Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.11 miles, 3,246 feet, 3 hours 48 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending initially via Stagshaw Gardens, Blue Hill Woods/Blue Hill Lane and the steps, then going along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, back up to the Pike, finally down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods/Blue Hill Lane again, and down Stock Ghyll Lane. Sunshine, blue sky, some very thin high streaky clouds, and a lovely inversion over Windermere and its adjacent valleys. There was frost to the valley floor, and some of the ground was firm/hard, depending on elevation and sun exposure. What snow is left is frozen hard and almost always took my weight. Where not hard the ground was saturated. Slippery in places. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.27 miles, 2,754 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, Loughrigg top, down the race route to the road at High Close, Deerbolts Wood, Grasmere shore, back up to the top, down past the old golf club, through Rothay Park, finishing at the Climbers Shop. Overcast, with the cloud base initially at about 500 feet, two to three times that later. No rain. A moderate breeze from the west. Terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. Almost no snow/ice now at this level; very little visible snow elsewhere. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen - in the valley.

I had hoped to buy some waterproof socks at the Climbers Shop, but apparently the Spine participants bought their complete stock.

[Mike T]

10.13 miles, 2,979 feet, 3 hours 25 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including - not in order - Stagshaw Gardens, Blue Hill Woods/Lane, Kelsick Scar, and the race descent from the Pike to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet; misty/hazy below that. No rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain damp/wet with mainly good grip. Not many walkers about; no runners seen.

This was the first time I have gone down the race descent since the heavy snow - it is ice/snow free; the damage from the descending racers is still visible.

[Mike T]

11.06 miles, 2,943 feet, 3 hours 47 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Overcast - I was in cloud/fog above 800 feet. A moderate breeze from the south. No rain. The ground was increasingly firm/hard with height above 1,000 feet, with patches of ice on the ground and interesting ice formations on the vegetation. Very slippery everywhere, particularly the rocks. Not many walkers about; 6 runners seen.

I wore microspikes from the top of Scandale to the road. I would not have wanted to descend to Scandale or to the Kirkstone Inn without them.

[Mike T]

7.15 miles, 2,199 feet, 2 hours 24 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending the first time via Blue Hill Road/Lane and the steps, going down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, up to the true top, then along the ridge to the Pike, and down the race route. Overcast, with banks of cloud at various levels, including as low as the valley floor in places. No sun/blue sky/wind. Intermittent drizzle. Terrain firm/hard/icy in places above 1,200 feet, below that wet/saturated - slippery almost everywhere. Not many walkers about; no runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.03 miles, 2,662 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides again, ascending from High Skelghyll, going along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, back up to the Pike, then down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods/Lane, and Stock Ghyll Lane. The weather and ground conditions were identical to yesterday, except that the ground was not quite as hard. Very few walkers about. I came across the AAC Tuesday/Friday group on the ridge - there were 7 of them - and I saw 1 other runner.

[Mike T]

10.05 miles, 1,977 feet, 3 hours 6 minutes: Loughrigg trails from/to Rothay Bridge, ascending via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag, and Lily Tarn, and descending down past the old golf club. Mainly overcast, though for the first time in ages there was intermittent sunshine and some patches of blue sky. The cloud base was at about 2,000 feet - some small banks of cloud/mist below that. No wind. A few minutes of drizzle. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery in places. Very few people about; 1 runner seen - in the valley.

[Mike T]

8.37 miles, 2,149 feet, 2 hours 31 minutes: Wansfell, though not to the Pike - the three way junction was the highest point I got to, ascending via Low Wood and High Skelghyll, and descending to Blue Hill Woods/Lane and Stock Ghyll Lane. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain; no significant wind. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery - puddles and rivulets everywhere. Very few people about, none of them runners.

[Mike T]

6.14 miles, plus 1.29 that Garmin did not record, 2,146 feet, 2 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending via the steps, and descending via the race route. Sunshine, blue sky, high fluffy and even higher streaky clouds. A moderately strong cold wind from the south west. I did not get rained/snowed on, though I could see it happening elsewhere. Terrain anything from dry to saturated; slippery in places. Lots of walkers about; no runners seen.

There are twigs/branches everywhere, and on the route I took a couple of large trees were down.

For some reason my watch did not record the initial 1.29 miles, though it did record the time from when I started.

[Mike T]

8.55 miles, 2,331 feet, 2 hours 50 minutes: Loughrigg trails from/to Rothay Bridge, ascending via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag and Lily Tarn, and descending down past the old golf club. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. There is new snow in places down to about 1,500 feet. A strong and strengthening cold wind from the south; a few minutes of drizzle at the end of the run. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.

I wore the neoprene socks again, but this time tried a pair of Injinji merino liner toe socks underneath - damp toes enclosed by wool are probably the happiest damp toes.