Latrigg last Sunday

The snow kept coming last weekend so we made the most of it and went out on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was at it's best on Sunday though and we took some splendid photographs on route to the top of Latrigg. This first one was a view of Skiddaw with a brilliant blue sky shining against the snow and ice.

We took our crampons with us and once on the top put them on because we wanted to descend quickly down the steep woods towards Spooney Green Lane, so the crampons were essential for a good grip. Quite a few of these Kahtoola's have been sold by Needle Sports this year because they claimed to have run out of them within days of the snow arriving and they had ordered 100 pairs.......

The trees on the side of Latrigg were completely devoid of leaves because it does not take long for them to disappear once an early winter sets in. We did not see any people on this descent because most had stuck to the tourist paths and did not know the way down through the woods like us locals do, so it was good to have them to ourselves!

We eventually walked down towards the town through the park and as we crossed by the Cricket Pavilion we had a very low lying mist all around us, it was very pretty and atmospheric. Then we went into town to the noise and bustle of the Traditional Christmas Fair which was just about staggering to a halt...... We didn't stay long as it wasn't really our scene after the tranquility of the hills it all seemed rather contrived.

kira from Germany sent in this description of a recent walk.

Alison is one of the two new Keswick Rambles' leaders. She started her first walk on Easter Sunday. Though the weather wasn't very promising on Saturday, Sunday started dry and improved steadily to a sunny spring afternoon! There were three of us participating the walk. Andy from York, Rosy from Australia and myself, over from Germany for the Easter weekend. Now there is another Keswick Rambles' dog, Dusk, who accompanied us. We started at the Moot Hall, walked through Fitz Park, crossed Briar Rigg and followed Spooney Green Lane up Latrigg. Soon we passed the gate to the right into the woods and followed the path until we reached a comfortable staircase. We climbed it and walked on through Brundhome woods. The first photo shows Alison and Rosy on this path. Eventually we reached a fence and climbed the stile. Snow!

The second photo shows Dusk there. How much she enjoyed the snow! We reached the top of Latrigg from the back. It was a bit chilly on the top, so the tea from the Bassenthwaite Rotary Club was very welcome. We've had a little break at their stall on top of Latrigg. Onwards to Skiddaw car park, and then we followed the path to the right into Glenderaterra valley.

The next photo shows Glenderaterra beck at the head of the valley. The bridge wasn't there when I was there last time, it's rather new. We followed the muddy path along the fellside of Lonscale fell until we descended into the valley to walk across two bridges over to the other side of the valley.

The next photo shows shows clearly how impressive Lonscale fell looks like from this side, quite different from its smooth surface showing to Keswick. We enjoyed our lunch here before we climbed on to the path leading alongside Blease fell.

The next photo shows Rosy, Andy and Alison looking across the valley to High Rigg.

We passed this impressive waterfall by following the path on to the Blencathra centre, passed it and walked down, across Derwent Folds, into Brundholme woods where we followed the path along River Greta to the hamlet of Forge. We crossed the bridge, followed the road for some time and climbed up to the old railway path which lead us back to Keswick. It was a very enjoyable walk for all of us including Dusk who couldn't get enough walking and playing with sticks. Thank you, Alison, for this wonderful day and good luck for your coming walks!