There were six of us; Brian, Ray and Kepa, Rosslynne and Dave, and myself. The forecast had been for broken cloud at 3000 feet. We did see one; it was broken, tiny and several dozen miles away to the south-east. The night had been clear and the air was cool. We headed north-west along the Walna Scar track from the car park and turned right uphill alongside the quarry track, then up open fellside. We were well sheltered here and soon a delayering stop was needed.

About 45 minutes from the car park we came level with the top of the quarry and started the rightward traverse which ends at the bottom of the southern spur of the Old Man, about 300 feet below the summit. Some distance to our left and about 50 feet below us the vanguard of a party of kids was being noisily exuberant. They soon caught us up and we paused to let them get by and get clear, but no, having passed us they decided to stop and have a (noisy) rest. And so it went on until the summit.

All this time we were on the southern flank of the Old Man, and the views are to the south and west, across the lake and to the coast, the incline mild. On joining the main path up from Low Water this changes. Suddenly you are ascending steeply up the edge of an even steeper combe, with dramatic crags above three sides of Low Water, and eastward views of Levers Water and Wetherlam, with the southerly cliffs of Swirl How opposite.

We had long since layered up again, and the thin wind at the summit sent us back to our packs for the rest of our warm clothing. We wandered away from the summit to the north for some lunch, finding a little shelter from the wind and admiring the expanse of verticality that is Dow Crag. It was a nice day but fearfully cold. Would there be anyone on the crag? Through my ordinary glasses I couldn’t see anyone but those with sharper eyesight thought they did. Out came the binoculars, and, yes, a figure in blue was to be seen at the top of the great ramp that forms the first half of Giant’s Crawl.

Following the route upwards I saw another figure above and to the left, just about on the crux move over the big boulder. I have mates who say that to lead that move with finesse it goes at 4b, thug your way over it and it’s just a thuggish move on a Diff. Maybe. When I led it it didn’t feel especially thuggish. It didn’t feel like 4b either. Perhaps I was particularly insensitive that day, or perhaps I was just going particularly well. I’ll have to go back and check.

The original plan had been to go on over Dow and back down the Walna Scar Road, but this now seemed ridiculously unambitious. We’d be down for soon after three. How about going along the ridge to see how much was left of the memorial on Great Carrs? (A RCAF Halifax hit the ridge in 1943 with the loss of all on board.) Then we could go on to Wetherlam, down into Coppermines Valley and then back to the cars.

So we went east, along the ridge, over Brim Fell and up towards Swirl How. At Great How we stopped and looked down to Levers Water, looking down the ridge the SIG party had ascended in snow and ice 11 months earlier. No wonder Lynn hadn’t been seen on a walk since that day. By the time we reached Swirl How summit it was after half past one. Nobody wanted to continue to Great Carrs just to retrace our steps. On a subsequent visit I confirmed that the cairn, cross, plaque and remains of undercarriage are still in place.

Refreshments and drinks appeared and by the time we were ready to set off down Prison Band it was approaching two o’clock. With sunset at half past four it was clear that plan B had been ludicrously overambitious, and Wetherlam was not now a serious proposition. On the way down my knee started to make its presence felt and another stop was needed once we got back into the sunshine on the Levers Water path for me to apply a support bandage. More drinks, biscuits and chocolate bars were consumed. Now that we were on our way back we had loads of time and to hurry would merely be to advance the end of the pleasure of being out there. Once again we were able to appreciate the route up Great How, this time from below and across the valley.

Passing round the northern side of Levers Water we descended gently from a col to join the main Coppermines Valley to Walna Scar link track. Looking down at our cottage in Coppermines Valley a plan took shape in my mind. How about a weekend SIG meeting there? Were there any takers? You bet there were. How about a SIG Sec birthday party in May?