HI there. A friend and I have just done the glorious walk to Mensa Moor and Magnet Crag. We loved the way we did it - which was to treat it as an overnighter. Even so, I got a bit worried about not making it back to the tents on time, but the anxiety was short-lived. Although doing it at this time of year did mean we had to contend with a lot of ice (and a short day), it also meant snakes, dehydration and overheating were not an issue. Thanks to doogs and NNW for confirming that my plan of taking tents was a good one. As we slowly and cautiously made our way down the icy rocks, it was terrific not to have the pressure of time cajoling us into unwise speed. Camping out on Coalmine Crag was bliss. A full report with photos, gps route and a discussion of our route is to be found in my blog http://natureloverswalks.blogspot.com.au/
Nice conditions for it. It's funny, that; you seem to have done the same thing I did - pick up a good line on the way up Mensa and have all sorts of trouble sticking to it on the way back down. I like the Magnet route. Maybe I should have gone that way rather than around Coalmine. The Menamatta/Coalmine area is such lovely camping:
Attachments
"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."
That is an absolutely glorious photo NNW. We had almost no colour at all - evening or morning - but we absolutely adored the sense of space and, well, just the wonderful feel of the place. I did love the views from the lump on Coalmine at sunrise that are in my blog. I didn't touch the summit of Coalmine as I wanted to give myself a good excuse to go back. (I also haven't touched the summit of Legges Tor either for cute reasons all my own.)