A day out in Wales

22nd March 2012

Today Chris A and i went to Wales to do an "out & back" run of the Llanberis to Ogwen leg of the Paddy Buckley round, we did the traditional route out to Ogwen and came back via the "Devils stair case". A fairly rocky route with plenty of ascent which made sure we had an interesting day. 

Cloudy view from Elidir Fach (plus finger)

Looking back through the fog, at Llanberis from the quarry  

In the quarry above Llanberis

Elidir Fach

Elidir Fawr

Foel Goch - From Mynydd Perfedd

Y Garn

Glyder Fach

Ogwen coffee stop

 

Tryfan - From Ogwen

Devils Staircase

Devils Staircase again

View from the Devils Staircase

Top of Devils Staircase - Looking at Y Garn

Mynydd Perfedd - From Foel Goch

Elidir Fawr - From Foel Goch 


The route - Llanberis, Elidir Fach, Elidir fawr, Mynydd Perfedd, Foel Goch, Y Garn, Glyder Fawr, Glyder Fach, Tryfan, Ogwen coffee stop. Devils straircase, Y Garn, Foel Goch, Elidir Fawr, Elidir Fach, Llanberis.

The days totals, 18.5 miles, 10,300 ft ascent, 7hrs 15 minutes.

Cumbrian Traverse Pt 2 (& a bit)

Sunday 18 March 2012


Cumbrian Traverse Reccie, the sequel - It was a great day for a run out, although quite cold on the tops it was warm enough in the valleys.


I waved good by to Debbie from the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park having arranged to meet up at Honister at 2pm, setting off down the valley and up towards Cold Pike.

Old Dungeon Ghyll Car park

Langdale Valley

Cold Pike - Looking towards Bow Fell

The sea in the distance (from Crinkle Crags?)

Great Gable - From Great End

Rocks (and fingers)

Sprinkling Tarn - From Great End

Stretcher Box at the bottom of Great Gable, looking back at Great End i can see a better descent to the right of the gully, maybe next time.

Kirk Fell from Great Gable - The top doesn't feel so flat when you are on it.

 Kirk Fell from Green Gable ? 

Can't remember where this was but i like the picture anyway

Honister slate mines car park, i arrived on time but had managed to twist an ankle on the run in, i decided to ignore this and carry on as these kinds of injury usually feel worse than they are. I arranged to meet Debbie in Keswick at 4pm where i would re-fuel and collect my head torch.

High Spy

Robinson - From Maiden Moor

Cat Bells - From Maiden Moor

From Cat Bells i ran down into Keswick, arriving early at 4pm, i refilled my water bottle and decided to carry on and get Skiddaw done before dark

 

Little Man (Skiddaw)

Skiddaw - From Little Man

Skiddaw Summit - The sun is getting low in the sky so time to head to Keswick and food.

The days totals were, 9 1/2 hours, 31 miles & 12,900 ft of ascent, a great day out and although Skiddaw is not in the Cumbrian Traverse i added it on the end for some extra climb. April 14th i hope to do the full traverse and expect it to take about 12 hours.

 

Salomon XR Crossmax trail running shoes

Most fell runner seem to like their fell shoes to be paper thin so they can feel the ground under their feet, not me, i like to have the comfort of plenty of padding and know my poor old knees are getting some protection from my over weight body bouncing around on them.

So when i came to buy a new pair of running shoes i did some research and decide the neutral XR Crossmax trail shoes were just what i needed (wanted). I like Salomon shoes as they work well for me, deep enough for my orthotics and plenty of cushioning in the sole, great lace system that's easy to use and until now – durable.

These shoes are advertised as a long distance shoe with on and off road capability, ideal for me because invariably the run home from work is part road, part trails and a couple of miles of messy single track.

Unfortunately i’ve only had 3 months of use from them and they are “falling to bits”, quite disappointing for a Salomon product. The material around the front looks like it has rotted away, i’m assuming they are designed to get wet and dirty and they get used most days, so they are usually wet or stuffed with news paper to dry them out ready for their next outing.

Rotten shoes - Salomon XRCrossmax

The excellent lace system has proven unreliable this time as well and both laces have failed, its not hard to repair them but again quite disappointing on such an expensive product.

So – despite good all round trail performance i’m really not impressed with these shoes and i certainly won’t be buying another pair, neither will i waste any more time trying to contact Salomon, their web site says to contact your local dealers....unfortunately i bought them from eBay and as you would expect – they are not interested. 

They really are past it :-(

I will chalk this up to experience and in-spite of these problems with a Salomon product, i have ordered a pair of Speedcross 3 trail shoes, this time i have spent the extra and bought them from an online shop with a reputation for looking after their customers - http://www.wiggle.co.uk

More appropriate (and more expensive) for training on the fells so they had better last a little longer. 

Old County Tops Reccie

Its unusual for us to visit the Lake district on a Saturday but Mark had e-mailed to see if Ronnie and i wanted to join him for a Reccie of an awkward section of the old county tops race. The O.C.T race is 37 miles with 10,000 ft of ascent, however i have a feeling that the ascent may be more as we managed only 17 miles and 6,700ft of ascent.

Mark and Ronnie on Pike O Blisco

Ronnie and i on Pike O Blisco

We sent off from the Old Dungeon Gyhll car park just after 9am, it was cold and raining with some very low cloud, the first decision was route choice in getting to the O.C.T race route. We decided on the slog up and over Pike O Blisco as this would get us warmed up, we could then carry on past Cold Pike to Crinkle Crags and head south over to Cockley Beck.

Mark and Ronnie on Swirl How

The weather on Pike O Blisco was surprisingly brisk, thick fog and a strong breeze to drive the cold home, we all added extra layers here. The descent off Blisco was easy enough and we were soon on our way up past Cold Pike on to Crinkle Craggs where we turned south towards Cockley Beck. Using my brilliant navigation skills i managed to take us down the wrong valley so we had a little detour to get back on course to Cockley Beck. 

After the Hail stones

That done we headed up towards Grey Friars, detouring to the east, avoiding the summit and on to Swirl How. Just about here the weather decided to make its presence felt and the wind picked up bringing with it some rain. We pressed on towards Old Man of Coniston and got to within a quarter mile when the heavens opened and soaked us with hail stones, add some high winds and we were soon huddled together try to avoid the stinging pain in our legs from the hail stones. Eventually the weather won and we headed back past Swirl How, down to the Wrynose pass and the relative safety of the 3 Shires stone.

Heading away from the weather

Three Shires Stone

After pausing for a quick photo shoot we set of on the last 3 miles back to the car, at which point the weather improved and the sun put in an appearance. The day was not a complete wash out as we managed some worth while training and it was good to catch up with Mark again.