Posts tagged 'Old Man of Coniston'

The Keeltappers and Grunters Social Club 2010 Coniston Meet – Friday and Saturday

Posted by on December 15th 2010 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, YHA

I'd started out a couple of hours earlier than usual which meant that I had time to call in at Windermere to do a bit of Christmas shopping. While walking the town I got quite a shock when I saw that the shop-front of The Outdoor Warehouse was plastered with "Closing Down" and "Sale" banners. Despite my solemn oath to stay out of such places, I had to go in and find out what the story was. Turns out that they're closing down the shop early in the New Year but they're going to continue as an online retailer. I suppose it's a good move financially, but it does mean that there'll be one less place to actually get hands on quality kit before deciding about buying it. If you're in the market for some seriously-reduced gear, I'd recommend a look in there before it's too late. They had a good selection of half-price down-filled jackets on display, including much stuff that's not on their website.

After that I made my way to Coniston, stopping occasionally to take pics from the roadside:

 

Looking towards Skelwith Fold and Black Crag

 

I arrived at YHA Coniston Holly How mid-afternoon, took my gear in, made a brew and sat reading in the lounge. After a while Frank arrived with the news that Mike was ill and wouldn't be arriving on Saturday morning as per his original intention. As we already knew that the other two invited folk couldn't attend, we went to The Crown ASAP and planned accordingly. It wasn't going to be a weekend of serious snow-play  - temperatures were on the rise and a thaw had set in. Frank's prime objective was to climb an in-condition gully, I wanted to bag a few "undone" Wainwrights and christen my snooshows, neither of us would get what we wanted. Over a fine pub-meal we played with the options before heading back and bunking down for the night.

Bright and early next morning we were up, breakfasted and parked up in the quarry car-park on the Walna Scar Road below Timley Knott. The sun was out and there was hardly any snow visible on The Old Man of Coniston:

 

The Old Man

 

After seeing the conditions, it was obvious that crampons and axes wouldn't be required and that there was no chance of a gully-climb. We lightened our packs and headed North with the intention of taking the popular quarry-path to The Old Man's summit. There were plenty of photo-opportunities on the way up:

 

Panorama - The Old Man to The Yewdale Fells

 

Looking back to the quarry car-park

 

A lonely tree overlooks the path

 

The Old Man - gnarled, craggy and weathered
The mountain also looks like that
🙂

 

YHA Coniston Coppermines from The Bell

 

Another look back to the quarry car-park

 

Quarries below Sweeten Crag

 

At the crossroads we turned left and headed up the track towards Low Water. There was evidence that others had been this way before us:

 

We never found the matching Therm-a-Rest 🙂

 

We paused for a cuppa at a convenient place and went off to investigate the relics of a long-gone industry:

 

Quarry buildings

 

More quarry buildings

 

How are the mighty fallen

 

Inside one of the quarries

 

A short while later we were on the track above a thawing Low Water. One look at the gullies justified our decision to leave the pointy metalwork in the car:

 

Low Water

 

Low Water again

 

From there it was a short pull up snow-filled tracks and crag towards the busy summit. There were more photo-opportunities:

 

The final stretch

 

Coniston Water and distant clouds over North Wales

 

The summit was a busy place so I wandered off to take some pics while Frank took shelter for a snack-break. There was much to see:

 

There were poppies tucked into the cairn - poignant reminders of folk that no longer walk these fells

 

Looking towards the Scafell range

 

An old survey mark carved into a rock in the plinth of the cairn.

 

The trig-column and the summit cairn

 

The Dow Crag ridge

 

From there, we headed off towards Brim Fell. Here's me, pausing during the easy stroll:

 

Still refusing to wear a hat despite the lack of natural insulation up-top

 

Looking back at The Old Man from Brim Fell summit

 

Brim Fell cairn and another view of the Scafell range

 

From there we headed down to a snowy and busy Goat's Hawse:

 

Goat's Water

 

We paused alongside Goat's Water for a while, there was much to see, do and discuss:

 

Dow Crag's magnificent rocky architecture

 

Ice on Goat's Water

 

Impact on ice on Goat's Water

 

Light on ice, water and rock

 

From there it was a simple walk back to the car. We discussed much on the way down, not least the fact that the absent Mike was supposed to be providing a hearty chilli for the evening meal. Frank's selection of cheeses and my Chicken Tikka bites with Tempura Prawns weren't going to be enough...

After we'd got ourselves sorted at the hostel we headed off to the village shop in search of ingredients. Fish, rice and onions were liberated from the Co-op. The fish needed time to defrost so we took it into a warm pub for an hour or so, as you do. After suitable rehydration we went back to the hostel to concoct our evening meal - the prawns made a decent starter, Frank's rice, fish and chicken dish was good and the bread-pudding with custard and caramel was indeed as stodgy and filling as ever. The bottle of red went down well too while we set the world to rights before turning in for the night.

To be continued...