Pete i went to Skye in March of one year and the Black Cuillin were totally out of reach in the conditions. But was still some good stuff available from Sligachan. The flattish run out to Camusanary and back would be about 15 miles and it is stunning at Camusanary.Originally Posted by PeteS
Also going from Sligachan over to Loch Coruisk, then round the Bad Step and back via Camusanary was a good adventure, approx 20 miles if i recall.
Started my time off work quite solidly today....
Staveley - Lower Kentmere Valley - Sour Howes - Dubbs Road/Reservoir - Orrest Head - Bowness
11.5 miles, 1750ft
The most difficult route-finding came in the last couple of miles as i haven't been to Bowness for years and didn't know the best way down to the Lake from Orrest Head. Must have added a mile on here at least.
Then this evening a short one...
Stair - Catbells - Hause Gate - Little Town - Stair
A bit of rain in the air, and only fleeting glimpses of sun, but as always the view from Catbells is stunning.
3.5 miles, 1300ft
Looking at what i've got planned over the weekend, i might top 85 miles this week, which would be decent considering i had a complete rest day on wednesday.
We did a circular route from Elgol to Camunsary which was great.
Both the red and black Cuillens today were shrouded in cloud, heavy rain and the wind has been bad for the last couple of days. We are here for a couple of more days so maybe another trek that way is possible. Tomorrow looks like a walk out to Neist.
Pete Shakespeare - U/A
Going downhill fast
Neist is a fantastic place, so wild.
I've been up the Red Cuillin in those type of conditions... was possibly the worst conditions i've ever encountered... was blown over more than once, and reduced to crawling along the Glamaig ridge at a couple of points.
Thee are some nice grassy trods on Sallows that go along, down and over to Sour Howes - if coming from Kentmere ascending Sallows is best done from the Kentmere side of the Garburn Pass just before its highest point - there is a path off to the left near one of the gates. Best saved for a clear day though as it would be easy to go too far left.
Just looked at the entries and there are 27 in the M60 category.I hope you get better in time for Eyam (well, actually I don't, the M60 competition in the pre-entries for that race is already too strong).
I thought plantar fasciitis would give pain on the sole, not the heel. Have you got a proper diagnosis?
Your right AK, my pain is in the sole of my foot on the underside of what I call my heel pad about an inch from the heel on the inside!
Exactly the same place as a shown on diagrams/photos of treatment/exercises for it. If my exercises don't continue to work I'll seek professional advice.
Hopefully see you at Eyam.
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
At random I looked at the Fairfield results for 1988 (because I did it). There were 3 male V60 finishers out of 426 total finishers. So less than 1%.
In 2021 there were 11 (+ a V70) out of 217 total finishers, so more than 5%.
So many old men these days.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Only 5%? At the recent Bradwell English Championship race, the proportion of M60+ among the men was around 20%. See also my recent comments on the Turnslack race thread.At random I looked at the Fairfield results for 1988 (because I did it). There were 3 male V60 finishers out of 426 total finishers. So less than 1%.
In 2021 there were 11 (+ a V70) out of 217 total finishers, so more than 5%.
So many old men these days.
When I started fell-running, "Super-Veterans" (over 50) were quite a rarity. In recent years I have seen fell race results in which there are more finishers in the 50-59 age group than Seniors (21-39). Steve Chilton has been writing a book about the rise in female participation in fell running; I think his next project should be to write about the rise in oldies' participation.
Has the rise in participation among oldies been accompanied by a decline in participation among younger seniors (the Junior fell running scene seems healthy enough, but it's the 21-39's who seem in short supply)? And if so, why? Is it because of the rise in trail running? Is trail running perceived as more trendy, or maybe younger runners hear about trail running because it is well publicised, and they never hear of fell running. This year I have run two races advertised as trail races, and I have been first M60+ in both of them; something that is never likely to happen in a race on the FRA calendar, where there would sometimes be one or two M70's ahead of me.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
I ascended from Browfoot Lane and Capple Howe. It was a bit of an ordeal with the bracken. Managed to find a bit of a trod heading the correct direction.
An adventurous day out in challenging conditions today.
From Stair, a steep initial climb up Rowling End and onto Causey Pike. Along the ridge over Scar Crags, Sail and Crag Hill.
The conditions were poor enough at this stage for me to consider cutting it short and heading over Whiteless Pike and straight down to Buttermere... however the route over Whiteless Pike is still quite exposed, so continued with my planned route, pressing on to Grasmoor, then down to Crummock Water via Lad Hows Ridge...
The weather hit full force on Grasmoor and Lad Hows, and on reaching Crummock the initial plan had been to take the Buttermere Horseshoe Race route back up the long climb to Whiteside. But i was none too keen to go back up into the wind and rain, so opted to go along the Gasgale Valley to Coledale Hause... on reaching the Hause i considered going back onto my planned route and up onto Grisedale Pike, but it was still pretty nasty, so straight over the pass and down Coledale, to Braithwaite and Stair.
16 miles.
Only saw 5 people whilst out on the fell... a shadowy figure in the murk on Causey Pike, a couple of strained-looking fellow fellrunners bent double into the wind on Sail, and two hardy walkers between Crag Hill and Grasmoor. Apart from that, not a soul on a pretty grim day on the high fells.
Last edited by Travs; 20-08-2022 at 03:58 PM.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote