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.