Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.8 miles, 3,006 feet, 3 hours 48 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Scandale - High Bakestones - High Pike - Low Pike - rock step - Sweden Bridge Lane - Peggy Hill - Ambleside. A mixture of sunshine and clouds, the cloud base was mainly above the tops. A moderate wind from the north west. No rain. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Quite a few walkers on the fells; 3 runners seen.

I started ascending Scandale on the decent track branching off just above High Sweden Bridge on the west side of the stream. I crossed the stream at a small dam but was then stuck on rough ground on the wrong side of the wall for longer than I enjoyed - eventually there was a gap in the wall and I could join the track. Not a route I will take again.

[Mike T]

12.63 miles, 1,402 feet, 2 hours 52 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Wray Castle - Coffin Trail - High Wray - Wray Castle - Clappersgate - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine/blue sky and fluffy clouds, the latter mainly above the high tops. No rain; a moderate breeze from the north. This was on tarmac, forest roads, and walking paths - it was damp/wet/muddy with lots of puddles in places. Not many walkers about, though the Wray Castle carpark was busy. 1 runner seen.

[Mike T]

10.24 miles, 3,268 feet, 3 hours 31 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper section of Nanny lane, and back up to the Pike. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet; misty below that. Intermittent drizzle. A moderate breeze from the south west. Quite a few walkers about; no runners seen.

It was not cold, though I had all over waterproofs on throughout.

[Mike T]

11 miles, 2,401 feet, 3 hours 8 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Clappersgate, Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, the track past Loughrigg Tarn, Deerbolts Woods, Loughrigg shore, and up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 900 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery - puddles and streams everywhere. I saw a dozen walkers on the fell, and 2 runners.

My Shakedry top and Spirit Lite Montane trousers kept me warm enough though not completely dry. The Spirit Lites are certainly more water resistant than the OMM Kamleikas - it is irritating that having bought them directly from Montane I then found them £25 cheaper elsewhere.

[Mike T]

10.08 miles, 3,075 feet, 3 hours 29 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, up to the true top, and back along the ridge to the Pike. Sunshine, blue sky, and a mixture of clouds - some thin/streaky/serrated, others fluffy, almost all above the high tops. A few minutes of drizzle; a moderately strong cold breeze from the north west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. Not many walkers on the fell; no runners seen.

[Mike T]

11.29 miles, 3,301 feet, 4 hours 11 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Clappersgate, Fishgarths Wood, Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, down the race route to the road at High Close, Deerbolts Woods, Huntingstile Lane, Nicholas Wood, and back up to the top via the steps overlooking Grasmere. Sunshine and fluffy clouds, the cloud base was at about 2,500 feet. Intermittent drizzle/light rain/graupel. A moderate breeze from the west. There is a snow line at about 2,000 feet. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. No ice at this level. Lots of walkers on the fell;1 runner seen.

[Mike T]

10.01 miles, 3,106 feet, 3 hours 17 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, along the ridge to the true top, down Nanny Lane to Troutbeck and back up to the Pike. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. Some brief episodes of blue sky/sunshine. No wind; no rain. Terrain damp/wet/saturated and slippery in places. Occasional patches of white suff on the ridge - none visible elsewhere, but there was probably some hidden by the clouds. Lots of walkers on the fell - on my second visit to the Pike there must have been 25 people there. 5 runners seen - 3 in the valley and 2 on the fell.

It was nowhere near as cold as I expected from the forecast - the lack of wind helped of course.

[Mike T]

11.45 miles, 3,431 feet, 4 hours 5 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule - Ambleside. Sunshine and fluffy/streaky clouds; the cloud base was mainly above the high tops. No precipitation. A cold moderately strong wind from the south west. Increasing amounts of snow and ice above 2,000 feet - there was about 10 centimetres of snow at 2,500 feet. Terrain damp/wet/slippery where not snow covered. Quite a few walkers on the fells; half a dozen runners seen.

Today I wore all over Kamleika kit - it worked well.

[Mike T]

10.34 miles, 3,124 feet, 3 hours 29 minutes: Loughrigg trails from/to Rothay Bridge, ascending via Fox Ghyll, descending past the old golf club, and going down/up the steps overlooking Grasmere to/from/Grasmere shore. Sunshine, and high fluffy clouds just catching some of the highest tops. No precipitation. A strong cold wind from the north - there was much more windchill today than yesterday. Terrain dry/damp/wet and slippery in places. No ice at this level. Quite a few walkers on the fell; 3 runners seen in valley.

[Mike T]

10.41 miles, 3,049 feet, 3 hours 23 minutes: Loughrigg trails - a similar route to yesterday, but visiting different minor tops before my first visit and after my second visit to Loughrigg top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 500 feet. Continuous drizzle/light rain. A cold moderately strong breeze from the south west. Terrain saturated/steaming/slippery. I saw 9 walkers and 1 runner on the fell.