Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.66 miles, 3,280 feet, 3 hours 13 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Barrons Road - Old Lake Road - Blue Hill Road/Lane to the bottom of the Wansfell steps - Ambleside - Rothay Park - Under Loughrigg Road - Pelter Bridge - the lowest path alongside Rydal Water - Loughrigg Terrace - steps overlooking Grasmere - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf Club - Rothay Park - Rothay Bridge. Mainly overcast, with clouds at various levels; some patches of blue sky. Intermittent drizzle/light rain/graupel. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. An extremely strong wind from the north - I had to clutch the rocks to reach the trig pillar on Loughrigg. Not many walkers about; 7 runners seen.

There was no obvious snow on the tops I could see. That wind was the strongest I have experienced. Some of the height gain will be artifactual from the wind.

[Mike T]

10.56 miles, 3,574 feet, 3 hours 18 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Fishgarths and Deerbolts Woods, Lily and Loughrigg Tarns, Todd Greg, and up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Extensive high cloud mainly above the tops; some sunshine/blue sky. There is snow on some of the fells above about 2,500 feet. A few minutes of drizzle. That strong wind is still there, now from the north east; again I had to hold onto the rocks at the top of Loughrigg to avoid being blown off. The ground is surprisingly dry in many places, though some is still wet/saturated/slippery. Quite a few walkers on the fell, mainly low down; 7 runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.52 miles, 3,038 feet, 3 hours 39 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Extensive cloud cover mixed with sunshine/blue sky. The cloud base was initially at about 2,000 feet, it was above most of the tops later. Intermittent drizzle. A moderately strong cold wind from the north. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Very few walkers on the fells; no runners seen.

There was no snow/ice underfoot, nor did I see any elsewhere. Thankfully that really strong wind has abated.

[Mike T]

10.08 miles, 3,753 feet, 4 hours 8 minutes: Lay-by just to the south of the Travellers Rest - Winterseeds - Grisedale Hause - Helvellyn - Grisedale Tarn - Seat Sandal - Travellers Rest lay-by. Lots of sunshine and blue sky; some high fluffy clouds mainly above the tops. No precipitation. A cold breeze from the north. Terrain widely frozen above about 500 feet, with ice on puddles and hard snow and ice on the higher paths. Very slippery in places; I wore microspikes on the descent and they did an excellent job. Not many walkers on the fells. I saw about 10 runners, most of them in AAC Tuesday/Friday group.

The hardest part of the route was the direct ascent next to the ruined wall to Dollywagon Pike - never before have I had to use my hands so much going up this way. Even with microspikes I decided against going down it.

[mr brightside]

Given that i'm out of the Litton xmas cracker i'd like to have a go at Crag Fell handicap, but i'm woefully undertrained due to knee problems. The most climb you can get in one go around horsforth is 600' from the Aire up to the Billing, so that was done in a 6.5m loop. I did some leg press work this morning and 250 good form squats. It won't be enough.

[Travs]

MrB a week on saturday there's a 1 mile race up Orrest Head, just over 400ft climb..... might be up your street given your love of quicker stuff and uphill interval training.

9am start though.... i'm planning to be there (luckily i'm in the Lakes that week)

[Mike T]

10.43 miles, 3,391 feet, 3 hours 43 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending the first time via Blue Hill Lane and the steps overlooking Ambleside, then going along the ridge to the true top and Baystones, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, and back up to the Pike. I descended through Blue Hill Woods. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. Occasional glimpses of blue sky. No wind nor rain. The terrain was firm rather than frozen hard in many places, making for comfort and good grip. Elsewhere it was anything from dry to wet/saturated/slippery. Not many walkers about; no runners seen.