Dales Top Ten - third time lucky

 tl;dr - I finished it this time. It was fun.

My two previous attempts at the DTT didn't go to plan. The first one I hadn't recced the hardest section and tried to wing it with a frankly dodgy GPX from the LDWA website (I'll be uploading a replacement for that I think...). The second was curtailed by a named storm landing while I was in the most exposed part of the route. This time the weather forecast was good and I knew my way around.

The decision to go for it was a bit last minute - early last week I asked Claire if she'd be able to help out. I'd identified this weekend as one of a few possibles a while back. Wednesday and Friday evening I was cramming things into my pack, buying food and charging batteries. Since I rarely plan much in advance I have my own GPS trackers, and this weekend I was trying out a new one (more on that later).

Saturday morning we got up at about 8, had a leisurely breakfast and set off for Kettlewell. I wanted to start not that long before lunch, so I was doing the Mallerstang leg overnight and coming down into Hawes in the morning. That way I had a chance of picking up a coffee if anything was open. As it turned out the cafe at the station was open, but I didn't need them because Claire made a very welcome bonus stop at Hardraw.

I set off from Kettlewell clockwise up Kirk Fell, pausing briefly to take photos, and to send a good luck message to a colleague who was doing Wakefield 10k (his first race) on the sunday. The day was fresh and cool but sunny. I was a bit over-dressed, I'd opted for an insulated windproof instead of my windproof gilet, and was just slightly too warm until I packed it away.

The road section from Arncliffe is surprisingly not too awful. It's a quiet road, with some steep climbs that I'd much rather do on foot than in a vehicle. The surface is very very smooth, which makes running very easy. I'd rather be on the fell, but there was plenty of that later. An alternative route might be to go over Darnbrook, which would add some climb and some hard terrain, but a nicer alternative. This time there was a huge crowd of paragliders over Darnbrook.

At the top of Fountains Fell I sat on the cairn and had a little bit of food. Rather than fighting through the tussocks I dropped back to the Pennine Way and down to the road, then on to Pen Y Gent. PYG was surprisingly busy for this late in the day, although chatting with some walkers I learned that a lot were doing the Y3P anticlockwise from Ribblehead.

On the way back down I stopped by the path to Bracken Bottom for something to eat. All day I tried to make a point of stopping for 5 mins to eat, rather than trying to keep going. The idea was to get round and have a nice time, not to try and hit a particular target.

Horton was fairly busy, as you'd expect on a nice spring day. I used the new railway bridge for the first time, and headed up Ingleborough. I'd hoped to fill my water bottle in the public toilets in Horton, but they still have those bloody stupid Wallgate handwashers so I was looking for a decent spring. I spotted one place and was trying to fill up when a passer by suggested that the water was flowing better a little higher up. Sure enough there was a nice big spring a couple of hundred metres along.

Somewhere around here I encountered the only group I saw with a bluetooth speaker blaring. I think they probably got the message from the look on my face. I know they don't know any better, but it's not exactly hard to figure out.

It was getting quiet by the time I reached the top, the sun was getting low in the sky and a hot air balloon was being scenic between me and the coast. I sat in the wind shelter and ate far too much (which completely screwed up my mood about half an hour later): java cake, cashews, hot cross bun & cheese.

Gloves and insulated windproof back on, and down to the Hill Inn then on up Whernside. There was extensive digging going on to reinforce the path at the bottom of Whernside, and I veered off the path to find a spring to refill my bottle. The light was starting to go, and so was my blood sugar. The reaction to the food I had on Ingleborough sent me into a bit of a despond. I munched down some malt loaf and plodded my way up the Fellsman trod towards the summit. Once I reached the top I felt a little bit more on top of things. I put my head torch on and headed down from the trig to Kingsdale.

Once I reached the road in Kingsdale I filled my bottle again, and put on my heavy coat, but zipped the pit zips right down. That was nice and cosy, and I was quite jolly as I worked my way round the occupation road towards Great Coum.

I found a low spot on the fence to climb over and shoved my way through the tussocks to the col, then on up to the top. It was now properly dark and a rather nice night. I headed back towards the valley bottom and had a bit of a route debate.

On the one hand, the road through Dentdale is quiet but still a road. On the other hand, the valley side path is much nicer, but goes through a few farms. I didn't want to disturb people and set dogs barking at 9-10pm so I stuck to the road. This time I found the well hidden stile where the route turns downhill between two roads.

On, and on, and on along the road. It's actually only about 5-6km, but it seemed forever. Then steep uphill onto the very wet (and still very wet after weeks of hardly any rain) moor crossing to Garsdale.

The slope above the woods was drier this time, and easier to find my feet but I did turn my ankle a couple of times. At last I got into the woods then down to the road where Claire was waiting with a cup of tea ready made. The tracker didn't work perfectly, but well enough for her to know when to put the kettle on.

I stopped for about an hour at Garsdale. It was warm and cosy in the van, and I was happy to see Claire after being on the hill all day. 2 pints of tea, a pint of strong coffee and lots of pizza later, I got ready to go out again. I changed shoes for this next section: although arguably I'd have been better with Mudtalon Speed from the start, I'd conservatively put standard Mudtalons on in the morning. I also put on waterproof trousers, and my thick fleece lined Alpkit coat. With cheese scones in the bag and a flask of coffee I trotted down the main road.

The moon was so bright I switched my torch off most of the way through Grisedale, only putting it on once I passed the farm by the road. After that it's a steady climb up the road until it becomes a rough path along the side of Swarth Fell Pike, then up through the tussocks to the top. Once you get past the very boggy section Swarth Fell is a lovely hill, and it was nice to pick my way through the heather and rocks to the cairn at the top. Backtracking onto the pike I dropped into the valley bottom, filling my bottle in a stream on the way. I was comfortable but not too warm in my thick coat, although I did have the side zips all the way open. 

Hopping over the border into Cumbria in Mallerstang, I carried on up towards Hell Gill. I stopped by an old barn to eat and drink, then passed by the farm. I went the wrong side of the wall just past the farm and had to backtrack, but it was only a hundred metres (along, maybe 10m ascent).

Much as I like the path up the crags from Hell Gill, it's a long slog. I ran in bursts, walking more as I approached the top, and finally reached Archy Styrigg or as the OS has it: Gregory Chapel. The path along the crag top was more obvious this time around under the bright moon.

There was a little snow on the junction cairn at Archy Styrigg. I took a photo and carried on to the trig ring at High Seat (I now know it's a trig - concrete ring trigs are something I learned about quite recently). The moon was now high in the sky and it was cold, with a light breeze but such a lovely night to be out. The bogs were nicely crunchy which made for easy running.

Back up Archy Styrigg and on to the long fence traverse to Great Shunner. This is now very familiar and much easier than previous visits. It's not at all runnable, so I was glad to be wrapped up warm and fastened up all the zips. I was onto the Buffalo mitts now.

At Great Shunner I cut away from the fence early instead of sticking to it and ended up slogging through tussocks to the top. I was in better shape this time (not so hypoglycaemic/hypothermic) and although it was hard work I was OK. Once again there were two tents pitched by the wind shelter. I tried to be quiet as it was about 4.30am, but stubbed my toe on a rock and swore loudly, which prompted a lot of grouse to alarm. Hopefully I didn't disturb anyone.

