Coniston Wild Camping

There were seven on the weekend, Ben and Kathryn Clayton and their children Jasmin and Zac, David Barrett, Mick Hartley and Geoff Gedling. We camped by the shore of the lake under Torver Common for two nights and the plan was to paddle the length on the lake in both directions from our camp about half way up on the west side. We woke up to hailstones on Saturday morning but they only lasted a while and the sun came out

We met Tim and Carol Lee at Brown How on the Saturday morning and they paddled with us for the day around the south end of the lake ending up on Peel Island of course. Paddling south was difficult as there was a force 3 blowing all day with gusts at force 4 We discussed where to camp on the Saturday night and after considering several possibilities, we ended up at the same spot as we camped on the previous night. There was everything we needed there including a good supply of wood for the fire. The weather on Sunday morning was sleet and heavy rain and a strong wind, so the paddle to Coniston Bluebird cafe was cancelled. We would have got there easily, but coming back to where the cars were parked at Dodgson Wood would have been beyond us. The white horses indicated a steady force 3/4 and with the heavy rain, a two mile paddle with all our kit would have been quite a challenge. We decided to paddle back across the lake to the car park, pack up and drive round to the cafe for a hot drink and cake, and then head for home.