Early Mornings on Latrigg

Despite the hustle and bustle you might see at midday on a Saturday on the market square, Keswick is for the most part a sleepy, quiet town. This is never more obvious than on an early morning, before the B&B's have started serving breakfast. Take a stroll in the town and you'll see what I mean.

This is a lovely time to grab an early fellwalk up to the summit of Latrigg. Heading out of town, past the leisure centre and over the A66 at Spooneygreen Lane, you'll probably only meet the occasional fellrunner - especially in the Winter months when these photos were taken.

Latrigg is and always will be a popular fell, but on a number of mornings recently I have more or less had the place to myself. Either following the path as it works its way round to the car park and then following the wide track to the summit, or leaving the path for a direct climb up the steep grassy slopes, it is only a short walk to the top.

Often a very windy spot, a couple of times recently I've almost struggled to take a picture from the top overlooking Keswick, but after taking in the morning air and enjoying the view, you can easily be back down in town in time for breakfast - and you still have the whole day ahead of you!

Castlehead, Keswick

Castlehead is a little rocky mound just on the outskirts of Keswick that is well worth a visit. You can access it either from the path out of Keswick headed towards Walla Crag - turn right along the signposted footpath on Springs Road, and then simply follow your nose and head upwards until you reach the top.

The other option is to approach from the lakeside. Follow the path along the shores of Derwentwater as if headed towards Friar's Crag, and turn inland along the footpath that will take you through Cockshot Wood.

You will come to Borrowdale Road, cross this road and look for the gap on the other side of the road where you can head into the woodland around Castlehead. The hillside is too steep to climb on this side, but just follow the circular footpath round until you see the path headed to the top.

Once you are at the top, you are rewarded with one of the best views of Derwentwater you could imagine. I've been up there on numerous occasions and this is a popular spot for professional and amateur photographers, so why not head up and grab yourself a view that you will have no doubt seen on countless websites and calendars!

You should be able to do the circuit starting from Moot Hall, along the lakeside, up Castlehead and back into Keswick along Springs Road, in a leisurely 60-90 minutes, although be careful as the path around Castlehead can get muddy and slippery after wet or Wintery weather.

A Whinlatter Wander

A couple of years ago, we did a circuit of the fells above and around Whinlatter, but missed out on Whinlatter Fell itself. Recently, a spare sunny afternoon in the Lake District provided us with the ideal opportunity to bag Whinlatter.

We have been to the forest often enough, having done Go Ape a couple of times, and followed some of the forest paths, so I was looking forward to tackling the fell, although from reading various walk write-ups, navigation wouldn't necessarily be straight forward.

We parked up at the visitor centre, which was rammed with trail cyclists and Go Apers, heading away from the masses up towards the fell itself. We weren't completely on our own, as the Gruffalo trail was also proving popular with the younger visitors!

AW has a good old moan about the forestation that has taken place on Whinlatter, but for me it feels like the surrounding environment has accepted the spruce trees with grace and dignity and it is an enjoyable Lakeland experience. BUT the forestry commission paths all look alike and as you are surrounded by trees with the occasional glimpse over towards Keswick, it can be quite disorienting.

However once you are out of the forest, Whinlatter takes on a character of its own. Standing somewhat in isolation, it is a quiet backwater of the Lakes, despite being a short walk away from all the action. The heather-clad slopes offer fantastic views of the surrounding North-Western fells.

As it is a fairly gentle ascent, without too much hard work you soon reach the twin peaks of Whinlatter and Brown How, which is a short distance away. The summit ridge makes for fun walking, easy on the feet but with interesting terrain and those unbeatable views.

To get back to the car we retraced our outbound path and before we knew it we were back in the heart of Whinlatter forest, headed towards the visitor centre where a hot drink and scone was waiting with our names on them!

To Skiddaw And Beyond!

It has been a couple of years now since myself and crag rat Rainer tackled Skiddaw, and on that occasion the summit was shrouded in cloud on a bright Summer's day, so I have been looking forward to enjoying the views from there for a while.

A walk up Skiddaw seemed like a great way to start the walks for 2014, so with the rains easing off, Claire and I set off from Keswick town centre - no sneaky drive to the car park at back of Latrigg for us!

I don't know if it is my imagination, but there seems to have been a fair amount of work done on the footpath up Skiddaw since my last ascent. We stopped briefly at the Hawell shepherds memorial for a glance back at the Helvellyn range with its dusting of snow, and looking ahead at the steep climb ahead of us.

The further you head upwards the views behind just get better and better so that is a good enough excuse for frequent stops. The higher up we got, the windier it also got, which was bearable for now but got pretty hairy later on.

