10.81 miles, 3,091 feet, 3 hours 33 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper part of Nanny lane, and back up to the Pike. Sunshine, blue sky, high fluffy clouds, no rain, a nice breeze from the north. Still rather misty in the distance. Terrain mainly dry/damp; some of the rocks were wet and slippery. Quite a few walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen; 2 cuckoos heard.
17.88 miles, 5,138 feet, 6 hours 9 minutes: Ambleside to Sergeant Man and back, taking in Loughrigg top, Silver How, and Blea Rigg both ways, and Lang How and Swinescar Pike on the return. Sunshine and high clouds, no rain, a lovely breeze from the north east. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Quite a few walkers about, and lots of runners, most of them clutching maps, so presumably in an event.
10.04 miles, 2,711 feet, 3 hours 17 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Under Loughrigg - Fox Ghyll - down to the caves - Loughrigg top - race descent to High Close - Deerbolts Woods - Grasmere shore - Loughrigg Terrace - up the steps overlooking Grasmere - Loughrigg top - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the clouds just catching some of the highest tops. No rain. That refreshing breeze from the north is still there. Terrain dry with good grip. Quite a few walkers about, mainly on the Grasmere side of the fell. 1 runner seen.
10.18 miles, 3,056 feet, 3 hours 11 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, and back up to the Pike. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,000 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Apart from 1 large school group, there were very few people about. No runners seen.
10.41 miles, 2,994 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park, Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Mainly overcast, with the clouds above the high tops. Misty in the distance. Intermittent sunshine - most welcome given the surprisingly cold strong wind from the south west. A few minutes of drizzle. Terrain damp/wet - the grip was good apart from the wet rocks. Very few walkers about; 2 runners seen.
11.07 miles, 3,022 feet, 3 hours 31 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route from the top to the road at High Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, and back up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Mainly overcast - the clouds were above the high tops; some brief periods of sunshine/blue sky. A cold moderately strong wind from the north west. A few minutes of drizzle. Terrain dry/damp with good grip. Quite a few walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.
There were lots of jets about today, presumably commemorating D Day.
The bracken is now blocking some trods, and making others rather unpleasant. In places it is over 6 foot tall.
13.18 miles, 4,024 feet, 3 hours 59 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - High Skelghyll - Robin Lane - Troutbeck - the first section of the Garburn Pass - Sour Howes - Sallows - Sour Howes - Troutbeck - Nanny Lane - Wansfell Pike - race route descent - Ambleside. Initially a nice mixture of high clouds and sunshine - it gradually became more overcast and drizzly and the cloud base came down to about 1,200 feet. That cold wind from the south west persists. Terrain damp/wet though grip was surprisingly good except on wet rocks. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.
The race descent from the Pike is not yet significantly affected by the bracken.
To think a few years ago I could run all the way up the Garburn Pass.
Originally Posted by Mike T
I think the Gatescarth Pass from the Mardale side would be a tough one to run up.
Nowhere monumentally steep, but it goes on and on, and there's some real loose stuff which would be tough to keep going on... all those zigzags make it seem a lot longer than it is on paper.
Bonus points if you can keep running all the way up Harter Fell as well!
Last edited by Travs; 07-06-2024 at 03:12 PM.
10.54 miles, 2,713 feet, 3 hours 14 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending via Fishgarths Wood, going down the race route from the top to the road at High Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, and back up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Mainly overcast, though there were patches of blue sky - the cloud base was above the high tops. A few seconds of drizzle. The cold wind is now from the north west. Terrain damp/wet and occasionally slippery. Quite a few walkers about. From the different flags/signs there are at least 2 events going on locally so there were lots of runners about.
I have only done that once - it was unpleasant to even walk up.
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