Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.82 miles, 1,760 feet, 3 hours 10 minutes: Loughrigg trails: Rothay Bridge - Under Loughrigg Road - Rydal Water - Deerbolts Woods - Grasmere Lakeside - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - Miller bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine, blue sky, and fluffy clouds, with the cloud base initially at about 2,000 feet; higher later. A few minutes of drizzle. A moderate breeze from the north. There is a snow line at about 500 feet - below this height the terrain is saturated and slippery - above 500 feet the snow varies from frozen with good grip to slushy and very slippery. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen - in the valley.

They certainly got the forecast wrong for today - yesterday they said it would rain/snow all day, and even this morning they said it would not clear up until rather later.

[Mike T]

9.08 miles, 2,665 feet, 3 hours 25 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane - Wansfell Pike via the steps - Hundreds Road - High Skelghyll - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane to the bottom of the steps - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. When I got up at 5 am it was clear, then freezing fog developed; when I set off there was some sunshine, blue sky, high clouds, and an inversion over Windermere. It then slowly clouded over, with intermittent graupel; on top of the Pike there was a moderately strong wind from the west. In the valley there was no snow but lots of ice; at the bottom of the Wansfell steps there was a couple inches of snow - on the top it was 1 to 2 feet deep, obscuring the steps in most places. Yesterday's slush, where not covered by fresh snow, was today's ice. Very slippery in places - I wore microspikes for most of the outing. Quite a few walkers on the fell, most without spikes. No runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.64 miles, 2,566 feet, 3 hours 26 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending to the top via Clappersgate, Todd Crag, and Lily Tarn, going down the race route the road at High Close, then down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore and back up to the top, finally descending past the old golf club to Miller Bridge, Rothay Park, and Rothay Bridge. Sunshine, blue sky, and some thin high clouds that slowly thickened as the day progressed. No wind, no precipitation. Frost/ice to the valley floor - no slush. Snow depth very variable: some areas have been blown bare, elsewhere it was over a foot deep. I wore microspikes from door to door - the snow is so dry they did not ball up once. Lots of walkers about; 2 runners seen.

[Mike T]

9.42 miles, 2,864 feet, 3 hours 28 minutes: Wansfell Pike: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Blue Hill Woods/Lane - Wansfell steps to the top - Hundreds Road - Robin Lane - High Skelghyll - the 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods/Lane again - down Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, some high fluffy clouds, no wind nor precipitation. Terrain frozen/icy from the valley floor up; yesterday's snow is still there; again there is no slush - in most places the snow has a crunchy crust. Excellent grip and no balling with the microspikes. Quite a few walkers about; 2 runners seen.

[Mike T]

9.06 miles, 2,731 feet, 3 hours 32 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending the first time from Kelsick Scar and the 3 way junction, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, up to the true top, along the ridge to the Pike, then down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods/Lane, and Stock Ghyll Lane. Wall to wall sunshine, no wind, no precipitation. Essentially none of the snow has melted above about 500 feet, it has just moved about and changed in character. None of it is slushy; it is thigh deep in places. There is ice/frozen ground to the valley floor. Another day when I wore microspikes from door to door. Quite a few walkers about; no runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.23 miles, 2,385 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending/descending via High Skelghyll and The Hundreds. Initially a mixture of sunshine and high clouds - it became more and more overcast as the day went on. No wind, no precipitation. Ice and frozen terrain yet again from the valley floor up. No slush; the snow is becoming harder/crunchier. Another door to door microspikes day. Lots of walkers on the fell; no runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.43 miles, 2,447 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Wansfell Pike - more or less the same route as yesterday. Overcast, with a large bank of cloud in the valley, then another from about 800 feet up. No significant wind, no precipitation. The snow is largely still there - it is now soft rather than crunchy, though it is not yet what I would call slush. The terrain in the valley remains hard/icy. Quite a few walkers about; 1 runner seen.

Again I wore microspikes from door to door, though they are not brilliant in the current soft snow.

[Mike T]

8.21 miles, 1,890 feet, 2 hours 40 minutes: Loughrigg top, ascending and descending via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag and Lily Tarn. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 600 feet. More or less constant drizzle; no significant wind. Below 500 feet or so the ground is soft/saturated/streaming; above that height it was hard/frozen/icy in places; the snow that is left is anything from sheet ice to slush. Slippery everywhere - I had microspikes in my bumbag but did not use them. Only 3 walkers and no runners seen on the fell.

[Mike T]

10.36 miles, 2,702 feet, 3 hours 42 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - High Skelghyll - Skelghyll Lane - Holbeck Lane - Low Wood - High Skelghyll - Wansfell Pike - 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods/Lane - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, banks of cloud/mist at multiple levels. No rain; a moderate breeze from the north west. Terrain wet/saturated/streaming/slippery; above 1,000 feet there are some patches of wet snow/slush - these are usually avoidable but occasionally they aren't - they can be up to knee deep. I saw 6 walkers and 1 runner on the fell.

[Mike T]

14.32 miles, 2,711 feet, 3 hours 58 minutes: Ambleside to Lingmoor Fell top and back, going out via Bog Lane, Skelwith Fold, Skelwith Bridge, High Park, Stang End, and Dale End, and returning more or less the same way. Sunshine, blue sky, some cloud banks at several levels. A few minutes of drizzle, a moderate breeze from the west. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Very little snow left now. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen.