Great Weather in the Connies / Merry Christmas

Tue 12 Dec 23

Our second and last trip away this year (what a poor year for trips!) and we were blessed, for a change, with superb weather on our single walking day 🙂

Not the weather on the day but the same walk…

All below photos:
Richard’s Olympus point-and-shoot digi-camera

Unfortunately, despite the fact that I needed to finish a film off, I completely forgot to bring my Zenith SLR on this trip 😦  This meant I had to borrow Richard’s digi-camera until near the summit of the first peak.  This was really a shame as the views were stunningly clear and crisp due to the cold weather.

We parked up easily (for a change) around 1030 in Coniston – trying to put the poor Polo in the sun – horrible to have to sit in the shade when there’s sun about!  I’m not sure he got any though as the buildings on the sunny side were too tall and the sun too low really.

I wrongly supposed that the road to the Coppermines would be the sunniest side of the beck to ascend so we went that way – I was very pleased to see lots of notices to the tourists that they really shouldn’t be driving up this road as it’s access only and a footpath.  It really used to irritate me that people would insist on trying to drive up and down it past us when they really shouldn’t be there in the first place!

Soon we crossed the bridge over the beck and continued up the, surprisingly dry, Miners’ Track footpath.

Richard actually took this one before I took his camera off him!

At the join with the path from the high carpark (which I can’t see how anyone in their right minds drives up to as it’s lethally steep, slippery and very narrow!), we met another ascending couple.  Despite my natural instinct to give them a good thrashing up the route and stay ahead of them all the way, of course this day I couldn’t do that as I had Richard with me.  Shame as I was feeling very fit!

After a while I took Richard’s rucksack off him as it would speed things up a bit – he was doing pretty well though to say he hasn’t been on the hills most days as I have.

It was interesting to see that they’ve now put labels on all the old quarry workings and buildings with what they are and the dates they were in use – great idea.  While we passed an interesting old quarry on the way, I recounted to Richard an amusing story about when I went into this quarry to take photos and fell flat on my arse on a slippery slate slab in front of loads of onlookers!  Luckily the Zenith was okay…

In what seemed like no time at all, we were up at Low Water.  As you reach the back of the corrie from here, my favourite views in the Connies opened up so I got the camera off Richard again.

Looking across the end of Low Water to Wetherlam

Lovely light on the end of Low Water

When we reached the shoulder before the final steep ascent up the cone (which has now been stone-pitched!) Richard said why didn’t I go ahead and continue on to Swirl How if that’s what I wanted to do.  I’d been thinking about this all the way and so eagerly accepted.  He had the camera back again so no more photos from here.

He said he’d wait out of the cold wind and in the sun somewhere down by Goats Water – I said I’d be as quick as I could, gave him his rucksack back, and shot off at speed up the rest of the hill.

I don’t stop on summits really, especially in cold winds, so just nipped over the summit ‘hump’ very quickly and continued along the ridge.  I expected the wind to be phenomenally cold along the ridge but it wasn’t too bad really.  There were a couple of remaining snow patches along the ridge which I tested though – they were frozen solid!  We’d brought spikes anyway so it didn’t matter even if the whole ridge had been icy.

I was soon whizzing past Brim Fell’s summit and down the descent to the Levers Hause col.  My ascent past Great How Crags was almost as fast and I reached Swirl How in three-quarters of an hour – pretty good for two miles with a largish re-ascent! 🙂

I was a bit disturbed on the final section to Swirl How to be passed by a runner with a little dog.  The dog was actually a chihuahua and coatless at that!  I felt really sorry for the dog as I felt it was too small to be out fell-running and also was too thin to have any energy reserves or to be able to keep warm without a coat.  After all, here I was storming up the hill as fast as I could go and I still had all my layers on including my windproof outer.

I quickly tapped the huge summit cairn at Swirl How, had a longing look at the very near-looking Great Carrs, and reluctantly turned back for Great How Crags.  I quickly visited Great How Crags and then shot off back down to Levers Hause.  From here I took the traverse path under Brim Fell to Goats Hause.  As this path is a bit narrow and over very steep ground indeed, I hoped that the path was neither icy nor collapsing with all the bad weather we’ve been having.  Luckily it was perfectly safe.

Obviously, by the time I reached Richard by Goats Water (which had by now gone into shade), I’d probably been around an hour and a quarter.

“Where on earth have you been?” demanded Richard.

I was a bit taken-aback…

“I went as fast as I could and have made a really good time”.

Turns out, although Richard had ‘given me permission’ to go to Swirl How, what he actually meant was Brim Fell!  He said that when he reached the summit of Coniston Old Man I was nearly there.  I said my peak was much further than he could see and that I’d show him on the map later.  I actually pointed out his mistake when we rounded the fells on our way back and could see all the peaks lined up.

Anyway, no harm done – he wasn’t too mad and we had another nice break in the sun on the way down from Goats Water.

We actually walked down the road from the ‘mad’ carpark and couldn’t believe how steep and slippery it really is!  I’ve gone up it before but never down – I have to say I wasn’t too happy as I always think I’m going to fall on steep, wet roads nowadays.

Unfortunately, we got back just ten minutes or so too late to get anything to eat in a cafe so we just drove straight back to our accommodation in Broughton-in-Furness where Richard offered me one of his sandwiches.  Of course, them being cheese and me still being ‘dairy-free’, I just had to eat the bread – he doesn’t bother with butter or margarine… At least he had tomatoes to help it down.

Hope you all have a good Christmas!

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