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Is probably not mine, TBH...
Ran out of puff at the halfway point of an off-road C2C attempt yesterday. My excuses are many, including too wet/too hot/some mechanical issues plus some routeplanning errors. But probably just a willpower failure at a crucial point.
I was headed for a version of the Ravenglass to Ravenscar route, so I caught the train from Skipton to Ravenglass and started the first leg at midday. It was drying out at Skipton, but there was still plenty of low cloud over the Lake District. And it soon became very clear that the Lakes had got a lot of rain the previous day...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48612535398_de062911e3_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48612535398_de062911e3_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h4HX93 ]IMG_20190823_121044[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
The route headed up past Muncaster Castle and onto the Esk Trail, a dedicated bike trail with a good surface. The becks were all massive.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48612535298_e667d69123_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48612535298_e667d69123_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h4HX7j ]IMG_20190823_141007[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
The idea was to get the two worst climbs out of the way that afternoon and perhaps bivvy somewhere close to the Garburn Pass. But the first push up over Harter Fell was very wet, and the bog which had been tiny during July's Jennride was now a bit of a challenge.
Anything downhill was basically a stream, and, in a bid to limit how wet I was getting, I headed down the forestry road to the Duddon Valley and up again over Walna Scar, where the sun finally came out.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48616459802_2dfb403634_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48616459802_2dfb403634_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h554Jb ]IMG_20190823_162324[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
Up into Grizedale, down to Elterwater and across Claife went pretty smoothly, although again I was swapping singletrack descending for fire roads wherever possible to keep a bit drier.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48615984173_7cb83dbf1b_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48615984173_7cb83dbf1b_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h52CkF ]IMG_20190823_182204[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
The queue for the chippy in Ambleside was massive, which meant that it was starting to get dark by the time the climb past Jenkin Crag was done.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48612535143_07bffbc22a_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48612535143_07bffbc22a_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h4HX4D ]IMG_20190823_201035[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
I pitched the tent in a hollow on the side of Wansfell
Sounds fab to me 👍
Got a good reward first thing on day two - a nice mini-inversion over Windermere from my camp spot.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48613041127_ac8f10b676_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48613041127_ac8f10b676_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h4Lxtv ]IMG_20190824_062331[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
Moving by 7am, I headed down through Troutbeck and started the climb up Garburn. Not camping by the track here turned out to be a good move, as the local farmers had turned out for some kind of early morning event.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48613040937_c626666bf2_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48613040937_c626666bf2_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h4Lxqe ]IMG_20190824_080453[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
Descending Garburn was a challenge - again, it was still running with water most of the way down, and I decided to give the three rivers descent a miss, as it would probably be just one big one.
Breakfast at Wilfs in Staveley, then on via road to the northeast. The road up under the foot of Longsleddale had looked relatively easy on the map, but obviously I'd missed some contours, and it ended up with a fair bit of climbing up around Potter Fell. Then it was a handful of miles on the main A6 before turning off into Borrowdale - the other one which no-one knows about.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48613040602_934b805a0c_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48613040602_934b805a0c_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2h4Lxjs ]IMG_20190824_112902[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/76951366@N02/ ]hutchinson2017[/url], on Flickr
A good track, mainly descending, dropped me out at the point where the M6 and the main train line are squeezed into a tiny gap between the Lakes and the Howgills.
Another undulating minor road took me southeast to Sedbergh. By now it was getting hot, and here I made my navigational mistake. There are two choices of route over Frostrow Fell towards Dent. Mine was the wrong one, and involved about an hour of pushing through bog.
The plan had been to press on over Cam Fell and camp somewhere on the moor between Wensleydale and Swaledale, but at this point I was feeling pretty toasted, and behind schedule. This, coupled with some gear indexing issues (possibly caused by the bar bag), meant that the temptation of the 4pm train out of Dent back to Skipton was too great...
A valiant effort by all accounts op!
It's not about the destination anyway but the memories made along the way. U honestly believe that... Which is just as well judging from my biking efforts.lol
Love the pictures by the way.
How long was the planned route mate?
About 200 miles all in.
I think if Dent Station hadn't been right there at my low point, I'd have pushed on and recoverd.
Wasn't much looking forward to 35 miles across the Vale of York in today's temperatures, if I'm honest.
Nice write up, shame it didn’t go to plan
Ace, all told.
Temperature inversion - lovely.
Interesting that you found the tracks so wet. everything up here is very dry!
You still put more miles and more overnighters in than I have.
Ooh an engagement party in lincolnshire which is a five hour each way drive for us.
On the best weekend in august.
No bikes or tents I sight 🙁
Interesting that you found the tracks so wet. everything up here is very dry!
I couldn't quite believe it - we had a rainy day in the Dales on the Thursday, but things must've been much worse overnight in the Lakes. If I'd known I'd have packed some waterproof trousers!
Nice one Martin aye the Lakes is pretty damp at the minute!
How's your BikeFest field? Saw the marquee on my way down into Staveley.
Was hoping to get over that way if only for the day - it must be starting to dry out by now!
Field is dry ,showery this week but the field will hold up 🙂