For our second day in the Lakes, the group split up into those who wanted a leisurely stroll to the pub and those who wanted another, longer, walk. We contemplated attempting Scafell, but decided that the Coniston ridge was more practical, and it also meant that Jess could collect a few more peaks for her Wainwright Challenge! So we drove to a convenient carpark, and started the ascent to the ridge. Again, the sun shone, and we were afforded stupendous views across Coniston Lake towards Morecambe Bay in the distance. Once up on the ridge. it was a lovely walk with not too much up and down, although we did ascend above 800m at one point.
The J's on top of Coniston Old Man
On the top of Great Carrs, there is a memorial to a Halifax bomber which failed to clear the ridge during a training flight in a storm in WW2. Bits of melted an mangled aluminium scatter the ridge and the rest of the plane can be seen at the bottom. It is a sobering sight.
Halifax memorial
The final peak was Weatherlam, to reach which we had our first proper descent down Prison Band. It was tough, and James in particular felt it badly on his knees. But we made it to the summit and then back down the other side, although James was in a bit of pain by the end. Despite this, we still really enjoyed the walk. We both spent our childhoods walking (me on Dartmoor and James in the South Downs) and resolved to escape Cambridge and do more of it more often!
It was a long drive back, but we were grateful to Dan for dropping us off close to our mooring!
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