Wet day on Dow Crag

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A long standing date to take a friend up onto Dow Crag arrived on Saturday, possibly the wettest day I had seen so far. It was so wet that although we had scheduled an early start we headed to the Church Inn to see if we could get a morning coffee at 9.30 a.m. Although they didn’t do morning coffee as such the girl behind the bar was very happy to serve us with a coffee and cappuccino and then lit the fire, things were looking up but it was still chucking it down. Maybe the fire and coffee wasn’t a good move. By half past ten with no let up in sight we headed off and thankful to the Church Inn for not only providing coffee but also for letting us leave the car in their car park. Their only stipulation was park in the middle so people driving by can see that the pub’s not empty. Apparently tourists more likely to call in to a busy pub than a quiet one!!
Suitably togged for wet weather we headed of to the lane leading to Scarr Head Caravan site, follow the signs for Walna Scar and Tranearth and you are quickly on to a walled lane. The route is easy to follow and you are soon heading up through the spoil heaps of the local slate quarry. These sites abound in the Coniston fells and I fell that rather than detract from the scenery they are what Coniston is about. In drier conditions I often spend time just exploring this area and imagining what it was like working here in the 1800’s.

Beyond the spoil heaps you come upon the disused quarry where the beck has broken through on the far side creating a wonderful waterfall. In summer the quarry is a deep blue and makes a wonderful sight.

Quarry filled with overflow from Torver Beck

A bit of a slog onwards up grassy slopes and bracken brings you to the Walna Scar road. The road which had become very eroded, suffering from 4X4’s and trial bikes using it. It looks a really good surface. Let’s hope the decision to ban motorised vehicular access isn’t reversed again and the surface will remain in good condition. Details about the situation can be found at http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/index/enjoying/outdoors/green_roads/green_road_walna.htm Footnote this surface obviously doesn't meet with everybody's approval as per a sequence of comments on Striding Edge's Facebook site. I believe it is a matter of time and the new track will start to blend in in a few years, time is very relative when the lakes have taken millions of years to develop.

The route is good all the way to the ridge between Coniston and the Duddon Valley where you need to turn off for Brown Pike. A very short break in the rain had tempted us to take off our waterproofs but it didn’t last long and the cag’s were back on for the climb to Brown Pike. On the way we were surprised that despite the rain the tops of the Old Man and Dow Crag were clear of cloud but as we arrived on the top the cloud descended and no views were to be had until just as we were ready to move on from Brown Pike we got some tantalising and very brief glimpses up the Duddon Valley and beyond.

Max looking for a view from the shelter on Brown Pike

Moody view back along the ridge to Buck Pike

The ridge route is very straightforward and Buck Pike was quickly reached and passed with heads down in the mist and rain.

Brief glimpse of Harter Fell

In the fog the views down the gulleys of Dow Crag looked even more forbidding and soon we were clambering up the crags on to the very summit of Dow. No matter how often I scramble up here I always have some trepidation about the drops on the far side of the summit and today I had Max a new dog not yet used to the fells. So I was keeping him on a lead as I didn’t want him shooting straight over and down the other side and as a result was getting tugged around on the slippy, wet crags more than I felt happy with.
Luckily for us during our short period here the cloud lifted just leaving the ridge clear giving a spectacular view and also good views to Harter Fell and beyond.
The weather conditions remained atrocious and so we cast aside any thoughts of heading up to the Old Man and set off down to Goat’s Water. Half way down we were caught in an even heavier rain storm that turned to hailstones and soon the fells were streaming. Max my springer spaniel didn’t seem impressed by the stinging hailstones.

Moody Dow Crags

By now even the good paved way down to Goats Water was more like a running river and we didn’t hang about on our way back to Torver. However, there was one last little sting in the tail to the walk when we reached a couple of little becks that had been a simple stride across on the way up were now difficult to cross. The waterfall into the disused quarry was now twice the size and the river beyond was nearly up to the surface of the bridge across.

Becks now raging torrents

A return visit to the Church Inn and the warm fire and a good pint this time now beckoned.