Day 1
We got the bus to Coniston on Saturday and very entertaining it was. The driver was hilarious and he had all the passengers laughing. The roads were busy and negotiating the narrow roads and the sometimes gormless drivers was problematic. At one point the driver had to get out of the bus and tell the car drivers they had to reverse so the bus could get through or they would be there all day. We were half an hour late getting to Coniston because of the traffic. We'd been travelling for 4 and a half hours and we were well ready to start walking.
We walked by the Sun Hotel and went up to Church Beck. We were on the way to Red Dell and the Black Sails Ridge
The Coppermines valley
The weather was glorious but rather too warm, we were very hot walking up the valley
The Black Sails ridge ahead
I've wanted to do this ridge for ages but I wasn't looking forward to the steep bit up the Thriddle Incline
The Thriddle Incline seen in this shot
The Thriddle Incline is a disused tramway used in the mines here.
Also in view is a very nice French woman. We'd spoken to her earlier when she'd asked if she was going in the right direction. She was. She said she was an intern at Lancaster University and had came from Lancaster to do a day walk. She had also been on the Coniston bus and had enjoyed the bus driver's humorous asides.
On the way up the Thriddle Incline
We'd stopped for lunch before we started climbing it. It was nice sitting in the sun and there was a cooling breeze. We were out for 2 nights and progress was slow as we climbed with 3 days supply of food. We got to the main ridge and started up the ridge. There was a trod to follow which made navigation easy
A herdy looking rather bemused
Looking back down the Black Sails ridge
Can anyone spot the rock trying to look like our MSR Elixir?
Beefy and Squeaky on the ridge
It seemed never ending; there were a lot of false summits.
Beefy and Squeaky on Black Sails summit
The trod bypassed the summit but we left the trod and our packs to pop up on to the summit
Beefy and Squeaky on Wetherlam summit
We'd dropped our packs behind some rocks on the way up to save us having to carry them all the way up just like we'd done on Black Sails.
Some walkers asked us about ways down to Coniston from the summit and I gave them a few options. They went down the Lad Stones route. We were retracing our steps a little, we had found the perfect spot to pitch the tent.
The MSR near Wetherlam
It was a great pitch, very flat, out of the wind and it had a super view. We'd got some water from a tarn and got it on to filter as we put the tent up.
We had a brew, then our tea and we enjoyed the peace and quiet. We'd not seen many people all day. We could see other wild campers going up on to Great Carrs.
We had some wine and waited for the sunset
The last shot of the sunset
Not the greatest one we have ever had but we had really enjoyed the camp. There were a lot of flying ants about, that was our only complaint, everything else was nigh on perfect. Day 1 was Coniston - Church Beck - Red Dell valley - Thriddle Incline - Black Sails - Wetherlam - to pitch. 7.25 km with 805m ascent.
Day 2
We awoke and it was another glorious day. Very warm even at 8am
The Scafells, Crinkles and Bowfell
Prison Band up to Swirl How
We were going up thur
Squeaky waiting for us to pack the gear
Levers Water from Prison Band
It is a good route up Prison Band, some rocky steps that aren't too demanding and a lot of fun
On Swirl How summit
We chatted to a nice man who'd bivvied at Blind Tarn. He had started walking early, before 7am
Squeaky and Beefy on Grey Friar summit
Squeaky made sure she touched the cairn
Scafells view from Grey Friar
It was very hot and we felt like we were being baked. The wind was blustery at times and we were grateful for it. We had 15 minutes rest below the summit out of the wind.
The Matterhorn rock on Grey Friar
The Halifax Bomber wreckage on Great Carrs
We paid our respects to the young men who lost there lives, always a sad moment here.
Great Carrs summit
We had some lunch near a tarn that provided us with a water top up. It was brown and didn't look very nice but amazingly clear once filtered.
The Wet Side Edge ahead
I slipped and was on my backside on the way down from Great Carrs and twisted my dodgy knee. I thought I had really damaged it but I was fine to go after a few minutes. We started the never ending route down to Greenburn Beck. It seemed to take hours.
On the way down to Greenburn Beck
It was even more hot now. We got into the beck to cool down. Beefy stripped down to his undies, I went in with my clothes on. We were seriously over heating and sitting in the beck up to our waists for half an hour was wonderful.
The Langdale Pikes seen on the way through to Little Langdale
My trousers were almost dry after half an hour it was so hot. The sun was still unrelenting and we'd been in it from 8am, over 7 hours by now.
Slater Bridge
We had 2 seconds to take a shot without anyone on
We began the ascent of Lingmoor Fell via Dale End and Bield Crag. It was even more hot as we ascended and it was a struggle. We had to dig deep and we were relieved when we saw the Crinkles, it meant we were close to where we wanted to pitch for the night.
The MSR on Lingmoor Fell
Wetherlam lit up by the sun
We'd got our water from a nearby source, had our tea and had a rest. We were tired out, the heat had taken it out of us, it was the hottest I'd ever felt coming up Lingmoor Fell.
The sunset
We didn't think it would be very good because there was no cloud and the full too bright sun went down behind The Crinkles.
Wetherlam and Great Carrs
The last sunset shot
We had our wine and were fast asleep as soon as the sunset finished. Day 2 was pitch - Swirl How - Grey Friar - Great Carrs - Wet Side Edge - Greenburn Beck - Slater Bridge - Dale End - pitch on Lingmoor Fell. 14.5km with 650m ascent
Day 3
We awoke in clag and I was quite happy. It was nice not to have the sun beating down after two days of constant sun. We followed a trod that went passed the summit but doubled back to get onto it once it reached the wall.
On Lingmoor Fell summit
No view it remained all claggy. I won't bother posting the other shots I took, there wasn't much to see. We descended on the north side by Banks Quarry. We climbed up from Elterwater, legs protesting by High Close YH.
We had a brew and food stop near the car park at White Moss before getting on the bus. By the time we got to Keswick most of the fells were clear of cloud of course. We weren't that bothered, we'd had a great 2 days.
Day 3 was Lingmoor Fell - Elterwater - High Close - White Moss 10km with 320m ascent.