Despite a forecast of persistent rain for the duration David and I put together a low level walk using two cars from Rakefoot just outside Keswick to Grange in Borrowdale taking in Walla Crag and Grange Fell along the way. The original route would have extended to Castle Crag via New Bridge and The Cumbrian Way but after one look how full Derwent Water looked we changed the route just in case the River Derwent had burst its banks outside Rosthwaite and New Bridge, a decision that we later learned needn't have been made but,,, thinking ahead and all that. I met David outside Grange Methodist Church at about 6:55am, swapped my gear into Davids car (remembering my jacket this time) before heading back to Keswick and Rakefoot thereafter. It was still pitch black and an hour away from sunrise when we parked up, half way up the lane not far from Heights Hotel/Guest House we kitted up in misty drizzle into full waterproofs.

Locking the car we headed north towards Castlerigg Farm the drizzle highlighted through the beams of our head torches the silence of the morning interrupted by Brockle Beck in white spate over to our right. We passed the farm and arrived at the bridge spanning the beck where during the summer you can actually cross via a series of stepping stones without getting your boots wet but after days of heavy rain there was no sign of the stones and we crossed via the wooden footbridge before joining the path for Walla Crag.

Traffic was minimal and we were able to walk two abreast almost all the way back to Grange where we found David's car parked over the top of a large puddle "it was dark when I arrived he laughed" The church doors were open revealing glowing lights which looked warm and inviting to these two drown't rats but we resisted and began our kit down using the church railings to hang over wet gear on as we swapped damp feet into dry mid's that we'd left in the car earlier, blooming good idea that was.

We had spoken about it at length where one looks at the forecast and thinks 'I wouldn't send a cat out in that' and we're both guilty of it but every now and again go against the grain and spend five hours in the rain, you might surprise yourself by how much you enjoyed it.