Old Man +

[Broggy1]

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A real sweltering day out on the Coniston Hills - doing a slightly unusual route to visit a few new areas to me including the route up to Levers Hawse, Seathwaite Tarn and the Walna Scar route from the West.

Very busy in Coniston and on the Old Man but peace and quiet on the much quieter Duddon side.

Boiling hot and at times like walking in an oven!

Swirl How in view as I take the usual Old Man approach from Coniston to begin with

Once past the turn off for the Old Man things got a lot quieter as I headed towards Levers Water with Swirl Hawse in view

Heading round Levers Water - an attractive route

It's then a stiff climb on a well made path up to Levers Hawse. Certainly one of the quietest routes I've taken up to the Coniston Fells.

Looking down on Levers Water

Levers Hawse - I could have dropped down to Seathwaite Tarn here but as I'd gained the height I couldn't resist heading to a couple of tops

Old Man from Brim Fell

Busy Old Man summit - I didn't linger long

It was really tempting to stay high and head over to Dow Crag but I remained true to my goals for the day

Descending from Goats Hawse with Greyfriar ahead - although marked on the map the path is very faint - non-existent in parts - but the going is easy enough

Seathwaite Tarn

I opted to stay on the Southern side of the tarn where again there is a marked path on the map - this proved difficult to find on the ground and I found myself very low down with some really awkward scrambling moves up and down boulders and rock outcrops to navigate the tarn.

It occurred to me later that the level was so low I was probably where the tarn would usually be and checking the OS Map later it's obvious the true line keeps it's height much more.

Other reports also suggested that the Northern side has a much better path so worth bearing in mind for anybody visiting.

More boulders!

Eventually I hit a more even beach and joined up with the dam - which is serviced by a good track that links up with the Walna Scar path. Good views up Seathwaite.

Beautiful Duddon Valley with Caw, Back Combe and Whitfell in view

I now started the climb back up to Walna Scar - not a hard gradient at all but taxing in the heat and I had to drink loads of water to replenish what I was losing!

Nearly at the top of the pass - Dow Crag visible at the end of the ridge

Harter Fell and the Eskdale Giants

Dropping back down into Coniston on the Walna Scar route

A really interesting route to see up close some features I haven't seen before. Taxing around Seathwaite Tarn but I feel I made hard work of it and added more ascent than was required to climb up and down various rock outcrops.

It certainly looks a better bet to get to the Northern side of the Tarn..or better still perhaps turn right from Levers Hawse and go over Swirl How and Greyfriar and descend to the bottom of the dam?

It's very striking just how quiet the Western side of the Coniston Fells are compared to the Eastern side though!

[johnkaysleftleg]

I could have gone for a walk yesterday but just couldn't face the temperatures, I don't fair well in the heat. A great report however of a quite original route, not sure I'd have resisted Dow Crag.

[Broggy1]

I could have gone for a walk yesterday but just couldn't face the temperatures, I don't fair well in the heat. A great report however of a quite original route, not sure I'd have resisted Dow Crag.

Thanks - I must say in hindsight with how much body fluid I lost I did wonder if big fell walking in them conditions is wise!

[Alteknacker]

Nice one, and superb weather! I'd planned out a route in this area while in lockdown, but since the release I've been concentrating on the Dales in the expectation that the LD would be overrun even more so than usual immediately following relaxing of the restrictions. So I was quite surprised to note how few folk there were in your pics, even on the summit of COM.

PS I was out the day after you, and even though it was meant to be the hottest day of the year, there was sufficient wind for it to be perfectly bearable.

[trailmasher]

Nice report and pics Broggy1 and that was quite a mission in that heat

[Broggy1]

Nice one, and superb weather! I'd planned out a route in this area while in lockdown, but since the release I've been concentrating on the Dales in the expectation that the LD would be overrun even more so than usual immediately following relaxing of the restrictions. So I was quite surprised to note how few folk there were in your pics, even on the summit of COM.

PS I was out the day after you, and even though it was meant to be the hottest day of the year, there was sufficient wind for it to be perfectly bearable.

Cheers AK. Yeah Coniston itself was busy (and driving back along the lake it was obvious the beaches there were VERY busy) but the hills didn't seem too bad and the Duddon side deserted.

Looking forward to the report!

[Broggy1]

Nice report and pics Broggy1 and that was quite a mission in that heat

Cheers TM. Just about replenished the water I lost now!