Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.82 miles, 2,809 feet, 3 hours 44 minutes: Travellers Rest - Far Easedale - Tarn Crag - Sergeant Man - Tarn Crag - Far Easedale - Travellers Rest. Sunshine, with high fluffy clouds, and even higher thin streaky clouds. No significant wind, no rain, terrain dry/hard/good grip. Not many walkers on the fells; one other runner seen.

On the lower half of Tarn Crag I took the ridge path on the ascent, and the path closer to the tarn on the way down. I did the half mile or so along Tarn Crag top a couple of times to clarify the "best" route - there are so many paths, some of them very boggy, some of them going up/down when there is no need to do so.

Town and car parks busy.

[Mike T]

8.39 miles, 3,123 feet , 3 hours 47 minutes: NDG - White Ghyll - Wainwright's small enclosure - Sergeant Man - High Raise - Low White Stones - Sergeant Man - small enclosure - NDG. Sunshine, with very thin very high clouds. No rain, a refreshing breeze from the north, terrain dry/hard/good grip. Not many walkers about; no other runners seen.

I took an "escape" to the left on steep grass about halfway up White Ghyll - it was no fun - I don't know if it was the escape Wainwright describes.

I have been exploring an intermittent path on the extensive undulating grass south of Blea Rigg from the east end of Blea Cragg almost to Stickle Tarn - a lot of it is runnable.

[Mike T]

10.48 miles, 4,044 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: Travellers Rest - Tongue Gill - Grisedale Hause - up next to the wall - Helvellyn - Nethermost Pike - Dollywagon Pike - down next to the wall - Seat Sandal - Winterseeds - Travellers Rest. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds, a moderate breeze from the south, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Visibility excellent. Not many walkers on the fells; four other runners seen. No Winterseed buzzard today.

I took the path to the east that goes next to the Gough memorial both ways - when it is clear there are superb views over Striding Edge.

[Mike T]

9.47 miles, 2,757 feet, 3 hours 1 minute: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, down to the top of Nanny Lane and back up again, and down the race route to the race finish. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds, no rain, a moderate breeze from the south, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about; 2 other runners seen; 1 cuckoo heard.

I did several sections of run/rest (vs run/walk); it feels productive.

[Mike T]

10.07 miles, 4,264 feet, 4 hours 33 minutes: Travellers Rest - Winterseeds - Little Tongue - Grisedale Hause - around the tarn clockwise - Ruthwaite Lodge - Dollywagon Pike - Falcon Crag - down on the grass next to the zig-zags - Seat Sandal - south ridge - Winterseeds - Travellers rest. Overcast, with some small patches of blue sky; the cloud base was initially at about 1,200 feet, later it was above the high tops. No significant wind, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. I did not see many walkers on the fells, but I did start early. Two other runners seen.

Town and car parks busy.

This was my first attempt at Dollywagon Pike from the east - the vague path behind the lodge soon fades - I should have gone further to the left to avoid lots of steep grass, but of course I may just have encountered different steep terrain.

[Mike T]

9.07 miles, 3,180 feet, 3 hours 32 minutes: Travellers Rest - Winterseeds - Tongue Ghyll - Grisedale Hause - Cofa Pike - Fairfield - Heron Pike - Alcock Tarn - Greenhead Ghyll - Travellers Rest. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds, a cool wind from the north, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Lots of walkers on the fells; about 10 other runners seen, including a group of 5.

Town and car parks very busy.

I explored a couple of paths below the col between St Sunday Crag and Cofa Pike - one looked promising but faded into nothing, the other was viable and went though some interesting rock formations. Further on of course there is Pinnacle Ridge, though I am not sure how to get to it.

Descending from Fairfield I took all 4 trods to the right/west; I did go the the top of Heron Pike from the lowest trod just for fun.

[Mike T]

12 miles, 5,382 feet, 5 hours 13 minutes: Travellers Rest - Winterseeds - Tongue Ghyll - Grisedale Hause - St Sunday Crag - Elmhow zig-zags - Ruthwaite Lodge - Dollywagon Pike via the tongue - Falcon Crag - down on the grass next to the zig-zags - Seat Sandal - south ridge - Winterseeds - Travellers Rest. Sunshine and thin high clouds, a refreshing breeze on the tops, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

Town and car parks very busy.

I managed a better line up Dollywagon Pike - the key seems to be making sure you gain the immediate top of Spout Crag by going around to its right initially - then there is a shallow but steep gully to ascend, and finally the ridge itself, after a flattish area with a couple of small tarns. There is no obvious path in the middle part of the route - not an ascent to do if visibility is in doubt.

[Mike T]

12.01 miles, 3,830 feet, 4 hours 6 minutes: Travellers Rest - Steel Fell - Calf Crag - Mere Beck - Sergeant Man - Tarn Crag - Far Easedale - Helm Crag - Bracken Hause - down the zig-zags - Travellers Rest. Wall to wall sunshine, a refreshing breeze from the north, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about, apart from on Helm Crag, which was very busy. No other runners seen.

Town and car parks busy.

I tried a new path on the first section between Steel Fell and Calf Crag - it was a real time waster despite being well trodden. I guess it exists as people feel "safe" navigationally if they stay next to the wire fence.

[Mike T]

10.95 miles, 3,013 feet, 3 hours 36 minutes: Travellers Rest - Far Easedale - Easedale Tarn - Tarn Crag - Sergeant Man - Calf Crag - Steel Fell - Travellers Rest. Sunshine with virtually no clouds, a moderate breeze from the east, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about, no other runners seen.

Town and car parks busy.

Very soon the bracken will make the paths on the lower parts of Tarn Crag quite unpleasant.

[Mike T]

9.59 miles, 3,038 feet, 3 hours 1 minute: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close and back up again. Sunny, with some high fluffy clouds mostly above the high tops. A breeze from the south east. No rain. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Lots of walkers about; five other runners seen.

Because of the bracken, some of my favourite paths are now too unpleasant to use.

There is damage and rubbish from campers in two places near Todd Crag - so much for leaving no trace.