High Seat – Bleaberry Fell – Walla Crag 12th September 2014

 A shorter walk this week compared to last weeks 12 miles. This was an excellent walk in perfect conditions. Warm with no breeze. The only slight downside was the haziness which made some the views not as spectacular as they might have been, but this is the Lake District – you take what you get.

I parked at the NT car park at Ashness Bridge. The footpath was just over the road next to the NT building covered in sheepskins (that is what it looks like). The ascent was a steady pull – steep in places , but straightforward, with great views back over Derwent Water. Soon as I was at the rim of the plateau on the edge of Ashness Fell. Navigation  to the summit from here was easy. There were some patches of boggy ground but no problems to get around.

Hazy view of Catbells across Derwent Water

path across the plateau - with Dodd looming into view

High seat summit cairn

The summit of High Seat is marked with a small cairn and a trig point. The next target – Bleaberry Fell could be seen clearly across the plateau. I stopped for a break and a chat with a fellow walker who arrived at the summit a few minutes after me. The track across to Bleaberry Fell was boggy in places , but nowhere near as bad as Wainwright describes it. In fact it was just like a dark peak walk in Derbyshire.

 

Trig Point _ High Seat

Bleaberry Fell - across the plateau

Walla Crag from Bleaberry Fell

Bleaberry Fell was soon reached and the clear path down to Wall Crag could be seen. The summit of Walla Crag is a beautiful place with great views over Derwent Water.

Derwent water from Wall Crag summit

On the way down

Little disappointed with myself as I messed up my final bit of navigation back to Ashness Bridge. I ended up on the Borrowdale Road which mean’t a mile or so of road walking back to Ashness Bridge. I had just glanced at the map and thought – ‘ I can’t go wrong’ – the obvious mistake was dropping down on a steep path, where I should have turned left after Walla Crag back on the plateau which would have taken me around Falcon Crag and then back down to Ashness Bridge.

A really enjoyable walk – about 6 miles OS OL 4