I made reasonable time down to Hardraw, but it's a long way. As I was on my way down I got a message from Claire to say she was there to meet me. I stopped for half an hour to have some coffee and more cheese scone, then onwards. I left my heavy coat in the van and put waterproofs on as it was starting to rain a little.

Hawes was fairly quiet, it was about 8-9am so just a few dog walkers around. The climb up on the Marsett path was steep and tough going, but I was still moving OK. Then through Marsett and up to Stalling Busk, stopping at the memorial bench for some food.

On Stake Lane my watch started to complain that it was almost flat, so I switched it into ultra max gps mode. That kept it going while I made my way down to Cray, where I found Claire waiting. I charged up my watch, had a cup of tea and dropped off a couple of bits of kit, then carried on along the Fellsman route to Buckden Pike.

At this point I was following Karen's GPX file blindly. I wondered if she'd taken the Tor Mere route, or the Fellsman route off Buckden Pike. It turned out she'd cut across Starbotton Moor through the tussocks and rushes, which was a bit swampy. I did wonder if there was a route to the left of Tor Mere, but looking down on it it looked like it might involve a lot of height loss. Worth investigating at some point though.

So that just left the climb up Black Dyke to the top of Great Whernside. I was climbing a bit slow, but still moving OK. There were more walkers around now in the early afternoon, although strangely no one on the top. I touched the trig and ran down into Kettlewell to meet Claire and complete the circuit.

It was a fantastic day/night out, really enjoyable. The weather couldn't have been kinder. I finished in better shape than I expected, although I was falling asleep while Claire drove home. Good training for the Fellsman, and a few useful lessons to learn.

Massive thank you to Claire for encouragement, looking after me during and after, and providing me with extra well chosen food (like the cheese scones) I hadn't even thought of.

Kit

• Awdis T shirts (2 long sleeved, 2 short, swapped at Garsdale)
• OMM flash tights (full length)
• Montane Ember insulated windproof (bad choice)
• Montane windproof gilet (only from Cray, should have carried throughout)
• Hemy waterproof socks (changed at Garsdale)
• bridgedale liner socks (changed at Garsdale)
• Inov8 mudtalons (to Garsdale)
• Inov8 mudtalon speed (from Garsdale)
• Black Diamond talus gaiters
• 2 person bothy
• Alpkit Jura insulated smock
• Columbia outdry extreme waterproof coat
• Kalenji waterproof trousers
• Buff cap
• Buffs (one primaloft)
• Harvey Yorkshire Dales map
• Suunto compass
• Garmin eTrex 20x
• Queclink tracker
• powerstretch gloves
• buffalo mittens
• Zebralight H60 spare torch
• spare AAs for Garmin
• Lifeventure mug (carried on one leg only)
• Salomon filter bottle
• spare soft flask
• glasses
• whistle
• UD Fastpack 20 rucksack

Food

• Hot Cross Buns (2)
• Cheese scones (4)
• Gouda cheese (10 slices?)
• cashews (quite a few)
• Jaffa cakes (5)
• pizza (1 - 1.5?)
• Nut food bar (1)
• Nakd bar (1)
• Malt loaf (1)

Carried a bit more food than this (incl 4 more food bars) but didn't eat it all

Lessons

• The coffee was very welcome. Carrying a lifeventure mug for one leg wasn't that much of a weight burden
• Keeping my pace low and jeffing from the start enabled me to run right to the end - I absolutely must not go out like an idiot on this year's Fellsman!
• The thick fleece lined coat was just right for through the night. It seemed like overkill when I was packing it. Again, possibly one for the Fellsman. 
• My watch now doesn't last 25 hours, even in 'hike' mode - I need to carry a power bank and cable. This really bugs me - if only the handheld GPS did 'start activity' with a single button press, it'd be a viable replacement for a watch and I wouldn't need a piece of semi-disposable electronics every few years
• The skinsosoft had crystallised in my cold bathroom, which stopped the spray working. Not having applied enough I got some painful chafing. Not sure how to avoid that - maybe a small bottle in my bag.

Tracking

Recently I bought a Queclink GL320 GPS tracker from ebay for things like this. I'd experimented with a cheapo Sinotrack tracker before, but the Queclink is a more substantial device with long battery life and a waterproof case (update: although I think it's now knackered. I've ordered a GL300 for a tenner, maybe that will work better).

I'd linked it up to gps-server.net on a free account (they don't do free anymore, but it's only 15E per year), and that seemed to work OK at home, with a few oddities. What we found in the Dales though was that the O2 coverage isn't that great, so my tracker often ended up stuck on top of a hill for ages. It might be worth trying a couple of different networks to see who has the best coverage, or putting the tracker on my shoulder strap the way a lot of races do.

Pendle Way in a Day 2025

 Pendle wasn't in the Runfurther series this year. That wasn't necessarily a reason not to do it, since it's a good race and quite close to home. Claire had deferred her entry from last year, and I'd got a place from the waiting list. On the day though, Claire was still struggling with post-tib tendonitis that's been hanging around for months. For my part, I definitely wanted to get started on some long stuff in preparation for other events and activities. Claire had a tonne of other less fun stuff to do, so she stayed at home while I went running through bogs.

I left the house about 6.20, and got to Barley about an hour later. Unfortunately this year the village car park was still shut at that time in the morning, so there was a long, long, long line of cars parked along the road. I drove out about a kilometre to the far end of the queue, and parked up.

I was pretty much ready to go so, after I'd used the van facilities I headed up to the start. Registration only took a few minutes, and I pinned my race number to the back of my pack. I spotted Imtiaz wandering about but didn't get chance to say hello before we were all heading out. When I booted up my Garmin the batteries (fresh the day before, I thought) were flat. I probably put flat ones in and didn't check properly. Since I know much of the route (this was my 4th time) I didn't worry - I just planned on adding the gpx to my watch at some point in the day before I needed it.

Approaching the woods at the start I bumped into Darren Gilman and chatted for a bit, then said I was going to crack on (which a nearby runner found very amusing). I gradually worked my way through the field to settle into a comfortable pace and by the time I reached the Heritage Centre and the self clip I was making good time. Round about this point I first encountered two female runners who would be there for the rest of the day - sometimes ahead, sometimes a little way behind.

They stayed ahead of me on the way up Weets Hill, and in fact they climbed better than me all day. I got ahead over the rough ground on the top - long legs and big feet are a definite help on that kind of terrain. While I was there I downloaded the gpx file onto my phone and added it to my watch and to OS Maps app. I was now sorted without having to squint at the map with contact lenses in.

I didn't push as hard on the towpath section this time - I overcooked it a bit there last year. So I kept my legs turning, kept it brisk but didn't push too hard. People were well spread out now and I didn't really see anyone else about, apart from a couple of guys I overtook as I crossed the road.

Through Earby I did see lots of people, and overtook quite a few as they slowed to a walk or weren't sure of the route. There was a drone filming outside the youth hostel. I got a water refill, ate a few crisps and some malt loaf and walked up the road to the footpath.

The path was OK, but the following fields were very muddy and slippy. I climbed up past the trig at Knarrs Hill and down the other side, then found myself in a location that I'd been trying to identify for ages.

There's a track leading off to the right from a lane. The track zigzags round some trees. I was absolutely certain I'd only ever seen this place the once, so I was sure it was somewhere on the TP100 route. Turns out it was on the Pendle, that I've now done 4 times!

Down through the boggy fields to Laneshawbridge. I made a mistake by not checking my route on the way and had to backtrack 50m or so, along with another runner.

