On the Old Man of Coniston

Actually I was in Bowness on Windermere for some other reasons. But I managed to have a day off so it was suggested to me to climb to the Old Man of Coniston. The reason for that is that the view is potentially wide and interesting.
So I took a taxi bound for Coniston... well the bus service just changed the timetable and it looked very difficult to be there early in the morning starting from Bowness on Windermere.

I started straight above the village following a very steep road leading to the Walna Scar Road. Then I followed this road and... missed the start for the Goat's Water. It is when I reached the stone bridge that I realized that I went too far. So I crossed the swampy meadows to get back to the regular path. Once on the path, one can barely miss it... The path is well marked on the ground.

Once the beautiful spot of Goat's Water is reached, the path follows the eastern shore to later climb up to the Goat's Hawse. From this pass, it is then easy to climb to the Old Man following a path that remains on the western side of the ridge.

The view from the Old Man of Coniston is beautiful and on can see the Irish Sea, Coniston and Windermere Waters.

To go back I took along the ridge until Swirl How. At Lever's Hawse, a path goes down steep towards Lever's Water. Although it looks steep, it does not seem to be of a big problem. The ridge to Swirl How is wide and does not display any difficulty.

The descent along the Prison Band is not really difficult but requires some attention because of the slippery rocks. After Prison Band, one reaches Swirl Hawse, a pass. From there a path climbs to the Wetherlam. But I went down to Coniston passing by Lever's Water.

An interesting thing is that the Lever's Water can be crossed on a ford at the outlet of the lake... and it looks to be a quite damp experience.