m., and Little Man Skiddaw, 865 m.) but the massif spreads for miles and the profile can be seen from far away. Other popular names are The Lion of Keswick (Skiddaw) and the Lioness of Keswick (Latrigg).
Likewise, you can see for many miles in any direction from the summits, even in the mist like today. You can also look down over Keswick and trace the paths and roads as if they are toys laid out on a tablecloth.
It’s always been chilly up there whenever I’ve made the hike, today there was a wind actually from the Arctic, so I put on the warm stuff immediately after posing for the trig point photo.

Skiddaw - Lake District National Park

Skiddaw - Lake District National Park
Keswick, Derwent Water and Cumbrian Mountains

Skiddaw - Lake District National Park

Skiddaw - Lake District National Park
Little Man Skiddaw (865 m.)

Skiddaw - Lake District National Park

Skiddaw summit - Lake District National Park

Skiddaw summit - Lake District National Park
Bassenthwaite Lake and the West Cumbria coast

Skiddaw summit - Lake District National Park

Galloway Hills and the trig point (931 m.)

Skiddaw summit - Lake District National Park

Skiddaw summit - Lake District National Park
Derwent Water and Keswick