At the CP I filled up with water and ate some more crisps, along with a jelly baby or two. Then on to Wycoller. I always find this leg hard going. Through Wycoller itself the route was a bit indistinct, as it has changed a number of times here. It wasn't totally clear which path we should follow. Eventually I got out the other side and started climbing the horrible track along the side of Boulsworth hill.

The wind along this section can be a problem, but this time it wasn't too bad and I was able to make good progress. I was flagging a bit coming to the reservoir, which has in previous years been a CP. No CP here now, straight down from the road into the clough below the res. Usually I drop straight down to the track here along the side of a fence, but a few people were taking a more gradual descent. I followed them on some vague trods, eventually landing on the track. On balance, the route along the side of the fence is probably better. At this point I stopped to dig some food out, and was passed by the two women who I'd passed earlier, who made a complementary comment about my efficient running gait (although that didn't help me keep up with/ahead of them!).

Through Catlow and on to the CP at Southfield, then down to the reservoir. I was still feeling pretty OK, even on the long climb up from Walverden Res.

Down the other side and across Nelson golf course, then through Brierfield and on to the long, long climb up to Higham. I normally don't mind this bit, but this year (and last year, when I didn't do the PWiaD) the riverside path is shut so we have to use the road all the way there. It's not very steep, but steep enough that I was having trouble keeping the momentum up. My companions from earlier drew ahead here, and this is where they gained the 5 mins or so on me that they had at the finish.

Meanwhile, I was catching up with Katie S. I'd seen Darren at the beginning. Katie was on the 30 mile route). She was through Higham quite quick, while I decided even with only a few miles to go that my very cold feet would benefit from dry socks. I had a cup of tea, ate some food, sorted my feet out and marched out to the sound of cheesy 80s inspired dance pop "Bulletproof" by La Roux. Just the thing to get my feet moving.

I carried on eating nuts as I climbed up through Newchurch. My ankle was feeling a little sore, but nothing particularly bothersome. Climbing up onto the Pendle plateau there was a lovely sunset and great visibility.

I dropped down the other side of the hill on the trod just below the main path, and ran through the village as the light started to drop, finishing in 9 hours 5. Fifteen minutes quicker than my last attempt and a new PB.

I sat around eating & drinking tea for a while, then walked the long long long way back down the road to my van to get changed. I was badly cold by the time I got there, and had to sit for a while to warm up before setting off home.

Kit

(things I can remember when writing up a month later)

• UD Fastpack 20
• Inov8 Mudtalons
• Bridgedale socks
• OMM tights? Or Raidlight winter
• Montane Element Stretch waterproof
• Awdis T shirts
• Montane cap
• Zebralight H60fw head torch
• Primaloft (Inov8? Prism?)

Food

• Fewer crisps
• hot cross buns with sliced cheese
• Cashew nuts

Lessons

• Nothing particularly, it was a good day out.

The OMM 24

Last year we failed to actually get to the OMM. Work was complete chaos, I hadn't booked the friday off, and when it got to midweek I just wasn't capable of planning, packing and getting there.

This time I was still stupidly busy, but I'd booked the friday off well in advance. Good job, since we were driving up to Scotland!

On the friday we got up late, had a leisurely breakfast, packed a few extra bits then set off. We were giving Mandy Goth a lift, since her team mate Jackie Scarf had driven up early to meet some friends on the way. It was about 5 hours to get to Glen Artney, and even with a coffee stop at Annandale we were there in plenty of time. We helped Mandy get her tent set up, then took my bag back to the marquee for registration and to go get some food.

The food options were pasta (no good for me), chilli including sweet potato (equally chancy) or vegan burger. So I had a couple of vegan burgers and a couple of beers. We sat around for a while chatting among ourselves and to a team of a young woman and a chap called Chris who was very familiar looking (another event maybe, or a Craggrunner race), then Karen and Rowena appeared briefly. Eventually around 9 we went back to the van for a couple of glasses of wine and some chocolate, and an early night.

Our start time was 8-8.15, and after a walk across the fields through the mist we got to the start pretty much on time. We dibbed, picked up our maps and off we went.

We looked at the map and worked out a tentative plan for the first few controls, then headed up the hill. I was boiling with my Paramo on and had to delayer quite quickly. It took a little while to get ourselves dialled in to the map scale and symbology, and the first control came up sooner than we expected.

We carried on up the hill for the second control, which was in a re-entrant between two small summits and really easy to find because it was surrounded by people (this was a bit of a theme all day). Then on down the other side of the hill towards a third control by a river. This involved a lot of bracken bashing through rocky, rubbly slope.

From the next control we climbed up, and up, and up onto the unnamed summit to the south. The next control was in a reentrant on the west slope below the summit. We overshot slightly in the cloud. A brief clearing in the clag gave me chance to take a bearing from a plantation in the valley below and we worked backwards to locate the control.

At this point we had a bit of a rethink. We didn't have a definite plan, I suggested a loop that would involve quite a bit of additional climb. Claire's better at totalling up points than I am, and suggested a different loop that gained us an extra 20 points and reduced the climb but involved a longer downhill distance. I agreed, and off we went again.

The control was at the foot of a crag about 1.5km away. As we followed the ridge top, we could clearly see the crag below. People were passing by on their way to other controls not on our course. We stuck to the ridge almost to the crag, then there was a nice clear route down to it.

From there we contoured gradually up and round a short nose to get onto the ridge behind, and another control in a reentrant, before dropping down the nose to a control on the (southerly) crag. It was actually south west of the first crag we found and not very obvious - one of the more interesting controls of the weekend.

2 more controls involved a long slog across tussocks and deep grass, then we dropped down a steep embankment past a large metal stag (full of pock marks - a practice target for stalking) to the mid camp. Bizarrely there was a control out the other side of mid camp, so we nipped out to that then passed through the finish with 8 minutes in hand.

Day 1 we scored 220, which put us somewhere in the middle. Pretty good with the limitations we had on speed - we'd navigated mostly quickly and accurately and made good route choices.

We opted for a high up spot for mid camp. It was a bit windy, but dry underfoot. It did involve picking our way through a bog to reach the loos, but there was a way round by hopping over a fence. We pitched and got changed, then I went to fetch water. The queue for the water was absolutely huge - about 20 minutes - as the pressure was very low. Eventually I managed to fill up my 2l bladder and we made a cup of tea.

Overnight it rained hard and got very windy. A bit of water got blown into the tent, but not too bad. Worse was the cold wind blowing on our feet from the ventilation in the foot end. Eventually we both put our feet in spare drybags, which solved the problem nicely.

I slept really well, the best I ever have in the tent I think. Claire much less so, although apparently my snoring wasn't as bad as that from a neighbouring tent.

We woke at 6 as people started moving around, then the piper started. We got up fairly promptly and depitched efficiently enough that we were actually at the start on time, for a change. The queue for medium score was long though, and it took a while to get started. Oddly, we were queuing right behind a chap called Toby, who I keep bumping into (Fellsman 2ce, 5 Trigs).

This is when one of those things happened. Those things where you screw something up really badly, and keep doubling down on the mistake. Leaving the start, I favoured going for a fairly direct route back. Claire suggested an alternative that gave us some more scope, which I readily agreed to. Then as one, without checking our compasses, we headed off in completely the wrong direction. I was following what I thought was a road (yellow line on an OS map) without realising that the yellow line on the Harvey OMM map was "river, may be uncrossable after heavy rain".

