Bassenthwaite to Keswick – 25 June 2022
It’s a long way up, and where might a long way up be in the Lake District where lots of things are a long way up? On this occasion it’s Skiddaw that’s a long way up and two of the routes are going to climb it provided the weather is okay on the day. It is quite some time since we did some high climbs, we have to go back to April 2019 when we walked from Bassenthwaite to Caldbeck and in July 2019 when we walked from Rosthwaite to Keswick.
It’s our second trip to the Lake District this year, our first being on the 28th May when we finished in Pooley Bridge. To make it easier to get to the start for all three routes we will cross over into Carlisle and then come down the A595 road before turning off at Bothal on the A591 road which will take us down to the northern edge of Bassenthwaite Lake.
There is one route that is not going to go up Skiddaw and that is the 9.5-mile route which will get off the coach first at the Castle Inn Hotel. After doing a short walk down the B5291 road the route turns onto the Allerdale Ramble and follows this all the way down the eastern side of Bassenthwaite Lake. The High Stock Bridge crosses the River Derwent at the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake and the 9.5-mile route continues along the Allerdale Ramble into Portinscale where it then picks up the Cumbrian Way into Keswick.
The two routes going up Skiddaw are almost doing the same route with some slight differences at the start. The 9.5-mile route gets off the coach on the A591 road at a junction with a minor road which it walks along for a short distance before turning east and then south to start the climb at Ling How. Then it’s all the way up past Ullock Pike and Longside Edge before turning at Carl Side to reach the top at 931 meters or 3054 feet in imperial measurements. The route down is the standard one past Little Man to the car park at the back of Latrigg and then following the Cumbrian Way into Keswick.
The 8.5-mile route gets off the coach on the A591 road close to the Ravenstone Hotel and ascends to Ling How through the wood at the back of the hotel. From here the route is the same as the 9.5-mile route. In the event of bad weather, there are a few alternatives for both these routes. There is the possibility of climbing to Carl Side and then coming down via Dodd and into Keswick or even staying lower and coming along one of the paths through Thornthwaite Forest.
So if you fancy taking a walk alongside Bassenthwaite Lake or even a climb up and down Skiddaw you can get in touch with us using the Contact Page of our website and you can also download the walk descriptions below and the GPX routes here.
The image for this post was taken after climbing Sharp Edge on Blencathra in April 2005. Blencathra is 868 meters high and is the next mountain along these Northern Hills so we will be able to look down on it from 63 meters higher up.
