Keswick to Caldbeck and 2157' up

What a glorious morning it was to wake up to.  The sun was shining,  the water was still and only a scattering of clouds in the sky, it really was a picture perfect scene.  We set off just after 9am and headed towards the base of Skiddaw which was really flexing it's muscles as the sun glistened off it giving it a wonderful array of colours at the peak.

The first part of the walk took us out the other side of Keswick and we were immediately into a climb that took us up to the path for Skiddaw. Yet again we were fortunate enough to be blessed with forever changing scenery and a quite stunning view of Derwent water when we reached about 350 metres (ish) I can't remember the exact height but I do know it was scarily high as the uneven path had an immediate drop down to the river with no fence.....You can imagine or reaction when we saw it :-)

The walk continued along the river and through the winding valley until we reached a youth hostel called Skiddaw House.  We then took the official eastern route to the highest climb all week called High Pike (2157') which descended slightly until we reached a super little spot by a bridge with the river cascading down the hill where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we carried on up the crag which was quite tough on the feet as it was fairly uneven with quite severe cambers.   This took us to the base of high Pike and wow it was steep, but the views when you got to the top were remarkable.  Along the way we bumped into a gentlemen from San Diego who happened to stumble across the Cumbria way in error,  but found it so good that he wanted more of it.

The final bit of the walk was a steady decent back down towards Caldbeck and what a lovely village it is. Once again enjoy the photos and keep posted for tomorrows final blog for this year :-(