Leg 1

11th October 2009

We had 5 runners and 4 dogs for our day out Mick P, Stuart H, Mark B Mike M and Me

Three of us started from the road leading to the Leisure Centre we climbed at at good pace and soon reached Mike and Stuart coming down the path towards us, they had parked at the top Skiddaw car park Stuart's dogs are still in training for the long days out or that's what they told us!

The weather did a downward turn for the first climb with driving rain poor visibility and some strong winds. Mick and I choose the gravel path which seemed slightly easier than the grass, I'm still struggling with the long drag type climbs so I was soon at the back of the pack grabbing a look up every now and then only to see Mike trotting up the climb with a spring in his step. The summit appeared out of the fog and we were soon looking for the trod across to Calva which seems to becoming wetter each time we go up.

One of our aims for the day was to try and find an easier route off Calva, Mike had been chatting to a lady fell runner on Skiddaw who described a trod down the side of the fence. This route is very easy but it goes well to the left, we found a trod and popped out next to a sheep fold after some searching we crossed the river and started our ascent to the summit all going in different directions but all reaching the path around the same time, Mike even taking in a little swim on his way, we made to the summit only 3 Min's down overall, maybe be next time we will be a little faster with no searching, with a strong wind we did stand around to enjoy the views from here we split up with Mike and Stuart heading off towards to Cumbria way and back to there car, the other three opting for Blease Fell descent to the Blencarthra Centre and then onto the old railway line back into Keswick.

A total of 16.13 mile 6304ft of ascent good day out on the Fells with some great company and good banter. Thanks for coming along.