A 12km walk - which proved entirely enough for T - on a cold day, the day after Storm Eowyn.Route: leaving the car at the Great Wood car park (not full at noon on a January Saturday) and walking north on forest paths towards a transmitter. Turning right and ascending a path by the stream, crossing this to a road, and then back to climb steep fellside to the summit area of Walla Crag but today leaving its summit for another expedition. Continuing past the summit area and turning left on somewhat boggy ground to join a clear alluvial soil Fix the Fells path and following this uphill and then more steeply uphill to the summit cairn. Taking the opportunity of a good shelter cairn to put on more clothes against a biting cold wind and suddenly massing black clouds to the south, and scanning the horizon for likely rain.
Continuing on the path south towards High Seat, initially on partially frozen bog but, on the ascent, joining a clearly recently built alluvial soil path. On the summit, deciding against the initial plan to continue to High Tove (which wold have involved a lengthy and quite familiar return on the Watendlath-to-Ashness Bridge path) and heading, instead, directly down towards Ashness Bridge, along Ashness Gill and then Barrow Beck, soon finding a fine new flagged path across one patch of marsh. Briefly joining the c-road over the bridge and taking the lower level quasi-balcony path (with views over Derwent Water and very close sighting of two deer on the path immediately below) to reach Great Wood and thus the car park.
Conditions: dry with just two spits of rain but very a cold wind at altitude.
Pub: for the first time, the Mary Mount Hotel for a mysterious (brewery unknown) Surprise View Gold (3.8%) beer which was very pleasant.
