Coniston
Car Park - Miners Bridge - Wetherlam - Black Sails
- Swirl Hause - Levers Water - Miners Bridge - Coniston
Car Park
In the Lake District this weekend there was no snow
at low altitude but there certainly was on top of the
fells. I could not wait to get back up high again.
Today I decided to drive to Coniston after planning
a walk up to Wetherlam the day before. My intention
was to see what the weather conditions would be like
on the fells before deciding how far I should go.
From
the main car park in Coniston I walked through the
village and walked by Church Beck to Miners Bridge.
The sun was shining this morning which made the Coppermines
Valley a lovely scene. I took the path up the side
of Mouldry Bank to Hole Rake. I then climbed the
steepening path to Red Gill Head Moss and onwards
over Lower Hows
to Wetherlam at 762 metres. The ascent from Hole
Rake to the summit was slow with snow (deep
in places) and
ice. It certainly was great fun negotiating the snow
and ice. The scenery was breathtaking. From about
half way up the ascent the sun was replaced
by a blanket
of cloud and the skies looked really menacing at
times. In fact the fells looked almost spooky
where the sun
managed to break through the cloud.
At
the summit I met another walker who also had a photographic
website. At this point I had
to decide
what path I
would be taking next. I certainly was going to
walk to Swirl Hawse but was I going to ascend
Swirl How
via the Prison Band? Initially I was hoping to
walk from Swirl How to Coniston Old Man. After
a short
rest I set off for the summit of Black Sails. From
there
I descended steeply to Swirl Hause. As I looked
across to the Prison Band it looked very snowy
and icy.
I thought that it would take me quite a time to
attain the summit of Swirl How. In the end
I decided to
give
it a miss and instead descend back to Coniston
via Levers Water.
On
the way back and after Levers Water I met with a
fellow OFC member Richard Ratcliffe with his
brother. It was great to meet up with them. However
they had
been in difficulty ascending Swirl How and were
helped by a mountain rescuer to a safe place
to descend
back
down to Swirl Hause. I was so glad I had decided
not to ascend!! When we arrived back in Coniston
we went
for a coffee in a local cafe – it was certainly
a very welcome sight. By
the way who said anything about crampons and
ice axes!?!?
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