Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

12.01 miles, 3,475 feet, 3 hours 45 minutes: Rothay/Miller/Low Sweden Bridges - around the rock step - Low/High Pikes - High Bakestones - Scandale - Red Screes - Roundhill Farm - Ambleside. Sunshine and high clouds just catching some of the highest tops. No rain nor significant wind. Terrain damp or wetter and slippery in places' especially the rocks. Very few walkers about - surprisingly few given what a nice day it is. 12 runners seen: 7 + 2 + 2 + 1.

I started going up the rock step, but it was far too slippery to be safe.

Town is very busy - they are turning on the Xmas lights this evening.

[mr brightside]

Town is very busy - they are turning on the Xmas lights this evening.

I'm surprised they can afford the juice.

One small blessing of the energy crisis may be that there will be less christmas illuminations.

[Mike T]

9.07 miles, 2,979 feet, 2 hours 54 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base above the tops; some small patches of blue sky. A moderate breeze from the south west. No rain whilst I was out. Terrain wet/saturated/streaming and slippery. Lots of walkers on the ridge - far more than I have ever seen before - somebody must have been extolling its virtues. 2 other runners seen.

[Mike T]

I'm surprised they can afford the juice.

One small blessing of the energy crisis may be that there will be less christmas illuminations.

Agreed - it is both a waste of money and bad for the planet. As far as Ambleside is concerned apparently it is one of the busiest weekends of the year.

At home I try to bribe my partner not to put up a tree - sometimes with success.

[Mike T]

8.52 miles, 2,583 feet, 2 hours 42 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn; going down the race descent to the road at High Close, and up the steps opposite Loughrigg Tarn. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet, though Skiddaw was cloud free and white on top. A moderate wind from the south. No rain. Terrain saturated and slippery. I saw 2 walkers on the fell; there were 2 other runners, 1 on the fell, 1 in the valley.

[Mike T]

8.95 miles, 2,884 feet, 2 hours 55 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including along the ridge to the true top, and up and down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Blue sky and clouds; most of the tops were cloud free but some were in cloud above about 2,500 feet. A moderate breeze from the north. No rain. Terrain saturated and slippery. Lots of walkers on the steps and at the top of the Pike; very few on the ridge. No other runners seen.

They are logging again just above Stagshaw Gardens - so more paths are being messed up.

[Mike T]

8.61 miles, 1,529 feet, 2 hours 15 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Under Loughrigg - Pelter Bridge - White Moss - Grasmere shore - Deerbolts Woods - Loughrigg top - descent past the old golf club to Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Blue sky and clouds, with most of the tops being cloud free. Intermittent drizzle, several rainbows, no significant wind, terrain saturated and very slippery, not helped by wearing my nearly worn out Trailfly Ultra G 300 Max to give the soles of my feet a bit of a rest. Not many walkers on the fell, but quite a few in the valley. 5 other runners seen.

[Mike T]

8.33 miles, 2,883 feet, 2 hours 49 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Champion Tree Trail - Kelsick Scar - High Skelghyll Farm - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Road - Wansfell Pike, going up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. A moderate breeze from the south. There was light rain for the last 10 minutes or so. Terrain: some of the steps were dry, but it was mainly wet/saturated/streaming and very slippery. Very few walkers about; no other runners seen.

At the top of the race route descent, after the 60 steps, instead of going to the end of the short gravel path, I took to the grass at the start of it - it is more direct and steep, but grip was OK as long as I kept to the longer grass just to the side of the obvious path.

[Mike T]

8.58 miles, 2,701 feet, 2 hours 49 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, down the race route to the road at High Close, and up the steps overlooking Loughrigg Tarn. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A moderate wind from the west. No rain. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. Quite a few walkers about, including a chap in a father xmas costume on the top of Loughrigg. 4 fellow runners seen.

[molehill]

I walked down to the chickens and collected an egg, brought some logs in and generally pottered - day 3 of covid is now a mild head cold 👍.