The Old Man of Coniston

5am alarm call this morning. Thankfully there was a full moon shining and a hard frost on the ground, indicating that getting up early was going to be worth the effort! The excitement of an Alpine Start soon spread through the hut and we were all breakfasted and gunning to go within the hour. A steady drive along the icy lanes and a bit of low gear excitement up a steep narrow track got us to our start point by 6.30. It was minus two degrees and the stars shone brightly. We followed the Walna Scar road up to Brown Pike by the light of our head torches. There was a beautiful orange glow on the horizon that got brighter as we ascended. Unfortunately, as we reached the summit, the clouds moved in from the west and denied us of the full technicolor alpine sunrise!

Morning! On the walk in at 06:30am..

From Brown Pike we followed the ridge past Buck Pike and Dow Crag, before finally rising up to the summit of The Old Man. There was a good dusting of snow along the ridge and the path was quite icy, but we didn't need crampons or axes. On the way down from the summit we stopped to watch the clouds roll in and out of view, as valleys and peaks appeared and disappeared. Even though it was cloudy and cold, it didn't rain until we were back down supping hot chocolates by Coniston Water in the afternoon. 

Buck Pike to Dow Crag

Misty view from The Old Man of Coniston

Young Man on the Old Man of Coniston

Mountain on fire

Coming out of the mist

Back at the Hut it was all about hot showers, a fireside nap, then my first Chritsmas Dinner of the season! 

Christmas dinner number one