I park at Glencoyne National Trust car park and completed the route round to Patterdale School solo and unsupported.
It’s a route I’d been looking at for a couple of months but was waiting for some drier weather and I certainly got that. It was a scorcher! Having looked at the weather forecast and the route, I knew I’d have to carry a lot of water as the first flowing water source I’d pass on the route wouldn’t be until crossing Well Gill on the way up Rest Dodd at about 20 miles in.
It’s brilliant route for anyone looking for a decent day out with a good amount of elevation. The route is really easy to follow and except for the first climb and final descent it was all ground I had been on before. I clocked just under 26miles with over 10,000ft of climb.
As I started the climb up to Greenside it was already pretty warm and I started to wonder if the 2.5 litres of water I had would be enough. Higher up it was slightly cooler but it didn’t feel like there was a breath of wind all day. I enjoyed the first climb and was greeted with swarms of blue dragonflies as I topped out on Stybarrow Dodd. I made good progress along the Hellvellyn range, bumping into lots of runners on the Old County Tops fell race including my running buddy’s Danny & Graham.
As I started the all too familiar climb up Fairfield some American ladies sat at Grisedale Hause asked if the drone was following me? It wasn’t, but I quickly realised it was probably filming Andy Berry on his (successful) Lakes 24 Hour record and right on cue he came flying past contouring round Fairfield on his way down from Great Rigg.
Descending to Scandale Pass the climb back up to Red Screes looked bigger than I remembered but it seemed to pass quickly, making sure to follow the wall and stick to the parish boundary line. I passed a man on this climb, exchanged a few words and he then asked why I was in such a hurry. He was off for a wild camp on Middle Dodd and was enjoying a leisurely day in the sunshine. Kirkstone looked a long way down and there were hoards of “tourists” on the path down to Red Screes so I took some grassy lines down here to avoid the busy main path.
Kirkstone Pass was just over half way mileage wise and I had been going just over 3 and a half hours. When I set off from Glencoyne I had a rough 8 hour time in my head but after a quick check on my watch I realised I had already done over 8000ft of climb so the 2nd half should in theory be quicker (with only 2000ft left) and I began to think 7 hours would be do-able. After crossing the road I had a quick stop to change over my bottles and on I went. The dry weather made this next section up and along to Stony Cove Pike pretty easy going.
Before I knew it I was on High Street and flying down towards The Knott. It was just after mid day and really warm and I was almost out of water. I had planned to be empty around this point with the opportunity to fill up before climbing Rest Dodd. I was a bit worried the water source I’d been planning to use might be dry but it was still pretty marshy down there and I found a flowing stream to refill. I descended Rest Dodd to meet the main path around Angle Tarn and down to Boredale Hause. I expected Angle Tarn to be busier with the good weather but there didn’t seem to be many people around.
As I started the final climb up Place Fell I had a quick time check and I had been going about 6 hours and it looked like I had about 3.5miles left - easy. I reached the summit trig point and had a quick check to ensure I took the correct line off the top down towards The Knight. The final descent was down an overgrown path consisting on lots of gorse and loose rock. I tried to run as quickly as I could down here as the end was (literally) in sight and took pretty impressive tumble - it’s ok no one saw, but I do have a very sore collar bone to show for my efforts.
Just before jointing the Ullswater Way at Side Farm I passed a little red squirrel, he was probably hiding from the crowds of people on the path below - I don’t blame him! Quick run down the Side Farm track to reach the school and it was done.
Top day out - I really really enjoyed the route and would highly recommend to others. I’m not sure why it’s not more popular with runners?