Posts tagged 'Wildcamping'
A tarn with no name
That's where I'll be on Friday night, trying out the Argos Pro Action Hike Lite 1 Person Tent somewhere around the Coniston Fells, and following John Hee's "overnighting off the beaten track" ethos. Suffice to say that said tarn is in a place with a name that's bound to attract blog-hits from all sorts of dodgy characters 😯 .
As to where I'll be pitching on Saturday night, your guess is as good as mine. I'll just make it up as I go along, I reckon. There'll be no great mileage involved, as I'm not fully match-fit after the bad-back layup, but I'd much rather be knackered than stir-crazy.
So behave while I'm away, and don't forget to feed the cat...
to the dog.
😈
Pragmatism and Purism lose out to Painkillers and Purlins
The Coniston Fells rematch has had to be postponed due to my lack of confidence that my back will stay the course. It's a great disappointment on several levels, not least because I was hoping to take Ella with me for her first wildie. MWIS predicts that the weather's going to be really good over the weekend, so it would have been a great opportunity to introduce her to a couple of days and nights without most of the techno-trappings of life as she knows it.
Never mind, there'll be plenty of other chances.
It looks like I'll be taking it easy and finishing the observatory roof and the bathroom refurb instead.
There's no peace for the wicked, eh?
Pragmatism versus Purism
After my failure to subdue the Coniston Fells last month, a rematch has been approved. Sometime during the next few weeks I'll be having another go, subject to the back being given the green light. This time I'll take a roll of gaffer-tape and some nails to hold things together - there's no way I'm going to be forced off the mountains by injury twice in one season, after having kept a clean-sheet ever since I started 35 years ago.
It's a moot point as to whether or not to include Dow Crag again - I'm tempted to be pragmatic and give it a miss, heading for the heart of the group of fells via Levers Water. That should give more options for extending the route on Sunday, which means that the shops of Ambleside won't be so much of a temptation (although the pubs of Coniston may fill that rôle). Then again, I suppose a purist would start again at the place where the previous attempt went awry, which would mean a trudge back up The Cove to Goat's Hause. Hmm... maybe I should just let the weather dictate the terms.
Whatever happens, I'll be taking it easy. These things shouldn't be rushed. I can't see the point of fighting the M6, gravity and the clock 😉
Coniston Fells Wildcamping – Part 2 – Twist and Shout
The night was mild with just the odd flap of the tent, nothing to worry about. We woke at 05:15 to find the skies almost clear, so I went for a stroll to take a few pics as the sun worked its way from behind the shoulder of The Old Man:
A well-concealed wildcamping tent 🙂
You can't see it from here either, can you?
OK, let's make it a tad easier for you
The view sunwards
Breakfast was a quick and simple affair, and then it was time to strike camp and to filter sufficient tarn-water for the rest of the day, there being precious little available on our chosen route.
Water: gathering, not depositing
We retraced the short drop back to the Road and then continued up the river of stones to the col between Walna Scar and Brown Pike, passing by one of the old stone shelters:
Stone hut below Brown Pike
Turning right at this crossroads, we walked up the zigzags into a stiffening breeze, which was cooling us well in the bright sunshine. A few fellrunners were about, but no other walkers had been seen yet. A few minutes later we were at the top and exposed to the full force of the wind as it ripped up the sunward slopes and over the ridge, so we had a breather in the shelter right next to the summit-cairn:
The shelter atop Brown Pike
From there, we could see the simple short ridge-walk to Buck Pike, the next top on the ridge:
The ridge to Buck Pike
and there was a good view of The Old Man across The Cove:
The Old Man
After a snack we set off along the ridge, passing this striking view down towards Blind Tarn and our vacated pitch:
Looking down on Blind Tarn from the ridge
The further we walked, the stronger the wind became. Each time we passed the top of an open gully we were blown sideways, the funnelled air roaring through the gaps at incredible speeds and playing curious deep tones as it whistled between the crags. At times the wind set up resonances in the rocks, making them hum in an eerie harmony. Rock music indeed!
We made our way over the top of Buck Pike...
Looking back to the top of Buck Pike
and headed for the first Wainwright of the day, Dow Crag:
Dow Crag from Buck Pike
The ridge-path passes the tops of several gullies and the view down each was impressive. It was hard to take pics, though, as the wind was too strong to stand steadily at the edges. I managed just the one pic after crawling to the edge on all fours:
A view of part of Goat's Water, looking down Easy Gully
The summit rocks of Dow Crag were incredibly windy due to their exposed position - this was three-point-contact walking, and it was a dicey affair actually reaching the top-most rocks, which are right on the edge of the cliff, leaving no room for a cairn:
The very top of Dow Crag
The view down to the glistening surface of Goat's Water was breathtaking, or it would have been had the wind not already stolen our breath away and scattered it behind us as we peered over the edge. Taking a pic of the view was impossible - I couldn't hold the camera still enough with just one hand, and I wasn't about to allow my other to let go of terra firma. Instead, we retired to the lee of the summit rocks for some shelter and to confirm our intended route, and had to be content with the view of the ridge back to the Walna Scar Pass and beyond:
Looking back from Dow Crag - a fine ridge
The next part of the plan was to drop down to Goat's Hause and then make for Swirl How and its satellite fells via Brim Fell. We were undecided as to whether to include the summit of the Old Man, but seeing as we'd been there before, we chose to give it a miss.
