Captain's Log

Coniston

It was still dark as we set off from the carpark in the centre of Coniston. There was just enough light though to see that there were clouds hugging the summit of the Old Man Of Coniston. That was disappointing since the weather forecast was for a half decent day. Maybe we’d just started in the bad half of that half decent day. We planned to walk up to Swirl How via Levers Water and then make our way across the high ridge to the Old Man himself, before descending by Goat’s Tarn and returning to Coniston along the Walna Scar road. It was a walk I’d enjoyed many times and it seemed like a good plan to me. As they say in the military though, ‘No plan survives  contact with the enemy.’ The quote is attributed to the Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, a brilliant war strategist of the 19th century. He reckoned that military strategy can be understood as a system of options and that it was possible to plan only the beginning of a military operation. He saw his role as making extensive preparations for all possible outcomes. I think Helmuth would have found me a disappointing prospect. I tend to make rigorous preparations for plan A, but then am preparations-lite for alternative plans B or C. These thoughts were mulling through my brain as we ascended the track alongside Church Beck and spots of rain started to fall. It was early days yet though and I wasn’t going to make preparations for a plan B or C just yet, whatever von Moltke might think. 

Levers Water

Once we’d crossed the Miners Bridge over Church Beck the day had lightened somewhat and we could see the full extent of the cloud; it covered the whole high ridge between the Old Man and Swirl How. Nothing could be done and we plodded up the stone road to the Coppermines Youth Hostel. The place was empty and looked as though it would have appreciated a lick of paint. There were some information boards on the other side of the road to the youth hostel which described the Coniston copper mining industry from its earliest days. It was an informative read and as we studied the boards, the sun poked its head above Grizedale Forest in the east. We were suddenly in that delightful period where the sun is above the horizon, but below our cloud base. The light illuminated the fells with a golden glow and made the dead bracken a vivid copper colour. It was still raining though and as we walked alongside Levers Water Beck, a wonderful rainbow materialised before us. It’s a shame that rain makes an essential contribution to a rainbow. You never get anything for nothing in this life though. The stone road leading us up to Levers Water was very icy and there were stretches where we had to be careful with our footing. I was therefore surprised to encounter a United Utilities pickup rolling down the road towards me  at a fair pace. I got out of its way opposite an icy stretch of road. It rolled over the ice without any problems. I’m not sure I’d have been so confident driving on this surface. 

We reached the small weir/dam at Levers Water. The reservoir is surrounded by high fells and feels an imposing location. Immediately opposite us, on the other side of the water, we could see a couple of people standing next to a tent. It must have been a cold experience for their wildcamp last night. Normally, at this point, I’d take the footpath alongside the reservoir and make my way up to Swirl Hawse at the top of the pass. Today though, as part of my plan A, I’d decided to walk along the ridge on the east, up to Black Sails, where we’d then drop down to Swirl Hawse. We set off to climb to the ridge. 

Kennel Crag, Erin Crag And Black Sails

I’d never walked along this ridge before. After all the decades of walking the Coniston fells, I’d never actually been up here. I can only put that down to there not being a footpath shown on the OS map. There is definitely a track though, admittedly a little vague in places. Firstly, we headed southwards to Kennel Crag. It would mean doing a short out-and-back along the ridge but it was well worth it to get a marvellous view of the surrounding fells. There was also a wonderful view of the Red Dell valley to the east. It was illuminated by the sun, but then dulled as the sun left the golden zone and started rising above the cloud base. Kennel Crag is an Explorer hill, as is Erin Crag and Black Sails further along the ridge, and was one of the reasons that I chose this route. We backtracked along the ridge and then started heading northwards. It was a wonderful route with great views down to Levers Water on our left and the Red Dell valley to our right. We’d have also got a great view of the higher Coniston fells, if it hadn’t been so misty. We walked right over Erin Crag without realising it was the summit. It was only when I looked at the map that I realised we were stood north of it on Blake How. It was a gradual ascent along the ridge and relatively easy walking. The fells from the Old Man to Swirl How still clung on to the mist. I didn’t really fancy spending an afternoon walking in mist. When I was younger I didn’t mind so much, but nowadays I walk for the views and not just the exercise. Over to my right I could see that Wetherlam was clear of mist and it was even catching a bit of sunshine. Couldn’t my plan B simply be a walk over to Wetherlam and then follow its southern ridge back down to Coniston? As we were having a break, just below Black Sails’ summit I mooted this alternative to the Kapitan and the Cabin Boy. There were no objections. 

It was a small diversion from the track to get to the summit cairn of Black Sails. We were all so impressed by the views from this peak that we had a vote and decided to include Black Sails in our Wainwright’s Missed Gems list. It is well worthy of this distinction and a mystery as to why Wainwright didn’t include it in his list.

Wetherlam

We dropped back down to our ascent track again and this drifted around the head of the Red Dell valley towards Wetherlam. A few walkers were descending from the summit and heading off on the path to Swirl Hawse. It was quite icy as we climbed up to its rocky plateau summit and the rocks were a bit slippery. There was a strong, cold wind too. The summit cairn had been commandeered by a group of half a dozen walkers and they seemed reluctant to shift as we approached. One of them stayed behind to check his phone next to the cairn as I waited patiently to take a picture of the cairn without his presence. He finished whatever he was doing and set off after his fellow walkers. Wetherlam is a wonderful vantage point. The Old Man and Swirl How were still in clag, but the rest of the Lake District was in sunshine, albeit a little hazy. The cold wind was driving through us and so we started to make a move down Wetherlam’s southern ridge. The well worn track was very icy and so we tended to stick to the grass. I wanted to have a gander at Steel Edge, as a prospect for an ascent later in the year. We made our way across to the point where the edge  met the Wetherlam ridge. It looked rather steep from this angle and not one I’d fancy doing under icy conditions. I want to do Wetherlam Edge later in the year and so will be able to get a better look at the edge from below when I do that walk. We had our lunch break next to a frozen Wetherlam Tarn, another tick on the Lakeland Tarn venture. 

After lunch we continued down the ridge. The track split into several other ones as we descended, but the obvious Hole Rake path was a hard target to miss and it didn't really matter where we joined it.  

Return

During our descent along Wetherlam’s southern ridge, the mist over the Old Man had Swirl How had finally decided to take up residence elsewhere and all the Coniston tops were visible. We’d probably have had a clear view from the Old Man if we’d stuck to the original plan A, but I wasn’t complaining, since plan B had been an equally good alternative. We continued down the Hole Rake path, back down into the valley and we met up with the ascent path from this morning. After crossing the Miners Bridge over Church Beck we followed a man with a spade walking down the path. Every so often, he’d stop and remove stones that had fallen into the purpose built water gullies. He had his work cut out since there were quite a few gullies and the rain had washed a lot of stones into them. Coniston was a lot busier than this morning and the carpark was full. Looking back up to the Coniston range, every top was clear of mist. Would I prepare a detailed plan B in future; probably not. I guess that’s why I never chose to be a military strategist as a career. 

Plan B had been shorter than plan A, but given the short winter day, that wasn’t such a bad thing. The ridge walk from Kennel Crag to Black Sails was quite a revelation. It had wonderful views on both sides of the ridge. Black Sails is as good as any of the other Coniston peaks, despite Wainwright not including it in his list. It would be quite nice to descend down this ridge, something I might arrange for a future walk.