From the main path we took the route up the short steep climb to the twin summits of Skiddaw Little Man, and its fantastic views back over Keswick to the south and Bassenthwaite Lake to the west.

From here it was a simple enough hike over to Skiddaw, but at this point the freezing wind was so strong, at times we had to simply stop still and wait for the gusts to pass. This meant the camera stayed firmly wedged in a pocket on the summit, and we so once again I missed out on the views from the top of the Northern Fells.

We carried on quickly across the high ground of the Skiddaw summit ridge, dropping sharply down to reach the top of Bakestall. It's funny how some of these fells look very insignificant when approaching from higher ground - for example Birks from St Sunday Crag, or Base Brown from Green Gable, yet when you reach the base of the fell they start to look like mighty crags, and Bakestall was no exception. Approaching from Skiddaw you ask yourself why this was included as a fell, but from the bottom the majestic rocks that build Bakestall tell a different story.

Here I was well and truly experiencing the Back o' Skidda for the very first time, on the Cumbria Way meandering alongside some of the rounded grassy fell-tops. A lovely place for a picnic stop and it was a real relief to be out of the howling winds. The walking here felt quite different to other parts of Lakeland, almost reminiscent of walking on the North York Moors - it felt tranquil and remote compared to the busy slopes of Skiddaw.

We followed the path as it swept past Skiddaw House, and through the mighty gorge between Lonscale Fell and Blencathra. I really enjoyed the views of Great Calva and Little Calva and this is a quiet part of the world I look forward to exploring.

Somehow the walk around Lonscale fell seemed really long and dusk was fast approaching, so it was time to get back to civilisation.

We had head torches with us and had we been out for another 15 minutes or so they would have been more than useful, but as it was we hit the outskirts of Keswick just as the last rays of daylight were disappearing.

Once again a highly enjoyable exploration of the Northern Fells and one of contrasts, with the crowded paths of Skiddaw giving way to the peace and tranquility of the Cumbria Way.

Grange Fell, Central Fells

Looks like we had a lot of luck this Winter. We did this walk on the 31st December and the day started off quite horribly - heavy rain meant we didn't delay on our drive from Ambleside to Keswick for fear that the roads would flood - some side roads were already closed. We had then resigned ourselves to a day of looking around the shops and spending time in Booths and the Lakeland Pedlar, so all would not have been lost, but by around 1pm a hint of blue appeared in the sky and gradually the rain eased off.

We dashed back to the b&b and grabbed our waterproofs and boots and decided to head into the hills. With only a couple of hours' daylight left we decided to have a look around Grange Fell. After a drive along the Borrowdale road we parked up close to the Bowder Stone and set off. The actual Bowder Stone we have saved for another day. We were lucky to have made it along the road as shortly afterwards the Borrowdale road was closed for repairs.

We followed the route in the AW book, circumnavigating the base of Great End crag and into an enchanted woodland. I don;t tend to think of the Lakes in terms of ancient woodland but here and there you enter pockets of trees and it becomes very other-worldly - this walk is no exception as you climb the steep steps through the woods. Easy going up but a bit treacherous coming down!

Every now and again we stopped to catch our breath as the climb was very steep, and to turn around and enjoy the vista over Derwentwater that was opening up behind us.

Eventually the path levelled off, and we were on the rather lovely higher ground of Grange Fell. It is hard to spot a definitive summit and indeed there are a couple to choose from, strewn across the rocky studded ground.

Despite Wainwright's words imploring us to head up King's How to take in the views, time was not on our side and so we headed across the soggy ground to the Brund Fell summit and delightfully named Joppelty Howe.

From here we had some great views beyond Borrowdale right into the heart of the Lake District fells and across the Honister Pass towards the North Western and Western Fells.

On a longer day we might have continued along the path that to Joppelty Howe, back down and around the base of the fell taking in the Bowder Stone, but with not much daylight left it felt sensible to return via the same route, even though it meant coming down that very slippery rocky staircase. Rather oddly the only people we encountered on this walk was a family group, headed up the fell, and very late in the day. There's no way they would have finished their walk in daylight!

We got back to the car as dusk was falling, ready to head back to the bright lights of a New Year's Eve celebration in Keswick. Grange Fell was a real pleasure to discover and definitely a fell we shall be revisiting.

Lake District Ales

I can't recommend drinking a beer on a walk, but after a hard day's walking I can't think of a better reward that a pint of Lake District ale in one of the Keswick pubs.

The second best option is to take that taste of the Lakes home with us, and during a recent stop off in Glenridding I picked up on a few choice ales that don't have many stockists.

