Long Crag and Wetherlam
1 SD302976 Walk up the Coppermines road to a cattle grid just beyond the end of the tarmac. Turn right up an awkward rocky bank onto steep but brackenshrouded fellside (not at an earlier public bridleway towards Yewdale).
2 SD300979 Rise up slabby broken rock towards a gap between a single oak tree and a gorse-covered outcrop. Go around the base of the oak, then uphill with it on your right over broken rock, taking your choice of route among the lovely small ledges for hands and feet to a band of gorse. Leave the gorse-covered scree on your right, re-join a more solid section of rock just right of a lone holly tree, then bending left to avoid a steeper section. This is broken by a short grassy ledge then continues up the ridgeline.
3 SD298981 A more continuous rib leads to a short grassy ramp down to the right to gain the next rib. A ‘mantleshelf’ move from the grassy ramp can be awkward, and in general these two sections are less escapable. However, lines of good, grippy and reasonably angled rock are quite easy to find – don’t rush it and keep your cool with the exposure! After this the scramble fades to enjoyable but broken rock walking to about 350-380m altitude - the scrambling proper is done before 300m altitude.
4 SD298983 Trend generally rightwards (north) over undulating ground with occasional small outcrops to the small cairn atop the summit of High Wythow. 5 SD300990 Head west from the summit for about 1km across a slight grassy col to turn north to pick up the continuing ridgeline of Above Beck Fells. It’s now a long but gentle ascent over undulating ground to the summit rocks of Wetherlam.
6 NY288011 Retrace your steps from the summit for about 150m. Find a very slight ridge branching rightwards, and take the western edge of this on almost trackless ground. Sidle westwards off the ridge on rough ground to find a slight path heading down a shallow gully. This soon veers right descending steeply on worn footprints at the side of an outcrop to a small pile of rocks high on the side of the main Red Dell valley. Head down over trackless ground towards the valley bottom, picking up a faint sheep-track descending beside the stream, with a confirmatory cairn to be found soon after. 7 NY285004 Cross a side stream (not the main stream as OS maps indicate), picking up a clearer trail beyond. Descend on this to two slabby boulders which provide a useful crossing point of the Red Dell. Continue descending by the stream, through bog near a side stream, then down to a sheepfold.
8 SD285998 It can become rather boggy beyond this, particularly towards the lower workings of the mine. However once at the tailings, a trail over drier ground reappears. Pass the ruins of the incline base station on your right, then cross the Red Dell Beck via a boardwalk bridge, with the ruins of a wheel pit to your right and a barred off mine shaft to your left.
9 SD288990 An inclined path now descends past East Bonsor wheelhouse and confidently towards the valley level. Join a clearer stone track on a bend and continue downhill to another track. Head left along this and down the valley to the YHA access track. Turn left along this (at the Coniston Hydro weir). Stay on this at the miners bridge. This becomes a lane returning you to the start point.