We continued in this completely wrong direction for quite a while, confirmed in our idiocy by seeing other people on the route (probably a linear). We kept making the map fit the ground, and ignored some massive red flags that should have warned us.

Eventually we figured it out, after about 30 mins. So in the end we lost about an hour by the time we'd backtracked to near the start. There were still a lot of starters coming through, as we'd been on one of the earliest starts.

Whether we'd lost time or not, there was a fairly obvious route to follow - there wasn't a massive amount of scope for route variation on day 2. We dropped into a long line of people heading for the first control, in a re-entrant between two minor summits. Once we reached it, we found that the col was a mass of deep groughs.

Our tentative plan called for us to pass to the north of the next summit to get a control below a crag. It took a long time to fight our way through a km of big groughs, and by the time we reached the point where we should have been veering west I wasn't confident we had the time.  Looking at the map, I thought we could go for a control on a reentrant to the south of the summit, but we were worried about time and ended up dropping down a reentrant early (as I thought) and accidentally landing straight on the control - not my finest navigational moment!

We dropped down the rest of the reentrant onto the river, then picked up another control. I'd favoured going straight over the next ridge to reach the finish, picking up a ten and a twenty on the way. Claire suggested a better route with less climb that got us another ten points, and I readily agreed.

We opted to take a high line to avoid bog in the valley bottom, and this put us in a long line of people again. We were sticking to the trods as much as possible, which eventually dropped us straight onto the control in a reentrant.

From here we were dropping sharply onto a control on a boulder, which involved a load of bracken bashing and hidden rocks. By this time Claire was struggling badly with the knee injury that has been bothering her lately, but we only had a couple of km to go with over half an hour in hand, straight along a clear trod (with many, many other people).

We got to the finish in good time, with 7.5 mins in hand. Once we'd dropped off our tracker we got a cup of tea and a veggie wrap. We didn't want to hang about too long, so we headed back to the van to get changed and warmed up, then headed homewards.

Kit list

• UD Fastpack 40
• Nordisk Halland tent
• Rab Neutrino 200 sleeping bag
• Alpkit inflatable mat
• MSR 750ml ti pan**
• Windshield
• MSR 300ml mug
• Platypus 2l water bladder
• Sawyer inline water filter
• Long ti spoon
• Hydrapak water bottle with Pure Clear water filter
• Suunto A30 compass
• chinagraph pencils
• First Aid Kit
• Leatherman micra
• contact lenses
• glasses
• OMM flash tights (worn day one)
• Raidlight winter tights (worn overnight and day 2 - bit too warm)
• Awdis long sleeved t shirt (worn day one)
• Berghaus short sleeved t shirt (worn briefly day one)
• Arcteryx warm long sleeved zip top (worn overnight and day 2. Bit warm)
• Paramo Velez Adventure light (worn most of the weekend)
• Montane Prism primaloft (worn at mid camp)
• 2 pairs Bridgedale running socks (one for each day)
• Buffs
• Columbia outdry extreme jacket (carried but not worn)
• Kalenji waterproof overtrousers (carried but not worn)
• Silva head torch
• Rab gloves
• Fleece biking hat
• 
  

**Claire also had her Alpkit Ti pan. I brought the MSR because it's a bit bigger, which gives us enough water for both tent meals (or two full cups of tea) at the same time. It also fits the windshield better, for more efficient gas use. We thought we might use the 2nd pan for cupasoup but didn't, so we probably won't bother in future.

Food

• 2 * tent meals
• 2 * large malt loaves
• 6 cereal bars
• 250g of cheese

Lessons Learned

• Check the compass when starting from mid camp. Every time, no matter how confident we are.
• I carried one malt loaf too many.
• The foam wrapping I made at the last minute for the stove windshield was excessively bulky

Dales Top Ten - incomplete second attempt, this is getting silly...

 Attempt 1 didn't go brilliantly well, but I didn't really know the key bits of the route. Attempt 2 was derailed by other things, but was a useful learning experience (and actually, a really nice night out on the hills)...

A few weeks back Claire was asked to do the FRA relays, specifically the navigation leg. Since it was around the Burnsall area where we've done a lot of walking lately, she was actually quite keen. She suggested that it would be a good weekend for me to have another go at the Dales Top Ten, since we'd be in the area anyway. So the plan was that Claire would pick up the van from Kettlewell, come to meet me at the halfway point and be on hand in case I ran into trouble.

Friday night we were all packed and ready to set off around 8. A last minute flurry of lift organisation gave us a passenger to Appletreewick from Hebden Bridge, so we set off promptly at 8.15

Dropping Claire & her team mate Pauline in Appletreewick at about 9.15 I headed on to Kettlewell. We'd arranged that Claire would walk up to Kettlewell after her leg of the race to pick up the van, and meet me in Garsdale around 10pm. I'd actually underestimated the distance from Burnsall to Kettlewell, and Claire had quite a job getting to Garsdale in time. 

I was ready to leave Kettlewell at 10.20, and headed out over the southern end of Firth Fell. After the uber-fail of Swarth Fell and High Seat last time, I'd got Karen's route from her birthday run last year and, while I hadn't recced any more than last time, I knew Karen's route would at least be passable.

At Arncliffe I set off up the road towards Malham, a route I've never used on foot or any other way. It's a completely different view to the Monks Path on the other side of the valley, and very scenic. Some cows on the road were a bit dubious about me, but peaceful enough.

Turning onto the Pennine Way I started up towards the top of Fountains Fell. The signage at the top warning about mine shafts seems to be more strident these days, but there's a clear trod to the summit cairn.

Karen and I had talked about her route off Fountains Fell towards PYG. We'd wondered whether it would be better/quicker to backtrack onto the PW and drop onto the road. In the event I was tempted by the clear trod heading in the right direction. While the trod disappeared fairly quickly, I picked out a pretty easy line and cut a big corner off.

Down at the road I stopped for some food sat on a boulder, then carried on up the PW towards the shoulder of PYG. Inevitably on a nice sunny day there were quite a few people going up, but I was able to pick my way around them, then again on the way back down.

Into Horton, and through the works at the railway station introducing a new footbridge. I started to see lots of Y3P walkers from here, and stopped to chat with the odd one.

The top of Ingleborough was pretty busy. There were a lot of folk around, obviously 3P walkers, many with bluetooth speakers and the like. I stopped in the wind shelter which was weirdly empty while I ate some malt loaf then got going.

I filled my bottles from the stream at the path junction above the steep climb then started picking my way down between the walkers climbing up.

On the way up Whernside there were huge numbers of walkers coming down, most of whom seemed to be struggling with the descent. They had marshals with walkie-talkies with them, it seemed to be some kind of organised event taking place from the Hill Inn.

The top of Whernside was in thick cloud. I stopped at the wind shelter to change my socks and eat again, and talked to a small group of young men who'd walked up from Ribblehead and wanted to know what was the quickest way down. I suggested they go back the way they'd come up, rather than down towards Chapel-le-Dale. Hopefully they managed in daylight.

Dropping down into Kingsdale on a nice clear trod, I layered up at the bottom with my waterproof rather than the windproof gilet I'd worn up to that point. Then shortly after stopped again to put on my head torch as it was getting properly dark.

