Posts tagged 'Goat’s Water'

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

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

Coniston Fells Wildcamping – Part 2 – Twist and Shout

Posted by on April 30th 2009 in Annual Wildie, Great Escapes, Health, or lack thereof, Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping
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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.