I (and others) were with him but in essence: the Blue Bell is short on charity.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
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I (and others) were with him but in essence: the Blue Bell is short on charity.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
I seem to recall that before it was stripped out and turned into a posh joint with loads of crap on the walls, that it was a better place. It seems to have been restyled as a gastropub and rejected its roots.
10.01 miles, 2,645 feet, 3 hours 29 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, along to White Moss, back on the other side of the river, and up to the top again. A wonderful inversion was present over Windermere, extending - patchily - all the way to Great Langdale. Wall to wall sunshine above the inversion - the latter had completely vanished within a couple of hours. No rain. A lovely breeze from the south west. Terrain dry/damp with good grip. Lots of walkers about; no runners seen.
10.6 miles, 2,861 feet, 3 hours 17 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine/blue sky, no rain nor wind, terrain mainly dry with good grip. Walkers seen: lots. Runners seen: one.
12.14 miles, 3,055 feet, 3 hours 21 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Champion Tree Trail - High Skelghyll - down to the main road at Low Wood and back up again - Skelghyll Lane - Mirk Lane - Wain Lane - Fell lane - Robin Lane - Troutbeck - Nanny Lane - Wansfell Pike - race descent - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, and banks of cloud at multiple levels. Misty in the distance. No rain, a moderately strong wind from the south. Terrain dry with good grip. Quite a few walkers about; no runners seen.
Apparently the Douglas Fir on the Champion Tree Trail has grown 6 feet since last measured in 2012 - now 196 feet. Measuring it involves climbing it.
14.58 miles, 2,681 feet, 4 hours 16 minutes: Rothay Bridge in Ambleside to Lingmoor Fell top and back, going via Bog Lane, Skelwith Bridge, High Park and Little Langdale, and returning more or less the same way. Sunshine, blue sky, and high clouds, some of the latter catching the high tops. No rain nor wind. Terrain dry with good grip. Lots of walkers about, mainly down low; 4 runners seen.
I returned via Slater Bridge - there must have been 30 people on or near it. Two different groups asked me the way to Cathedral Cave - clearly a popular spot; I was asked the same thing on my 2 previous visits to Little Langdale.
Going through the woods to the east of High Park the route via Colwith Force is longer, muddier, and much less runnable than the direct route.
10.51 miles, 2,971 feet, 3 hours 18 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, and multiple cloud shapes at various levels. No rain. A moderately strong cold wind from the north. Terrain dry with good grip. I was surprised how few walkers there were on the fells, though I did set off early. 5 runners seen.
Three times in two days I have had virtually identical interactions with aggressive dogs and their owners. As I approach, the dog - unleashed - starts growling, barking, and adopting an aggressive posture. The owners look at me, and then ignore the situation. Only after this standoff continues for some time do they intervene and reluctantly put the dog on its lead. The comments were interesting: "It's alright, it's friendly", "It's because you are wearing black", "That is its scared bark". All of them initially expected me to continue approaching the dog - unbelievable.
10.21 miles, 3,263 feet, 3 hours 34 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up the race route steps to the Pike, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, up to Wansfell true top, back along the ridge to the Pike, and down the race descent. Overcast and misty - most of the highest tops were obscured. Drizzle/light rain for the first hour or so. A moderate breeze from the north. Terrain wet and slippery in places. Very few walkers about. 1 runner seen - in the valley. Only 1 aggressive dog today.
The local runners call Wansfell true top "Baystones". Wainwright does not mention Baystones in the relevant chapter, and as far as I can tell from the OS map, Baystones is further to the north, on the other side of the wall.
11.1 miles, 3,063 feet, 3 hours 34 minutes: Rothay Bridge to Silver How and back, going to Loughrigg top both ways. Sunshine, blue sky, and lots of high fluffy clouds. A cold breeze from the west. No rain. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Not many walkers about. I saw the AAC Tuesday/Friday group, about 8 of them, but no other runners.
Yet another aggressive dog. Thankfully 4 out of 5 of the owners in these recent confrontations did put their dog on a lead, albeit after the event.
10.08 miles, 2,928 feet, 3 hours 19 minutes: Wansfell Pike twice, the first time from the Skelghyll Woods' side, the second time going up to the true top and then along the ridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet - there a few banks of cloud below that. A few minutes of drizzle. No significant wind. Terrain damp/wet and slippery on the usual surfaces - wet rocks and tree roots. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.
The race descent from the Pike is still viable, enjoyable even.