Tuesday November 22nd

 Team Outing: Skiddaw and Outlying Fells

Paul and Michael had departed on Monday, so today's team was Julian, Andrew, Greg, Chas and David. We started out from a handy parking spot on an otherwise very narrow lane- it looked as if it had once been a small quarry. We made our way up past Little How and along The Edge with Ullock Pike as our first objective.

Ullock Pike silhouetted to the right, Skiddaw in cloud to the right
The clouds were drifting in and out but Skiddaw was consistently shrouded in a lenticular cloud.
Skiddaw with nebulous covering
On reaching the top of Ullock Pike we had a short break and took in the views.
Ullock Pike summit- Carl Side is the next top on the ridge
Carl Side was the next Wainwright and we had a brief stop there. We'd seen and heard a shepherd working his flock of Herdwick sheep and they arrived at the top shortly after we did.
A collie and his herdies
The shepherd called the sheep towards us and they didn't give a jot about five humans- it was the five collies that they were worried about!

We made our way up to the summit of Skiddaw and, although the sun broke through, we didn't stay long and made our way down towards Bakestall, stopping at an intermediate spot for lunch.
Descent from Skiddaw

Lunch below Skiddaw and possible caption competition
Shortly after lunch we were treated to Brocken spectres.
Brocken spectre with Bakestall in the background
After Bakestall we made our way down via Cockup and a short stretch of road back to the cars.
8.0 Miles, 975m ascent.

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