Along the Occupation Road then straight up along a wall on tussock & bog to the col between Crag Hill and Great Coum, then onto Great Coum and across sparse heathland to the summit. The going was fairly easy on this section, until I started heading downhill. I had to weave around a couple of crags and kept losing the trod in bogs, but eventually found my way back down to the Occupation Road.

I followed the Occupation Road down to the public road, which was fairly awful. The surface was rocky and rubbly, and there was a lot of water running down it. At the bottom I turned a short way along the road then down an unmarked path across a field and out onto another road. I followed this road for several km. Karen had said she didn't like the amount of road in Dentdale. There was a potentially nicer but slower path through fields to my right, but I didn't have the OS map with me and wasn't sure I remembered it well enough. (I did have the Harveys map, but the 1:40k is a bit hard to follow through farms etc, so it was just for safety)

Finally leaving the road I went up a dead end lane which became a walled track up onto the moor. A very wet, boggy walled track. Followed by a very wet, boggy path down into the woods. My feet were absolutely saturated, but I knew I was meeting Claire at the bottom of the hill.

I got to the van feeling OK, just a bit tired. I changed my clothes and ate some pizza, and had a cup of tea. Unfortunately I'd forgotten to fill the van water tank (and I'd forgotten that I'd bought a bottle of emergency water and left it in the cab!) so we only had one cup of tea each (and I drank half of Claire's too). We sat around chatting for about 45 mins before I headed out back into the night.

I was feeling pretty positive as I ran/walked along the road towards Grisedale. I was making good time, feeling dry and relatively clean and newly fed. I turned off up the road into the dale and filled my bottles from a roadside stream. After a prolonged meander that was much nicer in this direction I finally left the tarmac for a path along the side of Swarth Fell. Once I reached a large reentrant I cut straight up and started wading through yet more bogs towards Swarth Pike summit.

Up on the summit things dried out and I followed the GPS through the thick cloud to Swarth Fell summit, over coarse rocky heath. I like the summits around here, the ground is sparse and easy to walk on. That's a bad thing of course, it means erosion from centuries of over-grazing, but it's easier going than what was to come on the other side of Mallerstang.

Backtracking to Swarth Fell Pike I took a clear trod leftwards into the valley. This was a good path, wet in places but clear, which reached the road right by the "Welcome to Cumbria" sign. I stepped over the border to make sure I'd actually visited the county, then got on up the other side along Hell Gill.

This was one of the grimmest sections last time, and it was pleasant to turn left onto the other side of Hell Gill and find a clear path leading up Archie Styrigg. Again, wet in places but clear and obvious, it went almost all the way up to Gregory Chapel cairn, disappearing in a bog briefly on the way.

It was cold on the top of Gregory Chapel. I dropped down to the col and back up to High Seat, then backtracked to start the long meander to Great Shunner Fell. This was actually a nice section, although sometimes frustrating as it was hard to make progress. The moon was out above me even though I was in cloud, and it a was a good time to be out on the moors. Passing a wind shelter I took the opportunity to sit under cover and eat some malt loaf and pizza, then carried on along the faint trod.

Following the fence round the sharp angle on Hugh Seat, the ground started to get rougher. I missed the stile onto the left hand fence and had to backtrack a few yards.

In spite of being enjoyable, this section was the beginning of the end I think, and also the place where I learned some important lessons. It's a long way from Hugh Seat to Great Shunner, and the ground is rough and hard going. None of it is in any way runnable, and it's high up and exposed. I was walking fast but not running, and so probably not generating enough heat to keep me properly warm.

At one point towards the end of the leg my toe caught on a rock and I came down so suddenly my chin hit the ground. Spitting sand out of my mouth I picked myself up, and crossed over the nearby fence at a corner, then caught my foot on the corner tension wire and... fell on my face again.

Eventually I reached the sharp upturn to Great Shunner summit. I was tired (obviously, it was about 4am) but generally OK. I pushed up through the heather and bilberry onto the top where it was absolutely bloody nithering. The south westerly wind was enough to buffet me around, and certainly enough to chill me very rapidly. I'd considered stopping at the wind shelter but decided it wasn't sheltered enough and I just needed to get down off the hill.

Except of course this is Great Shunner Fell isn't it, and getting down off it isn't quite that easy. Because it's about 2km at almost the same height before you start to drop into the valley.

Great Shunner is like a microcosm of the Pennine Way. There are slabs. Many of them are underwater. Many more are in bogs. There are bogs where people have avoided the slabs that are in bogs. The path is clearly visible but you can't keep your feet dry for 2 minutes at a time.

Talking to myself, I was saying "I need some shelter while I eat. What I need is a massive peat grough... like that one there". I sat down on the lee side of a grough, put my primaloft on over the top of my waterproof, and ate a few bits: some malt loaf, a nut bar, some nuts. The salted cashews were delicious through the night, but I'm not sure how much energy I was getting from them.

From this point on it went from bad to worse. Even with all my layers on I couldn't keep warm. I wasn't shivering but I felt a bit uncomfortable and my hands and feet were cold. I was worried, and kept pushing to get below about 600m where I expected the wind to drop a bit.

Except it didn't. At 550, 500, 450, 400, 300 it was still blowing just as hard. This was the start of the incoming storm.

I was getting disoriented and wobbly and knew I had to keep going or else. I kept striding along upright and seconds later finding myself crouched over and veering from side to side of the track. At one point near Hardraw I fell asleep leaning on a gate.

As I got onto the last section of track I phoned Claire and let her know I needed help. I initially thought if I could warm up I might be OK to get going in an hour or so. I stopped in the porch of the church for a few minutes, then as Claire arrived I got into the van and she wrapped me up in a sleeping bag. Claire said my skin was hot to the touch, so I can't have been hypothermic. So maybe it was hypoglycaemia. Again. I usually get horrendous cold sweats and shivers with hypoglycaemia though.

An hour's sleep, and the storm arrived properly. The van was being buffeted and rain was blattering on the sides and roof. No way was I going out in that even if I'd felt up to it. I was relieved, the decision was made for me. In truth I probably wouldn't have been able to go on anyway.

Lessons

I reached a point where I was struggling to stay on my feet. Maybe I was hypothermic, maybe hypoglycaemic, maybe I just needed caffeine. Whatever it was, I needed to be warmer.

This is partly because I was up high, on ground where I couldn't run, in a strong cold wind. Even if I was just hypoglycaemic, I was burning energy to stay warm. My pace was the kind of fast walk that I've now learned to do on long overnighters and mountain marathons where I'm carrying a lot. It's a new thing for me and I'm still learning about it.

I was wearing a base layer, a polartec alpha layer, and my stretch waterproof which, while comfortable, is not as hard a shell as some. I put a Montane Prism over the top when I got cold, but it still wasn't enough. I think for overnight on high ground I need something heavier. Paramo maybe.

This was pretty much the same situation as I've got into at Cray on the Fellsman (although I was much worse). I think it's a combination of the cold and the food.

That fast walk gait inspired by something Nicky Spinks said in an interview is working really well. On gravel or tarmac I can do sub 10min/km, and on rough ground I can keep going at a good pace instead of wasting energy trying to run.

I was still climbing OK right up to the top of Great Shunner, which is reassuring.

My feet were cold, and I was annoyed by them getting wet all the time. The Mudtalon Speed shoes are designed to be quite freely draining. Maybe I need to spray a pair with fabsil for the winter. The Mudtalons were OK for the first half, but I was very glad of the thinner soles for the section from High Seat to Great Shunner.

