My intention for the day was to visit all Seven Coniston wainwrights but as this was dependant upon how I was feeling this plan was in no way set in stone. It was somewhat cloudy and hazy when I set off but the forecast was for a gradual improvement through the day and already some patches of sunshine were breaking through and the tops were, by in large clear.


As one would expect the Walna Scar road was very busy at this time but once I turned off for the path by Goat's water the crowds thinned out to a trickle. I had never been on this path before and I must say I found it very nice, like a scaled down version of Corrie Lagan on Skye especially once the tarn is reached and the mighty Dow Crag towers impressively skywards.



Dow Crag by Anthony Young, on Flickr
It was very peaceful next to Goat's Water but I resisted the temptation to sit and take it all in and kept a steady pace up the back of the Corrie to Goat's Hawse. From here it's a surprisingly easy gradient up the the spectacular rocky summit, perhaps the best in the district. I felt great following the ascent and quite exhilarated by the views, so full of energy we set off for the Old man. Once past the hawse I somehow missed the highway to the top










It is often said anybody can make a mistake but only a fool fails to learn from it. Well on my way to the crowded top a nice gentleman pointed out I'd dropped my fleece which was secured






Coniston Old Man may be a very busy top but the views are stunning with great depth and interest, I took the scene in but as I wasn't particularly hungry yet I headed off across the easiest of ground towards Brim Fell. The Coniston Fells are, by in large, blessed with fine summits but Brim Fell is rather the ugly duckling in this respect and therefore not really a place to linger so I carried on to the greatly superior Birkett top of Great How Crags to have a break and a bite to eat. It was slightly chilly so I put my trusty old fleece on for what would be that last time








I was still well ahead of time so I strapped my fleece onto the back of my pack









I trudged rather disconsolately back up to Great How Crags, fleece-less and rather annoyed at whoever had scavenged it. They also now have my favourite warm hat and a decent pair of woollen gloves so if you read this, found a two tone green Berghaus fleece on the 14th of April and are attacked by guilt I'll happily pay the postage for the items to be returned. With this setback it was time to crack on so I got going along the Swirl band, passed the top of Swirl How and followed the top of Broad Slack to Great Carrs.



I had another rest and rations stop here with the tremendous view down to Little Langdale for company. My original full plan involved the two other Birkets a bit further down the ridge which I wasn't sure if I'd bagged last time I was this way, but given the backtracking I gave them a miss and headed back to the busy summit of Swirl How and the descent of the Prison Band.


The Prison Band is not really threatening like it's name suggests and it provides a nice route down from, or up to Swirl How. I was on the way to Wetherlam following crossing Swirl hause when I decided that If I was going to visit all the main summits of the Coniston Fells I had to include Black Sails, so off we trudged for another 40 meters of ascent to this fine and often overlooked top. Wetherlam quickly followed and so did a sit with boots off in the sun. By this time I'd unwittingly made my second balls up of the day and managed to turn my camera onto small Jpeg format so if the last 10 or so images don't quite look as good as normal that's the reason. I felt remarkably good considering the distance and ascent i'd undertaken so far and with the sun shining my fleece woes were totally forgotten.











Hughie takes in the views by Anthony Young, on Flickr
It was downhill just about all the way now and with an easy gradient a very pleasurable walk in the early evening sunshine. Little did I know my camera was now taking sub standard photos but that can't be helped now. By the time I returned to Walna Scar car park it was around 6 P.M. and facing a fairly long drive home I took my time and stopped for provisions at a services. My tea was an unusual mix of items but following a long day in the hills it all got shovelled in happily.




