The cloud stayed low all night but thankfully the wind had died down. There were no views first thing but the cloud lifted a bit later and I was able to see Coniston Water. It was still cloudy with light rain so I delayed my start, hoping the weather would improve. It didn't but I was still on my way by 8am. Originally I planned to try and get through Eskdale towards Great End but it would be a miserable walk in bad weather. So I'd planned to stay high and reach Grey Friar and hope for a possible view of the sunrise tomorrow, the longest day. I took a combination of direct and diagonal ways up the grassy slopes of Buck Pike. It was tricky on the wet grass but I made the summit ridge OK and was suddenly exposed to a cold westerly blast of wind. The cloud thickened and it darkened. The climb across to Dow Crag was interesting but would have been much better if I'd been able to see something. The summit of Dow Crag was a pile of dark wet rocks and boulders not very suitable for clambering over in full pack.

Cloudy view towards Coniston

Boulders in the mist.

The descent to Goat's Hawe was difficult at first over the flat wet and slippery rocks. The path steepened and improved a bit as I descended to the saddle. I was below the cloud and had better views. I was heading in the direction of Swirl How so took the minor diagonal path to the left. Up to the right was Coniston Old Man but it was lost in cloud. The path I was on followed a good line but didn't actually reach the summit ridge but kept below it and generally out of the wind. Down to my left was the reservoir of Seathwaite Tarn which was almost empty as it looked like a lot of work was being done in the area of the dam. At Swirl Band the main path follows the ridge up to the summit but I followed a minor path off to the left and across towards Grey Friar. It was easier, shorter, and had a good water supply. An excellent spring issues above Carble Hows and this is where I stopped to fill my water bag.

I continued to the saddle and followed the steepening path up towards Grey Friar summit plateau. I took it a lot slower on the climb as I was now carrying and extra 4kg of weight. Before the top I met a lone walker coming down. He didn't comment on the water bag. The wind got up a bit but nothing like as bad as yesterday. I headed for the pitch I'd used in June last year but the wind direction made it a bit too exposed. I found another pitch nearby with shelter from an adjacent rock face. It wasn't particularly level but the shelter from the wind made it a better choice. It was still quite early and I wondered if I'd made the right choice about camping up here. The weather improved and some sunny patches appeared and I think I should have gone for the original plan of a long walk to Great End. But it was too late to alter so I stayed put. The weather forecast is for rain tomorrow so we'll just have to wait and see.

A sunny pitch on Grey Friar.