In particular the Ulls-Water is a custom-labelled beer from the Keswick Brewing Company that is only available in Glenridding.

The Ulls-Water is actually Thirst Ascent in disguise, but I do like those custom beer labels. I'm really waiting for a special occasion to crack these beers open, although having said that, I might have the odd one or two in the meantime, be a shame not to - Cheers!

Latrigg: Gateway to the Northern Fells

Today's walk is about a return to Latrigg, previously visited in October 2012, Keswick's family fell and gateway to the Skiddaw family beyond. We had a special occasion recently, a welcome return to these shores for crag rat Rainer. He was on a whistle-stop tour of the UK, and of course on such a trip you have to make time for a visit to the Lake District even if only for a brief stop to say hello. With time up against us as usual, we decided on a half day in Keswick, having some breakfast in Booths, a look around the shops and a quick hike up Latrigg.

We took the "usual" Keswick route, along Spooney Green Lane and the bridge over the A66. At this point we followed the Cumbria Way as it climbs rapidly skirting Brundholme Wood.

As always, each step upwards was greatly rewarded as the views opened up over the vale of Keswick behind and the North-Western fells beyond, as well as the Skiddaw group directly ahead of you.

The walk is a short fairly steep one, with a very well made and maintained footpath, and so with a minimum of fuss we found ourselves on the summit plateau of little Latrigg. AW said of Latrigg:

"a small hill, an excellent viewpoint, a great favourite of local folk and visitors"

and that captured our requirements for today's walk perfectly - an easy walk with friends to share some of the fantastic Lake District scenery. Looking eastwards you have an excellent view of Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell on the edge of Lakeland.

It is a real pleasure to walk along the summit which has an amazing view over Keswick, Derwentwater and the huge collection of fells beyond.

We carried on along the summit, taking the route back down towards Lonscale farm. This leads down to the C2C cycle path and footpath that follows the old railway track between Penrith and Keswick.

On this sunny day the path was very busy with walkers and cyclists and it's not hard to see why this is a popular route. Soon enough we were back at the old train station and it was smiles all round after a great little walk.

Causey Pike, Scar Crags, Outerside & Barrow

A mad idea from Claire and her colleagues meant that we found ourselves in Keswick on a night out mid-February, followed by a night in the freezing cold camping barn at Catbells afterwards. The problem was that if no-one volunteers to stay home and stoke the coals whilst the others are out having a good time, then that fireplace and camping barn is going to be cold!

An early start and a big breakfast at Booths soon warmed us up and meant we could head back over to Newlands and park up just beyond Stair for the start of this walk. Our planned itinerary was up the front face of Rowling End and onto Causey Pike, following the ridge over Scar Crags before taking the path down at Sail Pass which would bring us back along the lower slopes of Causey Pike before crossing over to ascend Outerside and Barrow.

The pull up Rowling End was a hard slog, but it did mean that we reached higher ground pretty quickly. As always each step upwards was rewarded with a view that was opening up and behind us we had fantastic views over Keswick and Derwentwater. The flat section along Causey Pike was a welcome break before the final scramble up. This looked much trickier than it actually was and as usual, a scramble up seems easier than using the same route to come down.

Having seen very few people, it came as a surprise to find a load of people resting on the top of Causey Pike, I wonder when the bus was due?!?! It was pretty windy here so we didn't linger for long.

One of my favourite parts of fellwalking is the ridge route - it's a great reward for the hard work in getting up the fell, and the ridge from Causey Pike over Scar Crags towards Sail is a delight. Good walking conditions and really rewarding views.

Ahead we could see the hard work done by Fix The Fells to restore the path up Sail, and you could see the scars left behind by the thousands of boots that had widened the path beforehand.

On reaching Coledale Hause we turned sharp right and headed along the path that would take us down to the bottom of High Moss. The path was iced over in places meaning we had to either go off-road, or sit down and slide down on our bums - this was nothing compared to the slides down Great Whernside which I'll be telling you about in a future post!

From here it was an easy walk over to the base of Outerside and a short and pleasant climb up. At this point the wind had picked up a bit so it got really cold whenever we stopped.

A short pause on the summit of Outerside and we pushed on, over the crags of Stile End until we made the summit of Barrow and our fourth fell of the day. From here once again we had brilliant view over diminutive Swinside and onto Keswick, Derwentwater as well as over Bassenthwaite Lake over to the Skiddaw range.

In a rush to get out of the wind we retraced our steps to Stile End, before taking the steep path down the side of Barrow which brought us onto the main bridleway along Stonycroft Gill, and here it was an easy walk back to the Newlands road and the warmth of the car.