Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

11 miles, 3,308 feet, 4 hours 2 minutes: Travellers Rest - Far Easedale - Easedale Tarn - Blea Rigg - towards Stickle Tarn, taking Wainwright's path to the right at the small walled enclosure - Sergeant Man - Tarn Crag - Far Easedale - up to Bracken Hause and down the zig-zags - Travellers Rest. Overcast, with the cloud base just obscuring some of the highest tops. A moderate breeze from the south west. No rain. Terrain dry and becoming hard in places; good grip. Lots of walkers near Easedale Tarn, very few elsewhere. No runners seen; one cuckoo heard. Car parks and town busy.

The direct route from Far Easedale up to Bracken Hause is not to be recommended - very rough and steep - they have started putting in some steps which it badly needs.

[Travs]

I tried to find the path from Easdale up to Bracken Hause a couple of years ago...

Coming from Grasmere direction, and in poor visibility, i don't think i actually found a path for a while, it was basically a trudge up steep bare fell. I expect i'd not quite gone far enough into Easdale before turning up the fell.

[Mike T]

I tried to find the path from Easdale up to Bracken Hause a couple of years ago...

Coming from Grasmere direction, and in poor visibility, i don't think i actually found a path for a while, it was basically a trudge up steep bare fell. I expect i'd not quite gone far enough into Easdale before turning up the fell.

Coming from Grasmere you almost have to get to the wooden bridge heading up towards Tarn Crag - almost. Coming the other way, having crossed the wooden bridge, turn right on a flat grassy section, and when the main path turns right and becomes rocky, go up left. Once on it it is obvious, but higher up it is very steep and eroded, and, as I say, is in need of those steps.

[Mossdog]

So you've been up on the chalk: horrible stuff to run on. Next time you are in the South, find some greensand hills to run on; it's a lovely surface, and if it's July, the woods on the greensand are full of bilberries.

Thanks for the advice - I'll look out for better ground, if possible, whenever I venture south again. It's been a few years since I headed south of Derbyshire as I seem to be hefted to the North Pennines largely

[Mike T]

7.35 miles, 2,727 feet, 3 hours 12 minutes: NDG - White Gill - High Raise, including Low White Stones - Sergeant Man - NDG. Sunshine and clouds, mainly the latter; the cloud base was above the high tops. Hazy in the distance. No rain. A moderate breeze from the north west. Terrain dry - hard in places - good grip. Very few walkers about. Four other runners seen.

I had not done the White Gill route for several years. It is steep, and the last few metres before the flat grassy top are quite a challenge - very little in the way of edges to get a grip on. I would not advise doing it if there has been rain - otherwise it is quite fun.

[Mike T]

11.21 miles, 3,147 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: Travellers Rest - Steel Fell - Calf Crag - Greenup - High Raise - Sergeant Man - Deep Slack - Calf Crag - Greenburn Bottom - Travellers Rest. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds. No rain; a moderate breeze from the south. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Quite a few walkers on the fells. There were lots of runners with numbers on going past the Travellers Rest - I don't know which event this was. I saw about 15 runners on the fells - without numbers - though I may have double counted some of them.

Town and car parks very busy.

I tried a new route going down to Greenburn Bottom - I went more or less straight down from the col before Gibson Knott to try and avoid a boggy section on the diagonal path - but I just ended up in a different boggy section.

[Travs]

11.21 miles, 3,147 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: Travellers Rest - Steel Fell - Calf Crag - Greenup - High Raise - Sergeant Man - Deep Slack - Calf Crag - Greenburn Bottom - Travellers Rest. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds. No rain; a moderate breeze from the south. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Quite a few walkers on the fells. There were lots of runners with numbers on going past the Travellers Rest - I don't know which event this was. I saw about 15 runners on the fells - without numbers - though I may have double counted some of them.

Town and car parks very busy.

I tried a new route going down to Greenhorn Bottom - I went more or less straight down from the col before Gibson Knott to try and avoid a boggy section on the diagonal path - but I just ended up in a different boggy section.

I expect it was the Old County Tops race which you became embroiled with.

[Mike T]

11.26 miles, 3,149 feet, 4 hours 1 minute: Travellers Rest - Helm Crag - Gibson Knott - Calf Crag - Sergeant Man - Tarn Crag - Far Easedale - Travellers Rest. Overcast, with the cloud base above the high tops; hazy in the distance. A few minutes of drizzle. No significant wind. Terrain dry and hard with good grip. Lots of walkers about; no other runners seen.

Town and carparks busy.

Both descents from Tarn Crag towards Grasmere are interesting - one more or less follows the line of the ridge, the other heads towards the outlet of Easedale Tarn from about halfway down. Each has a few short steep sections, but they are also very runnable in places. Unfortunately both will soon be blocked by bracken.

[Mike T]

I expect it was the Old County Tops race which you became embroiled with.

That would make sense. Given how far they had to go they were certainly getting a move on.

[Mike T]

8.01 miles, 3,066 feet, 3 hours 37 minutes: NDG - White Ghyll - Blea Rigg - Wainwright's small walled enclosure - Sergeant Man - High Raise - Sergeant Man - walled enclosure - NDG. Sunshine and clouds, mainly the latter, the cloud base just caught some of the high tops. No rain. A moderate breeze from the north. Terrain dry/hard/good grip. Very few walkers on the fells. One other runner seen.

Again, the exit from White Ghyll was a bit tricky. The tiny foot hold I used last time seemed to have vanished. I was hoping to find Wainwright's escape to the left on steep grass but it was far from obvious in the ghyll - I think I located it from the safety of the flat grass well above it. Next time.