Castle Crag on New Year's Eve

Date & start time: Thursday 31st December 2009. 12.30pm start.

Location of Start : Rosthwaite Village car park, Borrowdale, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 258 148 )

Places visited : Rosthwaite, Cumbria Way north along the Derwent, up to Castle Crag and back.

Walk details : 3.5 mls, 850 ft, 3 hrs 40 mins including lunch.

Highest point : Castle Crag 951ft ( 290m)

Walked with : Jo, John, Ann and the dogs, Jodie, Amber, Polly, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Overcast and grey with but dry, wintery conditions due to the low temperatures.

It's New Year's Eve and Cumbria, like much of the rest of Britain, is subjected to a continuing period of cold weather.

Jo, John, Ann and myself meet up in Rosthwaite for a slightly lower level walk in view of the conditions.

Parking at Rosthwaite after an icy drive over from Loweswater

John's feet say it all . . . that icy is slippery . . . time for the spikes.

The car park is always renowned for flooding when the central drain cover gets blocked.

[ Hold your cursor over the picture to see it on a rainy day ]

John and Jo start along the village road.	Outside the Flock Inn Tearooms, but it's closed today.

The Tearooms were open over the Christmas holidays but will be shut for most of January . . . check first if you're planning to arrive hungry.

Winter conditions on Eagle Crag further up the valley.

Today we're aiming for Castle Crag, seen here over wintry meadows.

Storm damage to the track alongside the river . . . the second time in two years.

Despite his instep crampons, John takes the bridge in low ratio four point drive mode.

Ann and Jo smile, confident in their method of descent of the steep hump backed bridge.

Could someone tell this guy that the temperature is hovering around freezing.

High on the fell side is the Milligan Dalton's Cave . . . but this is an arch in one of the lower quarry workings.

Harry looks down to see where I am.

We walked around the base of Castle Crag, following the river.

Hard to think that this calm water would have been a roaring torrent just two months ago.

The river here flows into Derwent Water, on through Bassenthwaite Lake and eventually towards Cockermouth and Workington of course.

Time to start climbing up the bridle way back towards Castle Crag.

The paths are extremely icy due to the recent thaws and subsequent re-freezing during recent days.

A double stile, first a ladder climb up onto the wall and then over the steps to clear the fence.

Two Scotch Pines perched on the side of the crag.	Ann and John climb the snow covered path.

I can't remember what I had just said . . . but that trek pole looks menacing.

Up to the main quarry level . . . I walk over to look at the small obelisks that people have erected.

A single large slate raised to the vertical.	Looks a bit like a Red Indian (or should that be a Native American ?)

The upper Borrowdale Valley with Rosthwaite at its heart and Eagle Crag protecting the entrance to the Langstrath Valley in the distance.

John in inquisitive mode.	Jo and Amber.

Jo and Ann reach the summit of Castle Crag.	The Memorial still has its poppy wreath from last November.

John finds a family group in need of a photographer . . . smile it's New Year's Eve.

Jo in contemplative mood as she looks out over Derwent Water.

After a lofty lunch and some warm soup it was time to start back down.

A more direct descent through the woods and back to the river bridge.

The junction of the Seathwaite and the Stonethwaite becks in the valley below us.

Just that water worn track back to the car before we end the walk . . . and then it's a careful drive home.

- - - o o o - - -

In the evening John and Jo stayed on to celebrate the end of the old year and the start of a new.

A few fireworks outside but it was cold out there . . . so we lit the sparklers inside.

Looking out it has started snowing again . . . Happy New Year !

- - - o o o - - -

Post Script:

Loweswatercam viewer Del Blackmore sent me this screen print of the magical number on my site counter.

That's a third of a million unique visits by all you wonderful folk since Feb 06.

Thanks to all of you that have written such kind emails and to Del for being ever so observant.

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon 75 or my Canon G10 digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . spikes on your feet . . . or very long toe nails.

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Previous walk - 25th Dec 2009 Christmas Rannerdale Knotts

A previous time up here - 9th November 2008 Castle Crag Remembrance Service

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