7.59 miles, 2,690 feet, 2 hours 29 minutes: Wansfell Pike from three sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and down the race route. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A pleasant breeze from the south. No rain. Terrain dry with excellent grip. Not many walkers about. I met the AAC Tuesday/Friday group - about a dozen of them - as they ascended to Wansfell true top from Troutbeck Church. I had not joined them as my partner had pinched the car.
11.66 miles, 3,337 feet, 3 hours 26 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - Golden Rule - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and high clouds, and a gentle breeze from the south. No rain; terrain dry with excellent grip. I only saw nine walkers all day, and two other runners.
40 minutes from the top of Red Screes to the pub.
I need to explore a path well to the right of the old fence posts on the descent to Scandale. I usually follow the fence posts, apart from avoiding two minor ups by taking grassy trods to the right.
10.64 miles, 4,299 feet, 4 hours 35 minutes: ODG - Buscoe Sike - Three Tarns - Crinkle Crags - Pike o' Blisco - Three Shires descent to Blea Tarn - Lingmoor Fell - ODG. Sunshine with a few high clouds; some tops encased in mist. No rain. Terrain dry with excellent grip. An intermittent and most welcome breeze from the west. Very few walkers about. One other runner seen.
The lower part of the descent from Blisco to Blea Tarn will soon be obscured by bracken.
Some of the pools on the Buscoe Sike route are gorgeous.
10.24 miles, 2,912 feet 4 hours 41 minutes: Travellers Rest - Steel Fell - Calf Crag - Sergeant Man - Tarn Crag - Far Easedale - Travellers Rest. Mainly overcast at first, with the cloud base catching the high tops. Some periods of sunshine later. No rain; a lovely breeze from the south east. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.
This was a walk with my partner, doing a small part of the BG route in memory of two AAC members who are no longer with us. Half a dozen relay teams are starting this evening.
11.2 miles, 3,309 feet, 3 hours 27 minutes: Loughrigg trails from Rothay Bridge, taking in Fishgarths Wood, Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, Loughrigg top, and down to the road at High Close and to the caves. Sunshine and clouds, mainly the latter, with the cloud base just catching some of the high tops. A few minutes of drizzle/light rain. A blustery wind from the south west. Terrain damp/wet; only the rocks were particularly slippery. One fellow runner seen - I think he was one of the juniors I used to train - of course he left for dead. Not many walkers about.
The bracken is unfortunately now blocking some of the paths, and others are unpleasant to run on as the view of the ground is so poor.
I wore my second pair of 260 V2s for the first time - they are a great shoe.
10.74 miles, 3,402 feet, 3 hours 13 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Champion Tree Trail - Kelsick Scar - Wansfell Pike from 3 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and down the race descent. Overcast, with the cloud base just obscuring some of the high tops. Intermittent drizzle. A strong blustery wind from the south. Terrain anything from dry to damp/wet; only the wet rocks were slippery. Not many walkers about. Two fellow runners seen.
A slow walk up to the allotment was all I could manage, as I came back from the Outer Hebrides yesterday with f**king Covid<
Walking along one of the less frequented paths in Beacon Hill Country Park, I found some wild raspberries next to the path; a reward for thrashing through the bracken that was encroaching on the path. Unfortunately I didn't have a container to take any back home, so I had to eat them there (anyway, the rest of the family don't seem very interested in the tame raspberries from our garden, so I eat most of those as well).
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
13.06 miles, 3,425 feet, 3 hours 40 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe c/w from Rothay Bridge, going to the left of the 3 tops on the way up and on the Fairfield plateau, and to the right of Hart and Dove Crags; keeping the wall on my left on the descent, and going around and back up and under the rock step. Initially overcast with intermittent drizzle, sunnier later; the cloud base was at about 2,500 feet. Terrain anything from damp to wet to saturated/streaming - grip surprisingly good except on wet rocks. A strong blustery wind from the south west. Not many walkers about; 3 fellow runners seen in the valley.
I could see lots of people at Buckstones Jump.
11.8 miles, 2,007 feet, 3 hours 48 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - Rydal Head - Rydal Hall - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base just catching the high tops. Drizzle/light rain for the last hour or so. Terrain wet/saturated/streaming and in places slippery. No wind to speak of. I only saw 2 others on the fell - at Buckstones Jump - probably runners taking a dip.
I ascended to Rydal Head on the right/east side of Rydal Beck, then crossed the high wall - tricky - turned left, and came down the west side of the wall past the big boulder. Once past Buckstones Jump, and until back at the boulder, it was virtually unrunnable - knee deep grass hiding irregular ground, then a narrow rough path traversing a steep slope. I had never done this before - interesting.
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