I’m heading ‘home’ to the lakes this week and as with most trips back I like to do some exploring of areas I wish I’d explored more as a kid.

I’m thinking of doing a loop around Blencathra, from Threlkeld – skiddaw house – mosedale – thelkeld.

I can take either a hardtail or the croix-de-fer on 40mm nanos.
Ive never been up there before, and no idea what the going will be like after the recent weather, so any advice is welcome.

If you fancy breaking the trip up I can thoroughly recommend staying at Skiddaw House 🙂

There was a thread from someone riding out of Threlkeld this weekend which will give you an idea of conditions.

Skiddaw House..Which isn’t open at the moment!
We did a ride there on Saturday ..not quite the way you have described but I have dropped down to Mosedale before and turned left to go up to Calebreck..over the old mining tracks to Fellside..bit of a road ride to Green Head and then taking the track to Longlands..more road to just after Peter House Farm and turn left on the track to climb up to Whitewater Dash waterfall ..then back to Skiddaw House ..retrace your outward leg or go back by Lonscale Fell if you still have the legs for it !
At this time of year though depending on the conditions I would look to do a shorter version ..
Ride report from Saturday ..

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/threlkeld-saturday-9th-december

I used to be a massive bog trot from Skiddaw house behind Blencathra…not ridden it for about 15 years though!

I used to be a massive bog trot from Skiddaw house behind Blencathra…not ridden it for about 15 years though!

Which makes this week the optimum time to ride it :-). TBH wasn’t that bad last time I rode it.

Thanks for the input folks, and the excellent write up hodgynd.

From the comments, I’m tempted to skip the ride down towards Mosedale, and keep to the same as you guys did on Saturday.

Wise choice methinks ..if there is even the slightest covering of snow / ice please don’t be tempted to try riding the really rocky section on the side of Lonscale Fell ( you will know when you get there ) .
Hope you have as good a day as we did ..

Yes, careful on Lonscale Fell, my buddy John fell off the rocky section and killed himself to death.

https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2013/09/11/widow-pays-tribute-to-mountain-biker-john-graham-who-died-on-skiddaw

I didn’t know the man ..or his name but had heard that there had been a fatality on that section and he is therefore in my thoughts everytime I pass by ..sorry you lost a good friend .

Youll be fine on either,done this route many times on all sorts of bikes so have fun.

sorry to hear about your mate globalti.

I bailed out on Blencathra, and stuck to the trail up to Black Sail Hut from Ennerdale… lovely to get out, and kinda glad the most technical section there was the ford up near the hut

Thanks for all the input, I will do Blencathra loop when I come back another time.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/22vbGc9]Black Sail Hut[/url] by Mikey, on Flickr

At least you managed a ride ..thats the main thing .
Glad you had a good time ..