Posts tagged 'Coniston Fells'

Coniston Fells Wildcamping (again) – Part 2 – Roasting on the Ridges

Posted by on July 20th 2009 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping

You know that there's a great day ahead when the morning starts like this:

 

Moon over Brim Fell

 

The view down towards Coniston Water was no less impressive:

 

Cloud over Coniston Water

 

After a leisurely breakfast and the necessary ablutions I struck camp and wandered the hundred yards or so back up onto the path below the Black Sails ridge. While I was tightening my bootlaces a fellow wildcamper, Steve, caught up. He'd spent the night down at Levers Water and he too was heading for Swirl How, so we walked together for a while:

 

Looking back towards Levers Water

 

Steve's good with a camera, so good that he managed to get a rare snap of this strange critter:

 

Posing

 

The pull up to Swirl Hawse was a sweaty affair, with the sun strengthening and not a hint of a breeze, despite the warnings from MWIS. The view from the Hawse was simply stunning, the following pic doesn't do it any justice at all:

 

Great Carrs and Wet Side Edge from Swirl Hawse

 

We took our time going up the Prison Band, stopping often to draw breath and take pics:

 

Steve on the Prison Band

 

Looking back down the Prison Band towards Wetherlam

 

Having a breather

 

Before long we were at the summit of Swirl How. I'd expected there to have been more folk about up there, but we had the place and the views to ourselves:

 

Coniston Old Man, Brim Fell and Dow Crag from Swirl How

 

Steve's next objective was Brim Fell, so after a snack we exchanged contact details and went our separate ways. I took the track around towards Great Carrs, a top that I'd been to many years ago but in zero visibility and without a camera. I paused at the shallow col at the top of Broad Slack to nab some pics:

 

Great Carrs from the top of Broad Slack

 

Grey Friar from the top of Broad Slack

 

A few yards further on is a memorial to the crew of Halifax Bomber LL505 - "S" for Sugar. I'll let the pics do the talking:

 

 

 

 

 

From there it was a quick walk to the delightful top of Great Carrs...

 

The top of Great Carrs

 

from where there were great views down Greenburn towards Little Langdale...

 

Greenburn and Little Langdale

 

and back over Broad Slack to Swirl How:

 

Broad Slack and Swirl How

 

After a few minutes admiring the scenery and pottering about looking at the rocks, I set off again, down the easy grass slope to the west. I dumped the pack at the Fairfield col and walked on up to Grey Friar for a fantastic 270-degree panorama from Coniston Old Man around to the other Fairfield (the one above Grisedale Tarn). I took a string of photos to stitch together to make a huge panoramic pic of the scene but it didn't come out well, so you'll have to make do with a few single shots:

 

Goat's Hawse flanked by Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag

 

Harter Fell across Dunnerdale

 

Looking towards the other Fairfield

 

Looking back across the summit plateau to the twin tops of Grey Friar, I noticed a small tarn - the first reachable water I'd seen since leaving Swirl Hawse. If I'd known about it beforehand, I'd probably have pushed on the day before and spent the first night there instead. Unnamed and unmapped, it's a spot for a future wildie, perhaps?

 

Grey Friar's tops and tarn

 

I wandered back down to reclaim my pack and sat back for a mid-morning snack and a brew, made some notes and planned the rest of the day.

To be continued.

Coniston Fells Wildcamping (again) – Part 1 – Up Sam Bottom

Posted by on July 16th 2009 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, Shiny new kit, Wildcamping

After the previous effort to walk these fells (see here and here), I was determined to get the job done this time. The weather forecast was a poignant reminder of the conditions during the last outing, but I've walked through much worse.

The weather was fine and hot, with just a few clouds here and there to frame the view. The drive up the road from Coniston to the old quarry car-park had to be interrupted to take in this fine sight of some of the target fells:

 

Coniston Fells Panorama

 

Beside the Walna Scar Road

 

I parked up in exactly the same space as before in the car-park near Timley Knott on the Walna Scar Road and, after getting kitted-up, started off along the winding quarry-road towards Boulder Valley and Levers Water:

 

The quarry-road

 

After a while I passed through the gap between The Bell and Stubthwaite Crag and onto the section where the path passes along a ledge beneath Crowberry Haws. From there, the views across the Coppermines Valley were impressive:

 

Looking towards Wetherlam

 

The Coppermines Valley and YHA

 

There was also a fine selection of flora and fauna next to the path:

 

Purple #1

 

Purple #2

 

The next stop was in Boulder Valley, to have a look at the famous "Pudding Stone" (the one on the left). OK, so it's a big boulder, but I wouldn't say it was anything special:

 

The Pudding Stone

 

Next it was up to the gap between Brim Fell End and Simon's Nick for the first sight of Levers Water:

 

Levers Water, with Swirl Hawse on the skyline

 

and a glimpse down into the darkness of the Nick:

 

The Nick

 

After the short stroll around to the weir to cross the outflow, it was time to take on some water and to grab a few more pics:

 

Levers Water again

 

Swirl How beyond Levers Water

 

From there it was a quick walk to the top end of the Water, where, after a brief look back towards Raven Tor...

 

Raven Tor above Levers Water

 

I took the path that leads up towards the col of Swirl Hawse. The grimness of the shaded scene above was amply compensated by the views of ground already traversed:

 

Another look back

 

After some heavy breathing, a stiff pull and a sweaty half-hour I was in position to pitch my erection in Sam Bottom, where I stayed until sunrise:

😯 😯 😯

 

The tarn with no name

 

A smaller tarn nearby

 

Pitched by the tarn

 

Another view of the pitch

 

And another

 

A final look back towards Coniston

 

Blue evening sky above Swirl Hawse

 

To be continued.

Coniston Fells Wildcamping puzzler

Posted by on July 12th 2009 in Great Escapes, Just for fun, Lakes Escapes, Pics, Wildcamping

This weekend's wildie was excellent - a right mixed bag of varying terrain and changing weather. It'll be a few days before the write-up is ready for posting, so, to tide you over, here are a few shots of the two places where I pitched. As usual, there are no prizes for correctly identifying the locations, but it should be an interesting test of how well you think you know the fells around Coniston.

Friday evening at a tarn with no name:

 

looking East...

 

and looking West.

 

Saturday evening in the woods:

 

looking South...

 

and another from the water's edge:

 

Any takers?

Here we go again

Posted by on July 10th 2009 in Lakes Escapes, Weather, Wildcamping

A tarn with no name

Posted by on July 9th 2009 in Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping

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

Posted by on May 28th 2009 in Astrostuff, Health, or lack thereof, Making stuff, Projects

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?