Very impressive Mike, especially over a million feet of ascent AND descent!Originally Posted by Mike T
HNY
Very impressive Mike, especially over a million feet of ascent AND descent!
HNY
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
11.35 miles, 2,334 feet, 3 hours 28 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including to the top, then across to Blue Hill Road/Lane, up to the bottom of the Wansfell steps and back down. A mixture of sunshine, blue sky, mainly high clouds, intermittent drizzle, and rainbows. A moderately strong wind from the west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery, with some sections of minor road under water. Lots of walkers about; 4 runners seen.
Thanks Llani - if only I had even a smidgeon of speed.
So impressed with your stats mike AND the fact that you were the first (and so far, only) poster in 2025!
Thought I might keep you company before the hoards rush in!!
That's the slower line i was trying to avoid, rocks are why i've always remembered it as being unfavourable.
10.98 miles, 2,975 feet, 3 hours 33 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending via Borrans Road, Stagshaw Gardens, Blue Hill Woods/Lane and the steps from the kissing gate, descending via the race route; then across to Todd Crag and Lilly Tarn on Loughrigg, but not the top. Blue sky and sunshine; some very distant clouds on the horizon. No wind nor precipitation. Terrain widely frozen from the valley floor up, with black ice on both the fells and the roads, and ice on many puddles. Very slippery in places. Lots of walkers about; 3 runners seen.
I had my microspikes with me but did not use them.
10.32 miles, 2,908 feet, 3 hours 28 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, and clouds mainly above the high tops. No significant wind; no precipitation. Terrain again frozen hard in many places, with lots of ice, both black and on puddles and frozen streams. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen.
I wore microspikes for the 6 miles or so between the rock step and the road - they did an excellent job. I did not see anyone else wearing anything similar.
10.11 miles, 2,833 feet, 3 hours 38 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending/descending via Clappersgate, Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag and Lily Tarn; and going down the race route from the top to the road at High Close and back up again. Overcast, with large banks of cloud at various levels. A few minutes of sleet/snow. No significant wind. Terrain firm/hard above 500 feet and, in places, icy; below 500 feet it was soft/saturated - slippery everywhere. Not many walkers on the fell. No runners seen.
I wore microspikes from my first visit to the top until I got down to the road at the bottom of Fishgarths Wood, so for about 5 miles - again they did an excellent job.
7.19 miles, 1,944 feet, 2 hours 42 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Stagshaw gardens - High Skelghyll - 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane to the bottom of the Wansfell steps - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 700 feet. Intermittent sleet. No significant wind at this level. There was 1 to 2 inches of snow in the valley; higher up there was 6 to 8 inches, though in places the ground was blown bare by the wind, made up for elsewhere by thigh deep drifts. Very slippery, even with microspikes, which balled up repeatedly in some textures of snow. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen.
The 3 way junction is at about 1,100 feet - the 3 ways are up to the Pike, down to High Skelghyll, or down to Blue Hill Woods.
Needed a run just to keep me ticking over at the weekend, couldn't get out to wharfedale so had to make to with airedale from my house. The river up to the billing above horsforth is about 650' of very easy climbing, but it's the best you can get. Walshes were rock solid in the wet slushy show, which was 6" deep everywhere. The sledgers seemed surprised that i was running up a hill they were terrified going down.
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