| Name of walk | Great Carrs, Grey Friar and Swirl How |
| Date of walk | 2016-09-01 |
| Distance walked (miles) | 6 |
| Duration of walk | 4 hours 30 minutes |
| Weather | Cloudy and windy with sunny intervals |
| Peaks on walk | Great Carrs, Grey Friar, Swirl How |
| Walked with | Ged and blind Kas |
| Parking | Spaces top of Wrynose Pass |
On Thursday Ged, Kas and I drove to the top of the Wrynose Pass to walk up Wet Side Edge to Great Carrs, Grey Friar and Swirl How. A walk of six miles. Three years ago we did a walk into the Greenburn Valley and found a small piece of fuselage from the Canadian Halifax bomber which crashed in 1944 on the top of Great Carrs. I decided that the next time I went up to Great Carrs I would return it to the memorial cairn. Thankfully I didn’t forget, and packed the piece in my rucksack.
The small piece of fuselage from the crashed 1944 Halifax bomber.
The Langdale Pikes from the bottom of the Wrynose Pass.
We park in spaces at the top of the Wrynose Pass next to the Three Shires Stone where Lancashire, Cumberland and Westmorland meet.
The route up to Wet Side Edge is sign posted. Looking back down to the car and the Wrynose Pass.
Looking across at Cold Pike and Pike o' Blisco.
View down the other side of the Wrynose Pass and up the Hardknott Pass. Harter Fell and Hard Knott in the distance, as we make our way up to Wet Side Edge.
Cold Pike and Little Stand behind.
Pike O'Blisco, a much easier ascent from this side.
On top of Wet Side Edge. Great Carrs on the right then Swirl How and the Prison Band to Wetherlam.
Looking down Wet Side Edge towards Little Langdale Tarn. Greenburn Reservoir on the right.
Close up of Red Tarn in between Cold Pike and Pike o'Blisco.
A small tarn for Kas to get a drink.
We head up Little Carrs.
View down into the Greenburn Valley where we found the small piece of fuselage. Wetherlam on the right.
We pick our way through the rocks up to Little Carrs.
Approaching Great Carrs summit, it is very windy. Swirl How on the left.
Looking along the edge of Broad Slack around to Swirl How. Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag on the right.
Grey Friar in sunshine.
The Halifax Bomber Memorial on Great Carrs. In memory of eight crew members who crashed here in October 1944. The rest of the plane's remains are in the Greenburn Valley. Grey Friar is seen behind.
I hide the small piece of fuselage in the cairn.
We head off for Grey Friar.
A moody Dow Crag.
Me climbing the Matterhorn.....the rock not the mountain!
Ged does his best Edward Whymper pose, minus the ice axe.
Its the nearest I'll ever get to the Matterhorn! A very good likeness....in miniature.
Grey Friar summit. We make it here in exactly two hours.
Harter Fell from the summit.
Kas and me on the summit.
Looking over the summit to Swirl How, our next destination on the far right.
The Scafells shrouded in cloud.
Looking down to Seathwaite Tarn with Barrow-in-Furness in between White Maiden and Caw. Black Combe on the right. Dow Crag on the left.
The Scafells in close-up.
Kas leads the way back.
We head up towards Swirl How on the right.
Looking across to Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag.
The panoramic view down into the Greenburn Valley from the top of Broad Slack. Great Carrs on the left, Wetherlam on the right. Left click to enlarge photo, re-click to return.
Swirl How summit, the highest point in the constituency of Barrow and Furness at 2,638ft.
Looking down on Levers Water and Coniston Water. Coniston Old Man far right.
A closer view down to Levers Water.
A closer view of Coniston Old Man summit cairn. Lots of people on the summit today.
View over Coniston Water out to sea.
We head back around Broad Slack to Great Carrs summit once more.
Looking back to Swirl How.
Great Carrs summit, Ged has his hood up as protection from the winds which are getting to be quite fierce.
Best not get too near the edge! We stop for lunch in the shelter of some big rocks with a view down the Greenburn Valley.
We make our way back down Wet Side Edge.
We walk towards Cold Pike and Pike o'Blisco again.
We are under close scrutiny.
We head back down the zig zag path.
A nice 'airey' path in places.
We are soon back in view of the car.
We return in the car via Cockley Beck and stop off at Birks Bridge over the River Duddon.
Always a great place for a swim.
A very easy walk with excellent views. Starting at the top of the Wrynose Pass greatly reduces both the distance and the effort required. If you want to do this walk and come through Little Langdale I would advise you to start very early, the roads here are very narrow, with very few passing places. Any later than 9am and you will spend more time reversing than going forwards! By comparison, negotiating the passes are easy! The six mile walk took us four and a half hours.
Jo.