Variation in food was better, but I could have done with yet more. I missed the fig rolls that I'd been unable to buy. More pizza would probably have been a good idea. Cheese as well - I didn't take any lumps of cheese because I couldn't be arsed cutting & bagging them. That was a mistake.

Kit

• Awdis long sleeved base layer
• Awdis short sleeved base layer
• Montane windproof gilet
• Rab powerstretch gloves
• OMM full length flash tights
• Inov8 Mudtalon (first half)
• Inov8 Mudtalon speed
• UD Fastpack 20 bag
• Salomon water filter
• 2 water bottles
• Montane Element Stretch waterproof
• Kalenji waterproof trousers
• Bridgedale merino running socks
• Black Diamond talus gaiters
• Garmin eTrex 20x gps
• Suunto compass
• Harvey Yorkshire Dales map
• Montane Prism jacket
• Silva Trail headtorch & spare battery
• Zebralight H62fw spare torch
• First Aid Kit
• SOL survival bag
• Buffs
• Glasses

Food

• Jamaican patties (2)
• Malt loaves (2)
• Pizzas (2)
• assorted Nakd and Kind bars
• salted cashews
• 
  

Dales Top Ten - incomplete first attempt

 This was a bit of a new venture for me. I've done lots of ultra distance races, and a fair few solo rounds at the 12 to 15 hour mark. Something that pushes out more towards a hundred in time/effort/distance was uncharted territory.

I've been thinking about doing the Yorkshire Round for a while. A couple of weeks ago with a free weekend coming up I switched to the Dales Top Ten on the basis that although the distance isn't much less the terrain is a lot easier. In theory.

I'm not big on planning, so with a few days to spare I shopped for extra food, made some sketchy plans and took a punt. Step one was where and when to start: Claire doesn't sleep well in the van, and when you're sharing a small bed with someone who isn't sleeping well you don't sleep well yourself. To avoid starting already tired, I figured sleeping at home the night before would be better. 

I decided that I was likely to take 24 hours plus/minus 2. I'd identified Kettlewell as a good starting point, being relatively close to home and a bloody sight quieter on a summer's morn than Horton. So on Saturday morning we drove up relatively late. The idea was to set off around 11 - 12, to avoid finishing in the early hours and make pick up easier.

Claire was joining me for the first bit, and once we got ourselves sorted we set off up Great Whernside. I wasn't going berserk fast, but brisk. I think Claire found the first bit hard going after a year of ongoing minor injury. Once we got to the top of Great Whernside and started along the track to Black Dyke we settled into a steadier pace.

Down through the bogs of Black Dyke to Park Rash, and onto Starbotton road. I opted for the reverse Fellsman route rather than over Tor Mere, to avoid the worst of the swamp. It's not much further round and much nicer.

Top of Buckden Pike then down as far as where the wall cuts away from the path. That's the way I usually come up on the Fellsman, so I followed the same route down to the road. Crossed the road where ongoing track maintenance is happening, and up the steep hill on Stake Lane.

I made a mental note while climbing just how far it is from the road up to the site of the Fellsman Hell Gap CP. I really need to eat and layer up at that point next year to avoid another long stay at Cray CP.

I filled my filter bottle at a stream by the track and carried on up to the top. Along the flat section over Stake Moss I was passed by an off road racing buggy. Politely I might add, at a steady pace and without spraying gravel everywhere. 

Above the junction in the track where I was to take the Stalling Busk route there was a long traffic jam, maybe 8 off roaders. Looked like a guided excursion, who had unfortunately got stuck behind a sheep shearing station at the side of the path. They were all relaxed about it, enjoying the sunshine while they waited.

Down to Stalling Busk and I had a quick look around the church in case there was a tap. Nope.

On to Marsett, and up the lane signposted for Hawes & Burtersett. On the path up I found a little footbridge. The watercourse didn't look too sketchy, so I filled up a bottle.

Reaching the roman road I turned right for a short way then took the path round the bottom of Wether Fell to follow the path down to Gayle.

In setting up for this weekend, I'd downloaded the GPX from the LDWA website and edited it to start from Kettlewell instead of Hardraw. Thanks to the oddities of multi-track GPX on older Garmin units, my GPS was only showing the route from Hardraw onwards. Luckily I knew the paths well and was able to make my own way.

At Hawes I passed round the back of the church then popped into the church yard in search of a tap. Nope. I sat on the church steps to change my socks, then bought a 1.5l bottle of mineral water in a nearby shop. Guzzling the water bit by bit on the path then road over the river towards Hardraw, I stowed the scrunched up bottle in my pack.

At Hardraw the GPS finally figured out where I was, and I started to head up Great Shunner. I was still on very familiar ground and making good time.

It seemed to take a long time to reach the top, and when I got there there were a couple of tents pitched. I stopped to take a couple of pictures, send Claire a text, then headed onwards towards Gregory Chapel and Archie Styrigg. Now I was in new territory...

Following the south side of the fence there was a reasonable trod that climbed and fell over small grikes. As I got further downhill the grikes got bigger, until I turned sharply right towards a row of grouse butts and through some 1.5m deep grikes. That didn't last long and I was back on a keepers quad track up the hill.

Over a few minor summits and past a large cairn to Gregory Chapel, then across a col to Archie Styrigg. The view here was stunning, all the way up to Dufton. The sun was starting to go down and it was a beautiful evening.

Heading back across the col to Gregory Chapel I passed to the right to follow the GPX line towards Hell Gill. This is where it all fell apart.

The line curved slightly to the right and crossed Hell Gill high up, then seemed to follow the side of the gill all the way down. So that was 3km of bog and massive tussocks. There was a nice trod for about 100m at the top. Following the gill meant staying level with the fence and climbing in and out of steep sided gullies. As I got further down the GPS line dropped to the level of the gill. Tried it, it was chest deep undergrowth and boulders. Climbed back up to the fence line and continued to contour above the fence in tussocks. The Inov8 Mudtalons had seemed like a good choice for the distance, but my ankles were turning with every 2nd step and it was really slow, painful going.

I'd expected to take about 2 hours from Archie Styrigg to the meeting point with Claire in Garsdale. It took most of that to get to Hell Gill Force, leaving me another 6km to go.

That timing confused me and I briefly forgot about Swarth Fell. As I ran north along Mallerstang I was puzzled by what was clearly Wild Boar Fell in front of me, until I remembered I still had Swarth Fell to climb on my left and groaned.

The GPS line took me along the road then up a sheer quarry face. Clearly this was stupid, and I carried on to a gate slightly past. There was a clear trod up the side of the fence which I followed, ignoring the GPS line which was off to my left.

Eventually the trod petered out and the GPS line crossed to the right in front of me. I fought my way through more bog, tussock and boulders to reach the edge of a basin, then contoured through boulders, waist deep soft rushes and thistles to reach a path up Swarth Fell.

At this point I was fairly tired, but mainly just not having any fun. The idea was a nice run through the night, but I'd run out of motivation battling through terrible terrain. Following the trod down towards Garsdale from Swarth Fell I got a decent spell of trotting in, until I had to leave the trod to get down onto the main bridleway below. More ankle turning tussocks. More swearing. If this had been an isolated bit I'd have been OK, but coming after about 10km of it, I'd had enough.

I got onto the bridleway and headed down into Garsdale. Which meant about 7km of road, perfect for finally capping my mood. I'd been considering sacking it as I fought through the boulders on the far side of Swarth Fell. The road finally did it. I messaged Claire as I descended to let her know I was calling it, and ran/walked along the road as best I could to the van, passing a rather startled dog walker along the way.

