Day 6: Old Man of Coniston
Tues 14th July
Walked from the cottage in Scarr Head, just north of Torver, across the western base of the Old Man of Coniston to join the footpath ascending the mountain from Coniston village. Both Alison and I remember climbing the Old Man in our teens and finding the quarry road up to Low Water to be both dull and a bit of a grind – so much so that we had never before climbed it together. We were pleased to discover a ‘new’ footpath that ascends to the south of the quarry road, and equally pleased to find that most people still use the quarry road – so we had the footpath more-or-less to ourselves. The day started off cloudy with the tops covered, but by the time we were about halfway up the tops cleared and we were able to walk with good visibility all day. Having reached the top of the Old Man (803m) we continued down to Goats Hawse and then round the ridge formed by the greatly imposing steep rock edifice of Dow Crag (778m), Buck Pike (744m) and Brown Pike (682m). We then turned down the Walna Scar Road and back to Scarr Head. Distance ~13km; ascent ~800m.
Walked from the cottage in Scarr Head, just north of Torver, across the western base of the Old Man of Coniston to join the footpath ascending the mountain from Coniston village. Both Alison and I remember climbing the Old Man in our teens and finding the quarry road up to Low Water to be both dull and a bit of a grind – so much so that we had never before climbed it together. We were pleased to discover a ‘new’ footpath that ascends to the south of the quarry road, and equally pleased to find that most people still use the quarry road – so we had the footpath more-or-less to ourselves. The day started off cloudy with the tops covered, but by the time we were about halfway up the tops cleared and we were able to walk with good visibility all day. Having reached the top of the Old Man (803m) we continued down to Goats Hawse and then round the ridge formed by the greatly imposing steep rock edifice of Dow Crag (778m), Buck Pike (744m) and Brown Pike (682m). We then turned down the Walna Scar Road and back to Scarr Head. Distance ~13km; ascent ~800m.