02/02/15 - Coniston Round - (me and Steve)

Met Steve in Coniston as he was driving over from Northumberland. This would be my first venture out with (newly aquired), Ice Axe and Crampons. There was any snow in the valleys but was some on the peaks (less so than on the peaks a bit further from the coast, but nevermind). We parked up another pretty steep hill (I hoped it wouldn't snow today as I could end up having to leave the car...).
We set off on what was initially back up the route that Luca I returned from on our weekend wild camp. It wasn't too long before the crampons had to make an appearance, they were fiddly to put on at first but certainly did the trick. That said, we felt pretty silly when passed by 2 descending walkers without axe or crampon.

It's nice how the snow means that you end up being less constrained by path and can often take a more direct route without overly struggling with uneven ground.
The top was gained reasonably quickly and as we walked the ridge we took the crampons off - which made us quite a bit quicker.

The weather was bright, but bitterly cold in the face as we walked into the wind.

The crampons made further appearances as we crossed more tricky terrain - there were a number of points where things would have been very difficult without them.
We nearly went wrong as we inadvertently took in an extra peak (Great Carrs), but corrected before actually setting off.

The crampons were getting pretty easy to apply and take off now.
The descent was easy and picturesque as it we circled the reservoir. Boulder Valley would have offered opportunity for bouldering, but we were pretty tired by now.

The weather had been kind again and the road of return was nice and dry.
A beer, and then home.

GPX File