After meeting in The Sun and having a very nice coffee, we set off up the steep Walna Scar Road. As it began to level off, the first of several light showers started. We took lunch at Cove Bridge, before the climb to Brown Pike. Although there were a few distant points of brightness, we seemed to be continually in gloom, especially so as we reached the top of the Walna Scar Road and lost all visibility as we entered the low cloud.

However, as we neared the summit of Brown Pike, the cloud thinned and visibility improved slightly, but not enough to reveal any views. Upon reaching Buck Pike the occasional misty view started to appear and by the time Dow Crag was reached we were getting good views in all directions. The last time I climbed Dow Crag it was done in heavy mist and we got no views whatsoever - this time thankfully we did see Blind Tarn below Brown Pike, and we did see Goats Water glistening a little at the foot of Dow Crag, and we did see the spectacular views across the Duddon Valley to Caw and the coast beyond. It is a wonderful ridge. Leaving Dow Crag, we descended to Goats Hause and then began the 510 feet climb to The Old Man of Coniston's summit. Views were now very good with the cloud base at around 3000 ft. After a brief stop at the summit, the highest point of old Lancashire, we started the steep zig zag descent to Low Water and Coniston beyond. Surprisingly, Susan, who is usually overtaken by snails when descending, went down like a jack rabbit. Finally, 6.5 hours later, after ascending 2900ft, and descending 2900 feet, we entered the Sun Hotel again. This time it wasn't coffee, but a well earned pint followed by a very very nice meal.

Thanks to EVERYONE for making it a day I thoroughly enjoyed. Special praise must go to Meg and her two sons for driving up from Stafford, and to Hanna, who for her age did remarkably well, and to Pam and Paul, who didn't give up finding us when we lost our mobile signal.