Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

11.6 miles, 3,010 feet, 3 hours 34 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - High Bakestones - High/Low Pikes - rock step - Rydal Park - Ambleside. Sunshine, and a mixture of fluffy and streaky clouds above the high tops. No rain. A strong quite cold wind from the north. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Not many walkers about. 2 runners seen in the valley, and about 8 AAC runners chased me up Scandale, but did not quite catch me.

[Mike T]

10.69 miles, 3,100 feet, 3 hours 39 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close, left along the road, and back up to the top via the steps overlooking Loughrigg Tarn. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds; no rain; that cold breeze from the north persists. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Not many walkers about; 1 runner seen - in the valley.

[Mike T]

10.26 miles, 3,220 feet, 3 hours 47 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including down to the upper section of Nanny Lane, up to the true top, and back along the ridge to the Pike. Sunshine and high clouds. A few minutes of drizzle, and the very occasional snow flake. We still have that cold north wind. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Very few walkers about; 3 runners seen.

I keep finding new bog avoiding trods along the ridge, despite having done it so many times.

[Mike T]

11.46 miles, 3,182 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: Red Screes from Ambleside, ascending via Low Sweden Bridge, the rock step, High Sweden Bridge and Scandale, and descending via the south ridge and the Golden Rule Pub. Sunshine and high clouds, no rain, that cold wind from the north is easing. Terrain dry with good grip. Very few walkers about; 3 runners seen.

That large crack at 1789 feet on the south ridge runners' trod is definitely getting bigger. The path goes right over it - avoid!

[Mike T]

10.58 miles, 3,042 feet, 3 hours 37 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close, left along the road, then back up to the top via the steps overlooking Loughrigg Tarn. Sunshine and high clouds, no rain, that cold wind from the north continues to weaken. Terrain dry with excellent grip. Lots of walkers about, many in large groups; 2 runners seen.

I heard my second cuckoo for the year.

[Mike T]

11.17 miles, 2,829 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: drills and speed work in Borrans park, then Wansfell pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and down the race route through the kissing gate. Mainly overcast, some weak sunshine at times; the cloud base was mainly above the high tops. No rain. That cold wind from the north has picked up again. Lots of walkers on the fell. I saw about 10 runners in the valley, but none on the fell.

The multiple drills covered 0.8 miles, then 36 x 30 second efforts with 30 seconds rest covering 2.07 miles.

Another cuckoo heard today.

[Mike T]

10.08 miles, 2,719 feet, 3 hours 8 minutes: Loughrigg trails. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,200 feet. Continuous drizzle/light rain after the first hour. The wind direction has finally changed - now from the south west and moderate in strength. Terrain wet/saturated but the grip was surprisingly good apart from the rocks. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.14 miles, 3,176 feet, 3 hours 17 minutes: Wansfell Pike 3 times, ascending twice from the Nanny Lane side, and once from High Skelghyll Farm, and including along the ridge to the true top, and down the race route through the kissing gate. Overcast, with no distinct cloud base. No rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain dry in places, but mainly damp/wet/slippery. Very few walkers about. I came across the AAC Tuesday/Friday runners a couple of times - there were about a dozen of them - and 1 other runner.

Two cuckoos heard today.

[Mike T]

10.14 miles, 2,911 feet, 3 hours 27 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds, rather misty in the distance. No rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain mainly dry/damp with good grip. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.

Another cuckoo heard.

[Mike T]

10.96 miles, 3,071 feet, 3 hours 49 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. Very pleasant attenuated sunshine through thin high clouds. No rain. A moderately strong wind from the north. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Quite a few walkers about; 1 runner seen - in the valley.