Back at the van I took off my bag (which had chafed my back pretty badly) and had a cup of tea. Claire had put together lots of additional food apart from the pizza I'd pre-prepared, and had a cup of tea waiting for me. I was very happy to see her, and happy to stop.

After a break I didn't feel any more inclined to carry on, and wasn't really convinced another 12 hours was going to be safe.  I'd done a respectable 70km with 2300m of climb, including some barely passable terrain for about 15km. We ate some food, drank some beer and settled into bed at the side of the road.

Next day on Strava, Karen noted that she'd done the DTT as her birthday run last year. Looking at her route, she'd obviously recced and found better routes on both the grim sections by passing along a path (marked on OSM) to the north of Hell Gill, and going straight up Swarth Fell Pike from Outhgill (another path marked on OSM) although she still hated the road bit. 

I'm disappointed not to finish, but reasonably sure that it wasn't fitness that stopped me. Lack of planning perhaps, and that's something that catches me out a lot. But I almost consciously do that - I like to go into things without knowing too much and adapt as I go. This time it was a totally new venture - a long distance with only a single support stop. I didn't finish, but I learned new things about the geography, and about how to manage solo over longer distances than a race usually affords.

I'll go back and have another go, maybe in the autumn if opportunity arises.

Kit

• UD Fastpack 20l
• Raidlight T shirt
• OMM 0.5 tights
• Inov8 Mudtalons
• Black Diamond gaiters
• Salomon water filter
• Silva Trail head torch
• Zebralight HL600 backup light
• Montane Element Stretch waterproof jacket
• Evadict waterproof trousers
• Montane Ember insulating layer
• Sunglasses
• Prescription glasses
• Garmin eTrex 20x
• Gloves
• buffs
• compass
• first aid kit
• bothy bag

Food

• jamaican veg patties - 2
• cheese and onion rolls - 2
• malt loaf
• cheese
• Nut protein bars - 2

Lessons

When taking a punt at anything un-recced, look at the route in detail and compare it with both OSM and OS. There are physical paths on OSM that aren't recorded on OS.

Carry more water on this kind of excursion. Another litre would have been ideal. The extra weight in the bag is worthwhile to be able to drink freely.

Carry a little sweet food - fig rolls are ideal

Inov-8 Mudtalons are bloody useless on rough ground

Print the route onto a map and take the map, instead of/as well as the GPS. Not having the bigger picture visible when I left Gregory Chapel, I didn't see that I could have gone far to the right and avoided the worst of the crap as I was going to lose height soon anyway.

Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon 2024

 The weather hasn't been much cop for the last couple of years, and in the run up to the Saunders we were watching the weather forecast (light rain, heavy rain, risk of thunder) with some apprehension. In the end though it was mostly good and sometimes sunny.

We drove up to the event centre on Friday night, stopping for fish & chips at Gargrave on the way. 2 lanes closed over Shap for gully emptying was a pain, but we were at the event centre in the middle of nowhere somewhere near Bampton just after 9. We got the van parked up (deploying the rather knackered levelling ramps for the first time in a while) and popped down to registration to get it out of the way.

I'd entered us early enough that we had a mid-to-late start time saturday, so at 8:45 we walked up to the start for our 8:52 slot. There was a huge queue, but as usual no one waiting to start for Fairfield so we went straight through. Maps and control list in hand, we went to one side to plan the first few.

The event centre was in the north east of the map, mid camp in the centre west. There were controls remote from both the start and mid camp in the south east. We decided to head into the south of the map on day 1, and leave the north for day 2. We located a high scorer on our way southwards and planned in the first couple of controls to channel us towards that, and said we'd plan the next phase there.

Control 1 was simple - a cairn to the right of the path. The kite was low to the ground so it wasn't glaringly obvious, but straightforward. On to the next, a sheepfold apparently 2 contours above a path. The path turned out to be higher than the map showed and dropped us right onto the control. From there we followed a bearing over a couple of noses to another sheepfold. A bearing took us most of the way to the next control, a ruin by a path.

From there we hacked across country to a good path. Initially we crossed over and followed a direct line towards the path in the valley below, but soon realised that the path we'd crossed looped round, so we worked our way back to it and descended to the bridge at Fordingdale.

Marching back up the side of Long Grain we were boiling hot. It was sunny and the wind was screened by the hill ahead. We took a trod along the top of the boundary under the crag, then climbed slightly to access the control almost exactly where we expected.

We took a slightly looping route on towards Low Raise, which may have cost us a couple of minutes but I doubt any more. We should probably have done a quick out and back for a ten point control to the north, but somehow we just didn't think of it. The next control was on a small tarn just past the summit, after which we cut straight down to a control on a bend in the beck. There was an obvious linear feature in the form of a stream that we could follow, except that there was a second more obvious one higher up that distracted us. We reached the beck too high then dropped onto the control. It was fairly well hidden though, at one point I was looking around to find it and not seeing it ten metres away.

Down to the tourist paths at Mardale Head. We paused briefly to eat and replan the next stage, then took the wrong path up from the road. We only got about 100m before realising though, and got onto the correct path up to Small Water.

The control at Small Water was next to a stream, and I filled my filter bottle whilst there. Then we started to climb.

It was a very steep climb up out of Small Water and took us quite a while. Once we reached the top we set off along the contour towards the control. We could see people on the hill above us who may (or may not) have been on a path, but they didn't seem to be going noticeably quicker than us. We landed more or less on top of the control on the contour, and had a brief regroup to decide on the next thing. We had a choice between climbing up and following the ridge round then dropping down a very steep slope onto a control in the gully south of High Street, or skipping it and dropping down where we were, then contouring round and climbing back up north of Froswick to a control on a spur. We opted for the Froswick spur and headed downhill.

Contouring round a nose between us and our target gill, we encountered a lot of people. When we reached the river crossing in the valley bottom we realised why - this must have been a control on a linear course. The control description could easily have been "middle of a large crowd". We ignored this control as it wasn't on the score map and headed uphill towards the clearly visible spur in the middle of the gill. Once we reached it, the control was hidden in long grass. It was obvious from a few metres above and we dropped back to it, then set off up to the top. Some people were taking a north westerly course up the steep slope but we took a (very slightly) gentler line onto the col, then turned right.

The day was wearing on and there was a cold wind. We felt a few drops of rain and paused to put coats on.

Reaching the summit of what I quickly realised was Thorneythwaite Crag (no mistaking that cairn) we headed left down the gnarly scree path to the col above Threshthwaite Cove. Our plan at this point was to take anything up to 3 controls on the minor summit south of Hartsopp Dodd then run in over Hartsopp. By the time we picked our way down to the col we had 40 minutes remaining, which wasn't really enough time. We picked our way even further down Threshthwaite Cove to pick up an easy 15 point control on a boulder close to the path, then headed for the finish with 20 minutes to go.

A male team kindly let us through, they had a bit more time on their clock, and we pelted as best we could with full packs down the valley bottom to the finish. We dibbed 2 minutes and some seconds over, earning ourselves a 6 minute penalty which was more than offset by the 15 point control we'd managed to bag.

