Todays permitted exercise!

[Travs]

Ships passing in the night!

I was encroaching on your territory Mike, and had i set off a little earlier we may well have crossed paths.

Ambleside - Blue Hill Wood - Wansfell Pike - Wansfell....

From Wansfell i continued north along the wall, all the way to the A592 Kirkstone Road, then straight across and up the steep slope in front, up onto St Raven's Edge.... but then quickly dropping onto the main path back down to Kirkstone Inn.

Then up the steep climb to Red Screes, down to Scandale Pass, and down the valley back to Ambleside.

Was generally in cloud above about 1500ft, and it was damp throughout, but still quite warm (in fact i wish i'd worn a vest), except for the final exposed pull onto Red Screes when i had to get the waterproof out.

Didn't see any other runners, and except for the "honeypots" of Wansfell Pike and Kirkstone Car Park, only saw two other people.

10 miles, 3600ft, in around 2.5hrs

Strange that on a day like today with poor visibility, i couldn't imagine anyone else venturing on that area between Red Screes and the top of Scandale, yet you were on it just a couple of hours prior to me!

[Mike T]

Ships passing in the night!

I was encroaching on your territory Mike, and had i set off a little earlier we may well have crossed paths.

Ambleside - Blue Hill Wood - Wansfell Pike - Wansfell....

From Wansfell i continued north along the wall, all the way to the A592 Kirkstone Road, then straight across and up the steep slope in front, up onto St Raven's Edge.... but then quickly dropping onto the main path back down to Kirkstone Inn.

Then up the steep climb to Red Screes, down to Scandale Pass, and down the valley back to Ambleside.

Was generally in cloud above about 1500ft, and it was damp throughout, but still quite warm (in fact i wish i'd worn a vest), except for the final exposed pull onto Red Screes when i had to get the waterproof out.

Didn't see any other runners, and except for the "honeypots" of Wansfell Pike and Kirkstone Car Park, only saw two other people.

10 miles, 3600ft, in around 2.5hrs

Strange that on a day like today with poor visibility, i couldn't imagine anyone else venturing on that area between Red Screes and the top of Scandale, yet you were on it just a couple of hours prior to me!

I did keep an eye out for you Travs, but as you know the visibility was poor, and, more importantly, timing is everything. Good luck tomorrow!

[Mike T]

9.2 miles, 2,484 feet, 2 hours 57 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including along the ridge to the true top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet. A few minutes of light rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain damp/wet - only the rocks were slippery. Not many walkers about; 2 other runners seen.

More and more paths are being blocked by the bracken.

[Mike T]

14.36 miles, 3,118 feet, 4 hours 13 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Park - Roman Ruins - Clappersgate -Fishgarths Wood - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Loughrigg Tarn - High Close Arboretum - Silver How - Loughrigg top - old golf club - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,600 feet, occasional sunny spells. No rain. Terrain dry/damp with good grip apart from the rocks. A moderately strong wind from the south west. Lots of walkers on the main paths; 2 other runners seen.

[Mike T]

8.46 miles, 2,282 feet, 2 hours 26 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Blue Hill Road - Wansfell steps - Wansfell Pike - Wansfell true top - Wansfell Pike - Blue Hill Woods - Borrans Park - Roman Ruins - Rothay Bridge. Some sunshine but mainly overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. A moderate breeze from the south. Intermittent drizzle/light rain, but waterproofs not used. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery in places. Quite a few walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

[Mike T]

11.63 miles, 3,222 feet, 3 hours 38 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - around the rock step - Low/High Pikes - High Bakestones - Scandale - Red Screes - Golden Rule - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and high clouds, no wind nor rain, terrain damp/wet/saturated and slippery in places. About a dozen walkers seen on the fells, and 2 runners in the town.

I went around the rock step as there is too much bracken for my liking on the paths leading to it.

[Mike T]

10.91 miles, 2,625 feet, 3 hours 27 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - High Bakestones - High/Low Pikes - rock step - Low Sweden Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and high clouds, no rain nor wind. Terrain dry/damp/wet and slippery in places. A few walkers on the fells; 2 runners seen in the valley.

Only the last 250 yards or so of the path next to wall after the rock step is unpleasantly blocked by bracken - as this path flattens out before joining the main track there is a path off to the left that is nowhere near as unpleasant - I took this.

I have finally found a decent path between Scandale and High Bakestones - as is often the case it is more easily found from below.

After High Bakestones I descended with the wall on my right.

[Mike T]

13.39 miles, 3,499 feet, 4 hours 2 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal - Fairfield Horseshoe c/w, going over the 3 tops on the way up, to the left on the Fairfield Plateau, over Hart and Dove Crags, crossing to the west side of the wall at High Pike, around then back up and under the rock step - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. It was surprisingly dark in the cloud, and there was intermittent drizzle/light rain. No significant wind. Terrain anything from damp to saturated - the rocks in particular were very slippery. I saw perhaps a couple of dozen walkers on the fell, and 5 runners, 2 of them being the first 2 finishers in the Rydal Round who overtook me on the final short but steep descent next to Scandale Beck just before the finishing field.

[Mike T]

7.23 miles, 2,524 feet, 2 hours 43 minutes: NDG - Stickle Tarn - North Rake - Thunacar Knott - High Raise - Sergeant Man - Blea Ring - Stickle Tarn - NDG. Overcast, with the cloud base just catching some of the high tops. No rain, no significant wind, terrain mainly dry with good grip - some rocks wet and slippery. Not many walkers about apart from 2 large school age groups; 1 runner seen on the North Rake.

I went to the dental hygienist this morning - I had forgotten how unpleasant some of her tools are!

[Mike T]

8.74 miles, 2,306 feet, 2 hours 33 minutes: Wansfell Pike from Rothay Bridge, taking in the Roman Ruins, Borrans Park, and Blue Hill Road, and going up the race route steps and along the ridge to the true top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,200 feet; constant drizzle/light rain but not cold and waterproofs not used. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery. A moderate wind from the south west. Not many walkers about; 2 other runners seen.

One woman ascending the steps was wearing white sandals - no socks of course - I saw her again when she was descending towards Troutbeck; madness.