The Old Man of Coniston (2634ft /803m)

Coniston Old Man or The "Old man" as it is sometimes alternatively and affectionately known as, overlooks Coniston village from the west with the area being once rich in copper and slate mining. This was the last day in the Lake District and the purpose of this walk was to climb Dow Crag from a different direction covering my unconquered peaks of Brown Pike and Buck Pike.

Two points for the walkers and climbers reading this ... I considered this as an alternative Coniston round and yes, I cheated on this occasion and drove up  to the Walna Scar car park ... I didn't like putting my car through that agony. In my defence I did start from the village on a previous occasion to do the official "round", but as that was back in 1996 (that was the last time I was here - shameful), I maybe wrong but I thought that there was a noticeable difference in the traffic and parking regulations for the same time of year.

The "trek" along Walna Scar road seems easy enough on the map but the constant tramping on the large stones feels like walking a few miles on a pebbly beach. As this is on the periphery of the main mountain ranges of Cumbria, the scenery can sometimes seem a little drab. A bridge crossing the stream seemed like a breath of fresh air to .... the camera at least !

As I was a bit desperate to get the photographic material started, I thought I would try something a little different with the bridge.

The above photo is the reverse viewpoint of the previous landscape showing the footpath repairers trying to improve or rather rescue a difficult section with Coniston Lake coming into view.

The only way to get across country like this  ... ooh, I'm tempted to have a go !! However the sight of this is a little controversial seeing that 4x4 vehicles and motorbikes were banned from using this route several years ago to prevent further destruction to the ...  errr ... road !

Walna scar road connects a remote part of the Lake District of Seathwaite in Dunnerdale to Coniston. Travellers and shepherds that get caught out with the weather on the most exposed part of this south facing route can enjoy a welcome shelter large enough for two people at a squeeze ... cosy indeed !

It was time to get a bit more serious with the ascent as I was starting to fight off todays approaching western mist on the Brown Pike to Dow Crag ridge route.

After the morning exercise, it was time for a rest and to take in the view south towards my ascent route, south Cumbria, Morecambe Bay and the distant Fylde peninsula of Blackpool and Fleetwood.

... and to sample from my rucksack the almost intact well filled cheese savoury sandwiches from the Picnic Box shop in Ambleside.

Despite the ascent route following the edge of a sheer drop and rock climbers haven, the path is relatively straightforward. The rock summit of Dow Crag (778m) requires a little more care as it isn't an appropriate place to have lunch. I had to enjoy the contents of my rucksack from a small grassy plain ... nearer the edge of the cliff !

Goats Hawse

After lunch it was time to press on and descend to what seemed like the half way point of the walk and observe my high level clockwise route around Goats Water to Dow Crag on the right.

Sheep's House !!

Climbing up on the other side of the valley, it looked like this sheep has been misbehaving and was being severely punished for it !!

Eventually the ground levels out into almost cricket pitch terrain and the most northerly point of the walk is the amazing cairn on top of Brim Fell. Crinkle Crags (an earlier post and walk of this week) and Bowfell are seen in the background to the left.

Although the last section of the walk to the summit of The Old Man of Coniston doesn't look difficult, I had to think of a password to get past the sheep !!

Thankfully he let me past and I was able to enjoy views towards Coniston village and Lake....

...whilst not forgetting the imposing and yet magnificent Dow Crag in the other direction

Coniston Old man summit

The Trig point and summit of Old Man of Coniston that so many budding mountaineers have conquered !
Just to point out that the view to the left is the title photo ... depicting the Old Man of Coniston ... apologies to him as he was sat in the ... right place !!

There remained a small matter of getting down the mountain, I did give the idea of hitching a lift down to the car park a brief thought ......

So I had to join the rest of the happy climbers on the rough slate descent route .....

"No Mother, I'm not walking any further " !

Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags (2816 ft / 859m)

After the introductory walk from the previous post (Loughrigg Fell), I was ready to do something a bit more serious with the above image showing some of this walk's targets from near the start. The undulating Crinkle Crags at the centre with Great Knott protruding from the horizon on the left. The ascent was diagonally to the far left with the descent route down the green rounded ridge of "The Band" in the right hand side of the photo.

Even though this clockwise walk at the head of Langdale valley was based on a one I did back in July 1996 when I climbed all of the Wainwright Mountains and Hills in a 10 year period, the motivation for this walk was to cover the unconquered lesser known tops of Great Knott and some of the sub summits of Cold Pike.

On leaving the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park, it is always a joy to take in the sights  ......

.... and sounds of the Langdale valley. The unconventional view of The Langdale Pikes is always prominent in the background.

A working farm ... Stool End

... and some bits that don't work !!

It was time to leave civilisation behind and head for the mountains. The route up was right to left in front of the dark crag heading for the horizon at the left hand side of the photo. First objective was the top of Great Knott on the left of the photo.

