Scamps a good boy now

This afternoon the weather was so good I thought a trip up them there fells was in order. Not surprisingly if you know me, Blencathra was the mountain of choice. I opted to run up Doddick Fell instead of the usual Halls Fell route as I had never been on that ridge before.

This is by far the best way up this hill if all you want to do is reach the top quickly. I got up in 58 minutes (from the south side of theA66) and this included going a bit wrong through the lower fields and also stopping for a couple of photos enroute.

Best news of the day was that my dog Scamp ran 95% of the time off the lead and didn't chase any sheep.
What an absolute joy to have your dog follow closely behind as  you run through such magnificent scenery. Often he would go across to the edge of the ridge and look into the distance toward the Eden Valley - I wondered if he was equally in awe of the view as I was myself? (probably just checking out the sheep in case I took my eye off him)

Once at the top I chatted at length to a bloke who was interested in photography, running and sheepdogs. He and his mate were enjoying a beer as they admired the 360 degree view. I  pointed out my white van in the carpark nearly 3000ft below and mentioned I would be back at it within 30 minutes once I set off down - I'm not sure they believed me but I made it in 31 including taking more photos and having a wash in the Ghyll at the bottom of the ridge.

An OS trig point marks Blencathras summit

Prior to setting off down I popped along to the top of Sharp Edge in the hope of getting a photo of someone struggling up this famous ridge. there was just one man going down though, and he was way in the distance. On such a peaceful, calm evening as tonight with 50 mile visibility it is quite remarkable to think there have been so many lives claimed on this single route alone. I didn't go down this way 'cos it would have took too long and going down such terrain is mostly annoying to me - going up it is tremendous fun as it is challenging as well as a good all round workout.

Lone adventurer safely making his way down Sharp edge

Anyway, to get to the point of the whole blog entry - my dodgy leg feels better today than at any time in the last month. This is despite running 10 miles on tarmac yesterday and thousands of feet of descent, hopping down off rocks etc today.