Walla Crag
Date: 19-Oct-2010
Map: Landranger 90
Weather: Gentle afternoon sunshine.
From the Lakeside Theatre along the shore and up through the woods to walk up the road to Rakefoot. Then up to Walla Crag and on to Cats Gill to descend back to the lake. Return to the Theatre by the shore of Derwent Water : a gentle 5.6 miles as measured on memory map.
I had the opportunity to stay at a friends house in Stainton, so planned a couple of days to tick off a few loose ends in the Wainwright department. After driving up we dropped our baggage , had lunch and drove over to Keswick for a little walk before sunset. Walla Crag has marvellous views over the water to Catbells and beyond, and north up to Blencathra and Skiddaw. The advantage of a late start was that the cloud cover was dissipating and the afternoon light was very mellow at this time of the year. I parked up at the Lakeside Theatre in Keswick and paid my dues into the car park meter - £5 for the time we were walking, better than a £40 fine for not paying I suppose. There were plenty of people milling around the shore as we walked past the landing jettys, and boathouse. The boats are beautifully varnished, very sleek and they must glide serenely around these shores and islands. The route cut up through Cockshot Woods, crossing the Borrowdale road, before heading up through Castlehead wood a little more steeply. There was fine sunshine and big blousy clouds in the sky, giving occassional dappled light on the hillside. The weather forecast was for clearing skies and by the look of the sky further north it would be a chilly night. Out of the woods was a short walk along a well used path across the fields to a quiet suburban road that leads up to Spring Woods. Here we slowly ascended into another patch of woodland, where we could look across the fields to Walla Crag, a nice easy ascent from this approach.
Soon we were walking along the edge of
a field, passing a tall radio mast on the way to Castlerigg
- good reception for the mobile but not much of a view yet.
At the end of the wood we dropped down to a small nick in
the valley and up the other side to the road at Rakefoot.
There were some lovely mossy boulders in the wall amongst
the autumnal trees - very lush. At Rakefoot the path takes
to open land at last, and it is so well used that you can't
really miss it. A green lane up through the fields took us
ever higher and as it gave way to a stony path the views
behind us were sublime. Blencathra and Skiddaw were in a
wonderful glowing light, and to the north blue skies with
the big clouds gradually clearing away. Down in the
valley near a campsite was a huge wigwam - a bit cold for me
to camp at this time of year. As we approached the crags the
gradient eased and great views to the west emerge - the
setting sun casting long shadows in the fields, but
illuminating with a gentle soft light. The autumnal colours
in the trees gave great colour and across Derwent Water the
fells were casting shafts of light down the valleys -
absolutely superb. Behind us stood on top of Walla Crag was
Bleaberry Fell looming large, but I've saved that for
another day. I snapped away for a while and got some good
shots, but greater knowledge would doubtless have given some
great shots. I got a fair ammount of sunspots and flares due
to shooting into the sun, and I haven't got any decent
filters yet to prevent that happening. Walla Crag is a nice
little rocky summit with plenty of places to sit and ponder,
so we did despite the cold wind. The ground below the Crag
is thickly wooded and steep, so we walked along to Cat Gill
to drop very steeply down a stepped path, sometimes rocky
and loose gravel - not for the immobile. Mrs RP had a little
slip down the slope, but thankfully no harm was done, but a
bit tender around the derriere. We walked down through the
woods in the fading light, with the sky pretty much clear,
promising much for the next morning. Crossing the Borrowdale
once more we were soon at the lakeside to walk back north to
Keswick. When we got to Calfclose Bay the light had gone,
but there were some nice reflections on Derwent Water, and
behind us Walla Crags were lit by the fading sun. On the
beach here is a large sliced boulder, carved and very
tactile, it celebrates 100yrs of the National Trust - I
think it's called the millennium stone. From the bay it was
a gentle meander along the shores and fields, with plenty of
Barnacle Geese settling down for the evening. It was very
peaceful passing by the islands, Friars Crag and on towards
the boathouses. A lovely little walk all rounded off with
some pub grub - a brilliant little Crag - well done Alfred
for choosing this one.