The view from there looking back to where the last photo was taken and The Langdale valley. The Helvellyn and Fairfield mountain ranges are on the horizon towards the left and centre respectively.

Crinkle Crags from Great Knott

Crinkle crags is made up of five individual rocky crinkles that become a mountain range on their own that stretch between Cold Pike and Bowfell. Wainwright describes them as ".... too good to be missed. For the mountaineer who prefers his mountains rough, who likes to see steep craggy slopes towering before him into the sky, who enjoys an up and down ridge walk full of interesting nooks and corners, who has an appreciative eye for  magnificent views, this is a climb deserving of high priority. .... Crinkle Crags merits respect and should be treated with respect. "

Firstly though, I had an appointment to keep with Cold Pike and I endeavoured to keep my boots dry in this a generally pathless terrain from the main footpath.

Having failed at that task with my right boot anyway ( I need a new pair !), I had some of the locals either looking or smiling at my misfortune !

I met a family had struggled to the top of Wrynose pass with their car and climbed the shorter route to the top. Apart from the father, most of the family didn't want to walk any further which included their dog. Mind you at this point in the day, Crinkle Crags in the distance doesn't look too appealing !

The weather was kind to me as I reached the main summit although the cloud to the left was never very far away. There are two routes from the south side, one is the walkers route that you can see skirting around and up to the summit on the extreme left and the other is a classic scrambling and aspirational rock climbers route called ... The Bad Step.

Not so classic ascent !!

After a lunch break and traversing the rest of the Crinkles, I had 15 minutes to take in one of my favourite mountain locations at Three Tarns with Scafell Pike and Scafell providing the eerie backdrop. As the weather didn't look promising at this point, I retreated from the mountain tops down The Band to the gentleness and calm of Langdale...

Farmer's rest at Stool End

"The Band"

After the long and seemingly unending walk, The pub of Old Dungeon Ghyll was a welcome sight beside the car park where I could relax for a bit, but I would have much preferred to take it a step further !!! .....

(Have a great weekend, I'm away for five to six days, I'll start catching up with your blogs at the end of next week)

Loughrigg Fell 1099ft/335m

Loughrigg Fell is one of the smaller Fells in the Lake District which A.W. Wainwright once quoted as being the fell that had a wealth of interests and delights, for many people who now find pleasure in walking over the greater mountains, it served as an introduction and inspiration.

(The above view from the summit looking west is of the Langdale Pikes to the right with Bowfell and Crinkle Crags moving around the horizon to the left.)

This is usually thought of as an opening walk for an Ambleside based hillwalking holiday, which I was on, although it is still considered as a pleasant enough hill climb for those unaccustomed to the higher Fells.

See if you can spot the head. It's not meant to be but me being me ... I found one !!

The walk began from Ambleside commenced in Rothay Park and although I had done this walk some time before, there was one noticeable new feature in the shape of the Sculpture named "Turning point". This was unveiled in July 2000 and contains a newly buried time capsule.

On the far side of the park, there was a short climb on a tree lined lane and on reaching the open countryside, the Fell was noted on the right.

Even though the route to the summit seemed unending, the walk was not difficult with a variety of scenery on way including views to the south of distant Windermere.

It took 90 minutes to reach the summit from my B&B in Ambleside and it was a place where everyone enjoyed the view !!

"Smile"

The view to the south of Windermere & the title shot looking west to Langdale valley is supplemented with Grasmere to the north and a chance for people to replicate calendar scenes that they may have seen on their kitchen wall !

The serious part of the walk is the descent towards Grasmere & Loughrigg Terrace but with views above of the ever increasing Grasmere, who can complain about this.

On my return route I decided to stay high away from Rydal water in order to cover Rydal caves, an amazing geological feature created by the extraction of stone by quarry men 200 years ago. It is said that the whole population of Ambleside could fit inside this cave. I'm not quite sure how that would work as most of the surface is covered in water.

Dangers lurking in the deep !!

One of the most photographed subjects on Rydal water is this boat house. It is often seen by motorists driving southbound on the main Keswick to Ambleside road, but once seen, is impossible to stop. Consequently having seen it on numerous occasions in beautiful conditions and ... otherwise, this was a rare opportunity to photograph it albeit from a distance and without the picturesque reflections.
Rydal Water has provided inspiration for the poets and writers William Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and Samuel Coleridge with Rydal Mount and Nab Cottage being nearby.

I made a little de-tour to check out some buildings next to the main road in Wordsworth country. The above building is at the bottom of the lane that leads to Wordsworth's Rydal Mount.

Lake District church architecture nearby

I crossed back over the road and continued my walk on quieter lanes back to Ambleside only to be stopped, tempted and be succumbed by my favourite ice cream ....

English Lakes Ice Cream .... Blackcurrant and Cream