Todays permitted exercise!

10.25 miles, 2,971 feet, 3 hours 47 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, and back up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Blue sky and sunshine, a few thin streaky clouds on the horizon, very cold in the shade. No precipitation, no significant wind. Terrain frozen solid from the valley floor up - on a lot of the ground this means yesterday's snow/slush is now solid ice, be it in sheets or lumps. Microspikes worn from door to door - they were excellent. Not many walkers on the fell; no runners seen.

Apparently it got down to minus 10 overnight. I have never seen so much ice except in a ski resort.

10.03 miles, 3,340 feet, 3 hours 55 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up the race route from the kissing gate, along the ridge to the true top, down Nanny Lane to Troutbeck and back up to the true top, and back along the ridge to the Pike. Barely a cloud in the sky. No precipitation. A moderate breeze from the north west. Low down the ground is covered in ice and frozen snow; high up there is 10 - 20 centimetres of crunchy snow, with frozen ground/ice underneath it. Not many walkers on the fell; 3 runners seen.

Unfortunately my lightweight Nortec microspikes have a broken cable, so I wore the heavier Kahtoolas - rather blunt now but grip still very good.

I had a go at the race route descent, but the snow was too deep and coming away in slabs with basically no grip, so I took another way down.

10.17 miles, 3,276 feet, 4 hours 2 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - around the rock step - Low/High Pikes, going up the west side of the wall until High Pike - High Bakestones - Scandale - High Sweden Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - Rydal Park - Ambleside. A mixture of sunshine and clouds, more of the latter than the former; most of the clouds were above 2,000 feet. No precipitation. A strong but not cold wind from the south east. There was a centimetre of snow overnight in the valley, and several times that higher up, with lots of drifting in the wind. It was thigh deep in many places, and from above High Pike to Scandale it was mostly pathless. Yesterday's slush was today's ice yet again. Microspikes - worn door to door - provided excellent grip. Not many walkers on the fells; 3 runners seen.

10.74 miles, 3,006 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending/descending via Clappersgate and Fishgarths Wood to avoid the ice on the road above Miller Bridge, and taking in Todd Crag and Lily Tarn both ways. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A strong but not cold wind from the west. Terrain anything from soft and muddy, to frozen hard; icy patches where the snow has been compressed by people's feet. Wet/saturated everywhere; slippery. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.

Microspikes carried but not used.

7.54 miles, 2,846 feet, 2 hours 39 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, down to the top of Hundreds Road and back up again. Overcast - initially the cloud base was at about 2,000 feet, rather lower later. A moderately strong wind from the south west. Almost continuous light/moderate rain. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. There is still the very occasional patch of ice, but these are easy to step over/go around. I saw about a dozen walkers on the fell, and 1 runner.

10.24 miles, 3,957 feet, 3 hours 13 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, and back up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Overcast, with the cloud base mainly above the high tops. Transient patches of blue sky. A few minutes of drizzle. A very strong blustery wind from the west. Terrain anything from dry to saturated/streaming - slippery in places, particularly the wet rocks. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runner seen.

Some of that height gain will be artefactual from the wind.

I was literally jumped on by a dog just as I approached the top the second time - it was hard enough with the wind and the wet rocks - the owners got a piece of my mind and did put it on its leash.

8.01 miles, 2,390 feet, 2 hours 28 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Road - Blue Hill Road/Lane - up the race route from the kissing gate - Wansfell Pike - along the ridge to the true top - down to the upper part of Nanny Lane and back up to the Pike - down the race descent to the kissing gate - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. Constant light to moderate rain, with a strong wind from the south east. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Apart from 4 fix the fell volunteers I saw nobody on the fell.

Whilst my upper half was fine in my Shakedry top, my legs became very wet and cold in my OMM Kamleika trousers. Any suggestions as to a more effective pair of waterproof trousers are most welcome!

12.28 miles, 4,564 feet, 4 hours 22 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Dove Crag - Pile of Stones - south west of Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base mainly above the high tops, rather misty generally. No rain. A very strong blustery wind from the south west. Terrain anything from dry to saturated and everything in between; slippery in places. I did not see anybody else on the fells; 1 runner seen in Rothay Park.

I went up on the race side/east of the wall to lessen the effect of the wind. As before, some of that height gain will be artifactual.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

12.28 miles, 4,564 feet, 4 hours 22 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Dove Crag - Pile of Stones - south west of Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base mainly above the high tops, rather misty generally. No rain. A very strong blustery wind from the south west. Terrain anything from dry to saturated and everything in between; slippery in places. I did not see anybody else on the fells; 1 runner seen in Rothay Park.

I went up on the race side/east of the wall to lessen the effect of the wind. As before, some of that height gain will be artifactual.

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Glad you managed to stay drier today Mike. Looks to be quieter weather for the next week or so at least.

10.16 miles, 3,150 feet, 3 hours 13 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including ascending via High Skelghyll, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 300 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. I saw 3 walkers and 1 runner on the fell - the runner passed my 3 times - down, up, down - as I was going up the race route steps, a strong lad.

Despite the rain I did not become cold today. It helped that there was no significant wind, and that I had my RAB Polartec trousers on under my newest pair of OMM trousers - these supposedly have an extra layer compared to older OMM trousers, though the material looks/feels the same.