We donned the packs again and headed for the Hause, with our next three objectives (Grey Friar, Great Carrs and Swirl How) in view before us. I was keeping well away from the edge, out of the worst of the wind, but at a narrow place I was uprooted by a vicious prolonged blast which twisted me around in a most peculiar way. I heard the sound of my lumbar region giving way above the noise of the rushing air, and it hurt like hell. I'm not given to shouting in pain, but this was bad.
I knew I was screwed.
The trip was over, I wasn't going to be able to do any more upping and now it was a matter of getting home without causing further damage. We took our time finding somewhere sheltered to sit and while I tried to recover we rehydrated ourselves and planned our retreat. Common-sense dictated that we should regain the car via the path alongside Goat's Water, through The Cove and back to the WSR at the previous day's decision-point. As we sat there, we were approached by a member of the one of the MRTs who was searching for a man who had been reported as having had a heart-attack near Blind Tarn. We gave as much info as possible about the folk that we had met since leaving there, then he carried on up to the top at a cracking pace. A few minutes later the SAR helicopter was hovering above the ridge somewhere near Brown Pike:
The SAR helicopter heading past Dow Crag towards Brown Pike
We got some great views from the Hause before dropping down the path to the Water:
Grey Friar, Great Carrs and Swirl How from Goat's Hause
Dow Crag towering above Goat's Water
Goat's Water and the path to The Cove
Each step down the path was designed to make me wince, and each one did. Eventually we dropped out of the worst of the wind and had lunch behind some large rocks just before the waterside section of the path began. As we ate, the sunlight disappeared and was replaced by dark cloud - rain was heading our way. We made our way out of The Cove as the heavens opened and the thunder started to boom around the fells. Most of the activity was over Dow Crag and The Old Man, and I'm sure that those summits had a few lightning-strikes during that hour - I was glad that we weren't still up there. The rain stopped as we passed Boo Tarn, and by the time we reached the car-park the clouds had cleared to allow the sun to start roasting us again.
We sat in the car, dejected, trying to salvage something from the wreckage of the weekend. In circumstances like these, there's only one thing to do...
To be continued.
Coniston Fells Wildcamping – Part 1 – On familiar ground
Yet again we had a fairly hassle-free drive up the A5 and the M6, this time to Junction 36. After a quick stop-off in Ambleside for Chris to pick up some odds and ends, we set off for Coniston.
We parked up at the old quarry car-park near Timley Knott on the Walna Scar Road and got ready for action. Packs were hoisted and we were off along the Road, heading for The Cove. This is familiar ground for me - I spent two weeks mapping this area as a Brum Uni geology undergrad way back in '82, and I took Chris there in '98 for a day-walk. Even so, there is still much of interest, geological and otherwise, despite the distraction of the trail of loose-dumped rock that is supposed to be a repaired path:
Looking back down the "path" towards Coniston
As you can see, the hazy cloud meant that the light was flat, so the pics aren't up to much.
Our first objective was to pitch where we would be able to walk the Dow Crag ridge the next day, and the decision-point for choosing which way to tackle the job was the junction where the path splits below Little Arrow Moor - straight on for Blind Tarn, right for Goat's Water. We weighed up the options... Goat's Water was the easy option, lower and more accessible, but we'd been there before and it was only on our options-list in case we were running out of time and/or light. As we were doing fine for both, we stayed on the Road and soon we reached Cove Bridge, where we stopped for a few pics:
Looking up the "path" towards the ridge
Cove Bridge and Torver Beck
Chris approaching Cove Bridge
Chris on Cove Bridge
Brown Pike beyond the poser on the bridge
After that we continued along the Road, heading for Blind Tarn, a place recommended by a certain Mr. Hee.
The loose-dumped surface started to get steeper as we reached Goatfoot Crags on the lower slopes of Brown Pike, and after much boot-scuffing we found the man-made grassy rake that leads to the high quarries above the natural bowl that holds Blind Tarn. After a few minutes we were at the waterside, and we had the place to ourselves, which is just as well, as there are only a couple of places there which would take our tent with any degree of comfort.
Due to our well-practised routine (we pitch the inner together, then I deal with the outside stuff while Chris sorts the gear inside), we were soon pitched and ready to enjoy the rest of the evening, which was warm and hazy with a light breeze. As the darkness set in the haze cleared and we could see the lights of the coastal towns all the way down to the coast of North Wales - impressive stuff!
To be continued.
