Dow Old Brim Swirl - Photo Gallery

It was dry and cold again; I parked in Coniston village and walked up the Walna Scar Road until I turned right, there is an obvious path now, towards Goat's Hawse. At Goat's Water it seemed that there would not be enough good snow for a crampon-scramble up Dow Crag's South Rake so I walked along the rough lake-shore path and climbed up to Goat's Hawse; from there it looked as though the Rake was filled with snow. I walked up to Dow Crag, carefully climbing up steep, hard snow to the summit rocks. I retraced my steps back to the Hawse and climbed the soft-snow covered slopes to the summit of Coniston Old Man. I walked across Brim Crag, cold and windy as usual, before climbing up to the summit of Swirl How; the descent of Prison Band was precarious at times on the steep, soft snow. From Swirl Hawse I followed footprints in the snow down to the still-frozen Levers Water and down to Coppermines Valley and back to Coniston.

© Andy Wallace 6th March 2010