All of Keswick Rambles Walks went really well in spite of it being a really windy few days as you will see on the photos. That led to minor route changes but all walks went ahead and everyone enjoyed themselves and is looking forward with anticipation to next year's Festival.
Here are a few photos to give you a taste of this years walks
On Wednesday and Sunday I took groups up Catbells. Most people were new to walking in the Lake District and enjoyed the challenge of scrambling up the north ridge which was rather breezy although the wind didn't really hit us until we reached the summit. On Wednesday Derwentwater was rather choppy giving us somewhat damp rides across the Lake but on Sunday the waves were too big for the boats to go out and we had to use a taxi at the start of the walk and return to Keswick by bus. (gave us time for tea & cakes at Shepherd's Caf!)
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| hold on to your hat |
On Sunday we had every sort of weather - rain, wind, hail and sunshine - a wonderful introduction to Lake district walking
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| Sundays group on the summit of Catbells |
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| view up the lake as we crossed the boardwalk |
Thursday was my biggest walk of the Festival with a group of 12 up Great Gable and it was the day with the best weather. We started up beside Sour Milk Gill into Gillercombe and then took off up the grass towards the Hanging Rock and up onto the ridge of Base Brown. The glorious views back down Borrowdale from Base Brown gave us every reason to stop and turn around but soon we were looking forward to Green Gable and Great Gable as well as across to Great End. There are so many superb views on this walk, the peaks we could see are too many to list. From the top of Gable we dropped down to Westmoreland Cairn to marvel at the view down Wasdale and onto the top Napes Ridge at our feet.
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| View north from Base Brown |
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| some of the group |
Friday was my day for Ullock Pike - windy again but a late start meant we missed the worst of the early rain. By the afternoon the cloud had lifted and the sun came out giving us lovely views across Newlands and Derwentwater as we descended from Carlside. Up Dodd for more super views and a gentle stroll across the fields to Keswick - minor excitement when Skye disappeared for 10minutes in Dodd Wood! |
| up a windy ridge - rain has already stopped |
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| Super view from Whitestones on the way down Carlside |
as we came down Thornythwaite Fell. A great day was had by all and we just beat the rain as we reached our cars!
