Coniston Old Man

Several days of high pressure over the north of the UK has brought cold, dry, clear weather to the Lake District, so this Sunday it was high time to get out for a walk.  Tess, Pete and I decided on the classic round of Dow Crag and Coniston Old Man, starting from the Walna Scar road.

Walking up Walna Scar, numerous runners passed us, apparently recce’ing the Lakeland 50 route.  As we ascended, the mass of Dow Crag came into view, reminding us of the quality of this crag as both a summer and winter venue.  Higher up, the view of the south lakes increased, as did the wind!


Coniston Water and Morecambe Bay in the distance.


Reaching our first summit of Brown Pike, there was a substantial frost covering  the ground, with verglass on some rocks.  This made things a little slippery, but not enough for Tess to use her new crampons.


Harter Fell


To the South-West we could see the last fingers of the Lake District extending towards the Irish Sea. It reminded me of my two day walk from Black Combe to Ennerdale, then up Great Moss, over Esk Hause, and down into Borrowdale.


The long ridge of the South-Western Fells, with Black Combe on it’s tip in the hazy distance.


With some extra layers on we continued towards Dow Crag in the biting wind.


Dow Crag from Buck Pike

We descended from the summit of Dow Crag to Goat's Hawse, where we shelter behind some rocks from the increasingly cold wind. After some hurriedly eaten sandwiches we were on our way again, but had to stop to help Tess who was getting hot aches in her hands.  Strangely, as we gained height again, the wind decreased, and as we gained the ridge leading to the Old Man, it had almost completely died.


Cloud lifting from the Sca Fells


Ascending to Coniston Old Man

The summit was fairly busy, which wasn’t surprising considering that this was the first good weather weekend we had seen for several weeks.  In fact we bumped into several Lancaster residents, including the owner of the Yummy Cupcake Company, and some friends of Tess and Pete’s from circuit training.


The summit


Looking back along the ridge towards Brim Fell

After a quick chat on the summit, we descended the front of the the fell towards Coniston, giving views over two of the Old Man’s tarns, Low Water and Levers Water (I’ve swam in both!).


The Tarns divided by the ridge of Brim Fell

We continued down the now substantial path, and took the right turn that lead us back to the Walna Scar car park.  The only thing now was the drive home, with a stop off at Chesters By The River.


Coniston Water