9.53 miles, 3,004 feet, 3 hours 18 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, along the ridge to the true top, and across to Dod Hill. Sunny, very few clouds, virtually no wind, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about, but I did start early. Two other runners seen.
It is a pity there is no decent path across to Dod Hill - it is a much better view point than Wansfell true top.
Originally Posted by Mike T
It gets very lonely once you head north past Wansfell true top..... there is a path of sorts all the way to the A592 though.
I recently crossed the A592 and went onto the south ridge of Caudale Moor.... that was incredibly arduous, lonely, and very tricky to find my way in poor visibility.
Were you training or just having a laugh Travs������ ������
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
I have tried going straight across the A592 from the stile with the little wooden gate several times - there is a path at first but it soon fades away, and it becomes all a bit unrewarding as height is gained. Heading right down the road a bit to the next gate and going left up Woundale results in finding a better path, but it is still pretty dull until you get near Pike How. The best thing to do is turn left up the road for a mile to the Inn and then go up either side. I know we are fell runners but sometimes needs must, and at least the road is runnable.
The path north of Wansfell true top can have long boggy sections, but it should be pretty dry at the moment.
10.54 miles, 3,265 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Ambleside - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low Pike - High Pike - High Bakestones - Scandale - Red Screes - Golden Rule - Ambleside. Wall to wall sunshine, with a few thin high clouds. A moderate breeze from the south. No rain. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers on the fells; three other runners seen.
Town busy.
As the ground is so hard, and grip is not an issue at the moment I wore my Trailfly Ultra G 300 Max - they are so comfortable.
A pair of strong walkers overtook me a couple of times on the ascent - I have no doubt that when going up it is quicker to go around the rock step, and to go up the non race side of the wall. Less fun though.
When I did the race loughrigg looked like a shit hole waiting to happen to me, I expect it to start looking like Ilkley moor quite soon. It's very accessible and liberty seems to be licence these days.
12.22 miles, 3,347 feet, 3 hours 50 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Todd Crag - Lilly tarn - Loughrigg top - down to the road at High Close - Silver How - Lang How - Swinescar Pike - back to the road at High Close - Loughrigg top - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine, with some thin high clouds. A refreshing breeze at times - no define direction. No rain. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Quite a few walkers about, and lots of runners, many clutching maps, so possibly orienteers; there were also some with numbers on.
I heard 2 cuckoos, and saw 1 snake - pale green so possibly a grass snake - I did not linger to observe it more closely.
11.81 miles, 3,180 feet, 3 hours 36 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal - Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise - Ambleside. Sunny, some high clouds, a lovely breeze from the north above 2,000 feet, no rain, terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Very few walkers on the fells. One runner seen in the valley.
I took the 1st, 2nd and 4th trods to the left/west on the ascent, and stayed on the non race side of the wall on the descent, going down the rock step. It was hard work in the sun today, particularly Nab Scar, where there was no breeze.
One cuckoo heard.
10.02 miles, 4,038 feet, 4 hours 42 minutes: ODG - The Band - Climber's Traverse - Bowfell - Three Tarns - Crinkle Crags - Red Tarn - right along the path towards the Three Shires' Stone - left up the path just before the race ascent path - Blisco - ODG. Initially it was overcast and quite cool, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet, and I felt a bit silly putting suntan cream on in the car park. Later it cleared, with a lovely blue sky and some high fluffy clouds, and a cooling breeze from the south east. No rain; terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers on the fells; no other runners seen.
The path I took up to Blisco is almost all on grass - it goes up towards Long Scar, and then I went around to the right. There were some climbers on Long Scar. I found Wainwright's Needle on Black Crag - no photo as my camera battery had gone.
10.23 miles, 2,998 feet, 2 hours 52 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, down to the top of Hundreds Road and back up to the Pike, and down the race route. Initially very overcast and rather cool, though with a high cloud base; later, some patches of blue sky appeared. There was a lovely cool breeze from the east. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about; no other runners seen.
Since my 260 V2s split I have been wearing either an old pair of 255s, or an old pair of Trailfly Ultra G 300s. The 255s still have reasonable studs and therefore grip. The 300s are good on rock and very comfortable, but they slip a bit on steep grass and in particular on gravel. I imagine studs on gravel grip the ground between the bits of gravel, as well as the gravel itself, which in turn grips the ground. Not having studs, just a tiny bit of tread and a big split between heel and sole puts the 300s at quite a disadvantage on this particular surface.
Garmin Connect has gone berserk, despite my run having successfully downloaded to Strava.
Last edited by Mike T; 07-06-2023 at 07:44 PM.
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