Walkhighlands

Walna Scar Car Park - Coniston Old Man - Brim Fell - Dow Crag - Walna Scar Road
Damson and I set off early from Dalton as weather report looked bleak for the afternoon ... and we all know that weather reports are excellent. Had sight of our first rainbow before we got out of the car and walked up into every weather imaginable as we climbed up through the old quarry up the Old Man. Wind and drizzle to begin with but Damson didn't seem phased so we pushed on. On nearing top of Old Man it turned to fog and then snow with the wind picking up a bit. We pushed on across the top for Brim Fell with visibility down to a few yards and the snow turning to hail. As Damsons ears were being bombarded and flapping furiously in the wind we quickly turned and headed for Dow Crag. Back to heavy rain and hail and strong winds on ascent of Dow Crag and plenty of hot air as the weather predictors got a blast from a very disgruntled me. This was very quickly to change on reaching top of Dow Crag though as the clouds lifted and first views of surrounding fells poked through. On descent down the ridges towards Brown How, the sun broke through and by the time we had reached the Walna Scar Road the entire fells were bathed in glorious light and looked quite inviting. My advise for those venturing into the lakes is to ignore any weather report as it has its very own system. All in all though, we had an adventure and knocked a few ounces off the waistband ... which we put back on in Broughton at a pub on the way home.

Which pub in Broughton? We go to Broughton a lot and stay at The Manor (Arms) but they don't do main meals, just toasties and soup, so we eat at either 'The Black Cock', 'The Kings Head' or the one with the view at the top of the hill, the 'High Cross Inn'... They're all pretty good really and it's a lovely village - but if you come from Dalton you probably visit a lot...

The Lakes certainly have their own weather systems for each valley and set of fells - can be useful if you've travelled all the way from the Dales like we do - you just swap to a different valley if you don't like the weather in the local one!

That day was the Kings Head but another good pud in locality is the Blacksmiths Arms in Broughton Mills. Great food and a healthy selection of ales. Been there a few times just recently having climbed Caw and the Dunnerdale Fells.

We've been to the Blacksmith's too - several times... but we won't ever go for a meal of a winter's evening any more... last time the main bar with the fire was full so they stuck us in a side room with no heating... I had to wear my gloves to eat!! The food is great though...