Mid Camp

Being on a 7 hour time limit for the score means you get to mid camp at a reasonable time (it was 7pm when we got in last year on Kirk Fell) and have plenty of pitch choice. A marshal kindly told us there was plenty of quiet space in the next field away from the marquee, and we found a nice flat spot to pitch. We pitched with the back of the tent to the wind as far as possible and got the kettle on for a brew.

Fetching water we bumped into Nick Harris who'd had a good day, then Ali Richards who'd also had a really good day.

Shortly afterwards a couple of guys from the midlands pitched alongside us. They were soon horrified to discover that their gas cylinder had leaked and was completely empty. Lucky they'd pitched next to us - Claire had bought a new 100g cylinder for the weekend and when she tested it on her stove it hadn't worked properly. I tried it on mine and it worked fine, so I brought it along as a spare, not realising that Claire had put a brand new 250g cylinder in her bag. Between us we had enough gas for 3.5 mountain marathons, plus some left over!

The rain held off and the smidge kept the little biters at bay (Claire hid in the tent, but I was lying on the grass and only got a couple of bites). We had a few cups of tea, drank our beer with dinner then by 10pm we were tired enough to sleep. Unfortunately some berk had other ideas and, while the entire campsite fell deathly silent at 10pm, this idiot kept droning on at normal conversational volume until 11.15. It even woke me, and I'm very hard to wake.

Day 2

6am and everyone was up and about. We had a cuppa, packed for the start and Claire went to queue for the loos. We got going for the start with ten minutes to spare only to discover it was more like 20-25 minutes walk. Dammit. 

A fast march got us to the start only 15 minutes after our allotted time, and we dibbed and got going. We'd planned a number of different options the night before, but Claire had devised a better starting plan for the first few controls.

From the start we dropped down slightly before climbing almost to Hayeswater for the first control. This meant a slight wade across the beck, but we were going to have wet feet sooner or later anyway. Then on and on and on up the slope to take the control on the 697m summit above. There were lots of parent and child teams here, this was obviously on the Beda Fell course.

A pleasant run down and along the track to Satura Crag, and a control in a reentrant above Angle Tarn. Very scenic. It was warm and humid but pleasant going.

We carried on along the Beda Fell ridge to take two more controls gaining us 50 more points, then dropped to the road to cross the OOB. We debated an out and back to Hallin Fell, but decided to go take some points closer to the finish instead. 

Rather than the slightly roundabout paths we opted to climb straight up the side of the summit north of Pikeawassa via a crag that stuck out from the bracken. The going wasn't too bad through the undergrowth, and we made decent time. We were slightly south of our bearing when we reached the summit, but found the control fairly quickly. Jackie Scarf arrived just as we did, and we said a quick hello then got moving.

On along the ridge of Pikeawassa, following the hard boundary through one gate, and back through another to the next control. I filled my bottle on the crossing of Fusedale beck, and we started to climb Loadpot hill. The going was really easy, there was a good trod almost all the way up crossing the large reentrant. A lot of people were opting for the marked path, but the trod was much more direct. It was still a long climb in the heat though.

Top of Loadpot, bagged the trig, then down the path to find the reentrant. The large circular reentrant was extremely visible in this wide open flat space, and we dibbed and moved on.

We'd considered going for a 40 at Whinny Crag if we had time, but we erred on the side of caution and followed a clear track round to a 25 point at Helton Fell. This was similar to the last control of last year's Kirk Fell class - it wasn't immediately clear which of a few different ring features it was, since there were more on the ground than on the map (and there were 4 on the map). Following a trod that should have gone to the south and clearly went north of the prominence, we were on the wrong trod so cut south to hit the control.

From here we had a little over an hour to go. We wanted a control little more than a kilometre away and slightly closer to the finish. The trouble was an area of OOB in the way. There were two possible routes - round it to the west, or through a gap to the east which would involve losing lots of height. We opted to keep the height and contoured through a particularly swampy bog to pass well above the OOB. I kept an eye on the height and kept us 10-15m above by my altimeter, which had been a bit out due to changeable weather. I could see a gate a couple of hundred metres down the valley which I was reasonably sure was the OOB, so we were well clear (and that's born out by the Routegadget after the fact).

The reentrant the control was in turned out to be very steep sided, so we crossed over high up, then dropped along the nose through a lot of bracken to reach it. That was our last of the day, and there was a clear trod being followed by lots of people in the direction of the finish.

It was a fairly easy 1.5km run in to the finish, and we made it with 8 minutes to spare. As last year, the organisers took us on a grand tour around the outer edge of the carpark to reach the finish.

No sooner had we finished than we bumped into Jackie (who was travelling back with us) waiting in the enormous queue for food. We chatted about route choice for a bit (she'd taken a couple of choices that we'd skipped through caution) then went to change, by which time the queue had subsided. The food was good as it usually is, and we sat chatting for half an hour or so before heading back.

The Saunders is always a fun event, made better by the (usually) benign weather at this time of year. In spite of some apprehension about weather, we were lucky and it held all weekend. It absolutely hammered down on the way home. We did far better than we did 2 years ago (2023 doesn't count, we did a linear course). Both of us have improved markedly in navigation and estimation which made the whole thing all the more enjoyable.

Kit List

• UD Fastpack 40
• Nordisk Halland 2 tent
• Rab Neutrino 200 down bag
• Alpkit air mat
• MSR Ti mug
• Long Ti spoon
• Montane Element Stretch waterproof
• Montane Prism primaloft (probably excessive)
• Raidlight Performer T shirt (on)
• OMM 3/4 tights (on)
• Inov8 Mudtalon speed (new, on)
• Black Diamond talus gaiters (on)
• Drymax thin socks (on, spares for day 2)
• OMM full length tights (worn at mid camp) - should have taken the loose patagonia ones
• Long sleeved t shirt (worn at mid camp) - should have taken a short sleeve
• Rab softshell (on, but probably unneeded)
• Altra hat (on)
• Evadict waterproof trousers
• Suunto A30 compass
• Couple of chinagraph pencils
• Boil bags for food (2 + spare)
• 2 250g blocks of cheese
• 3 malt loaves
• 4 Kind nut bars
• First aid kit & multitool
• Spare 200g gas cylinder (unneeded, but lent out to another team)
• Buffs * 2 (one round wrist to guard SI card)
• Emergency glasses
• Smidge
• Sunblock
• Buffalo mittens
• ZL HL600fw torch
• Hydrapak bottles * 2 plus Salomon filter
• Platypus for mid camp - getting a bit knackered, needs replacing soon
• bread bags * 4 (unneeded this year)
• midge net
• phone
• 2 jamaican pasties (day 1 snacks)
• SOL survival bag
• contact lenses
• 
  

Lessons learned

• I worked out a set of criteria for planning. Use them for next event
• Remember, 15m contours make some really steep things look easier!
• Something wore a hole in my 40l pack (or possibly chewed!)
• Earplugs
• I could do with packing things a bit more logically.
• Hard objects don't fit that well into drybags.
• More nut bars - (Kind brand, they were very successful)
• Make sure laces are really, properly tight before starting
• I had far more warm clothes than I really needed. A lighter primaloft, lighter full length leggings and a short sleeved t-shirt for mid camp would have been better. The softshell was entirely unnecessary, although I did wear it for a couple of hours at the start I could have managed without (or worn a much lighter windproof)
• DO NOT FORGET SKINSOSOFT
• Buff over the running cap is surprisingly warm
• Mark up the next couple of controls even if I'm confident I know which they are
• Cross off the controls already done
• Toothbrush