HelenIt’s mid December, I’m in the Lake District for the weekend and I’m getting increasingly excited as we round the corner towards Coniston and I see the snow covered mountains. The sky is bright blue and the air crisp as we put on our winter boots, check our bags and head off up the path to Coniston Old Man.
A path I’ve walked a few times before but never in the snow, a few hundred metres up and we were already walking in fresh untrodden snow. There’s something so exciting about stepping in the snow for the first time in the winter, so refreshing and such a unique feeling. We wound steadily up, passing partially frozen lakes, the snow defining gully’s and crags in the distance, until we eventually reached the summit in a blizzard.
We took refuge behind the summit cairn and attempted to eat soggy sandwiches with gloves on, before quickly descending to get out of the wind. Back up to Dow Crags the snow was thick and the wind unforgiving, we took shelter and drank tea before descending back to views over Coniston water and mist softly sitting in the valleys.
An invigorating walk to blow away the cobwebs, awaken the senses and a warm welcome to winter…
