Downloads: GPX File | KML File | Google Maps File | OS Online Route
About The Old Man of Coniston | Parking Location | OS Map | Current Weather
We got here! we finally got here! after a year of planning to get here, then deciding to run off to somewhere else, we made a short weekend trip up to Coniston. We booked up a little B&B and drove up first thing in the morning, once we got there we had a nice little wander around while the sun was beaming down on us, we want to the lake at the foot of the mountain and spent a little time wandering around before having an early night ready for the next days hike.
When we woke we headed out the door as soon as possible to ensure we got up before it got too busy and started out along the winding road that lead up the riverside heading towards the peak. Along the way, about a quarter of the way up we found a beautiful row of cottages (which we decided we must try and book and come back!), it was hear we veered away from the road and up through some fields towards the rocky outcrop. After walking for around an hour the sun was beating down on the two of us to a point where we started to get quite concerned, not only had we forgot to take sun cream, but we had also not brought enough water for a hike in this heat. Upon reaching Low Water we quickly realized that the steepest was yet to come and the heat was getting a bit too much for the two of us.
We decided to wander around the water for 10 minutes and then make the reluctant hike back down, however, upon getting around 2 minutes back down I decided I couldn’t be beaten again by this mountain (a few years back snow had stopped me reaching the peak) and therefore, as long as Ray was happy to push on, that’s what we would do. Fortunately for me, Ray was more than happy to continue, so with a little bit of passing cloud cover we pushed on up the mountain, step by step getting closer to the top. A little further up than Low Water we decided to quickly have a bite to eat (our usual packed sandwiches) before continuing on up and reaching the summit. Once here the clouds again cleared and we had the most fantastic panoramic view of the lake district in all it’s glory. We could see as far out to the see, as well as over to lake Winderemere and everything in between. It was fantastic that we had made it and was really the start of something special for the two of us in both the lake district it’self and the small village that had quickly won us over.
