Walla fantastic walk!

What a difference a day makes! The weather was set to be much drier today, with just the chance of catching a heavy shower later on. Although by now my plans of tackling some of the bigger fells (Crinkle Crags and Bowfell) had been shelved, I did want to take advantage of the better conditions to at least bag one of the lesser fells, where the views would be no less stunning. The others had planned to have the day off from walking, but when Kevan heard I was heading for Walla Crag, he was persuaded to leave the ladies to their shopping and join me.

Walla Crag is a popular walk, being easily achievable from the centre of Keswick in half a day. The climb is by and large quite gentle and the route straightforward (see Walla Crag entry in my Walking Blog for full details). Before the main climb, a short diversion (which is only a ten minute walk from the Borrowdale Road) leads to Castlehead viewpoint, a magnificent panorama across Derwentwater and the Borrowdale valley. This is really quite spectacular and is something every visitor to Keswick should make the effort to see.

Walla Crag itself is a modest height (Wainwright says it's the easiest fell to remember the height of provided you can count to four (1234'), although modern maps quote a spot height which is slightly higher), but the views are even better than Castlehead, with more mountains in view across the lake, and Bassenthwaite and Skiddaw now completing the picture.

The popular route down from the top is very steep, and we preferred a longer option which took in a third iconic viewpoint: Ashness Bridge. This is the view which appears on postcards and packets of biscuits throughout the Lakes. From here we completed our descent down to the lake shore and headed back to Keswick.