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10.24 miles, 2,288 feet, 3 hours 37 minutes: Loughrigg trails. Some very thin high streaky clouds; lots of blue sky and sunshine, as well as a lovely breeze from the west. Terrain dry and hard with good grip. Not many walkers on the fell; no runners seen.
12.01 miles, 2,648 feet, 3 hours 36 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Champion Tree Trail - Skelghyll Wood - High skelghyll - Skelghyll Lane - Heald Lane - Hundreds Road - Fell Lane - Holbeck Lane - Low Wood - High Skelghyll - Blue Hill Woods/Lane - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Lots of sunshine; high thin streaky clouds making the sky a pale blue; hazy in the distance. A lovely breeze from the west. Terrain dry and hard with good grip. Again, very few walkers about; 1 runner seen - in the valley.
11.12 miles, 2,791 feet, 3 hours 48 minutes: Loughrigg trails. Sunshine; widespread thin high clouds making the blue sky rather pale. A cool breeze from the north. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Quite a few walkers about today; 3 runners seen.
The bracken will soon make some of my favourite trods on Loughrigg unpleasant if not impassable/invisible, so I am using them while I can.
10.45 miles, 2,974 feet, 3 hours 14 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, high fluffy clouds, no rain, a cold moderately strong wind from the north. Terrain dry and hard with good grip - apart from drainage areas. Very few walkers about, but then I did start fairly early; 4 runners seen.
12.4 miles, 3,389 feet, 3 hours 54 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from/to Ambleside, taking the 4 trods to the left/west of the tops on the ascent, then south west of Dove Crag, down the right/west/non-race side of the wall, and the rock step. Lots of high clouds, some rather weak sunshine, patches of blue sky. No rain. A strong cold and at times unpleasant wind from the north. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Lots of walkers about today; 7 runners seen - 3 in the valley, 4 on the fells.
By the time I got to the top I had all over waterproofs on as well as my usual gloves to keep the wind off.
10.08 miles, 3,005 feet, 3 hours 19 minutes: Wansfell Pike twice, ascending the first time via Skelghyll Woods and the 3 way junction, then going along the ridge to the true top and Baystones, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, back up to the Pike, finally down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods and Lane, and Stock Ghyll Lane. Lots of high fluffy clouds, some sunshine/blue sky. No rain. That cold wind from the north persists, though I managed without using my waterproof top today - just. Terrain dry and hard with good grip. Not many walkers about; 2 runners seen - and lots of butterflies.
11.17 miles, 2,650 feet, 3 hours 47 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, the top, and Fishgarths Wood. Sunshine, blue sky, high fluffy clouds, and a lovely breeze from the south west. No rain. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Not many walkers about; 5 runners seen.
The bracken is now waist high in places.
12.66 miles, 3,354 feet, 3 hours 47 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from/to Ambleside, going over most of the tops on the way up, the exception being Great Rigg where I went to the left/west; from the top I went south west of Dove Crag, down the non race/west side of the wall, and down the rock step. Sunshine, blue sky, high fluffy clouds, no rain, an intermittent cold breeze from various directions. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Not many walkers on the fells; 2 runners seen - in the valley.
10.39 miles, 2,703 feet, 3 hours: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Champion Tree Trail - Skelghyll Lane - Holbeck Lane - Low Wood - High Skelghyll - 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods/Lane - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Overcast, with confluent high fluffy clouds. No wind nor rain. Terrain hard/dry/good grip. Not many walkers on this route: 4 runners seen - 3 of whom were in the valley.
10.9 miles, 2,459 feet,3 hours 26 minutes: Loughrigg trails. Sunshine, blue sky, some streaky/fluffy clouds. No rain nor significant wind. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Not many walkers on the fell; 1 runner seen.
Two new cuckoos heard today - from roughly halfway along Loughrigg one was down towards Skelwith Bridge, the other down towards Ambleside.