Bob Graham Leg 2 recce
It was a sunny and mild April morning as we drove along the A66 towards Threlkeld. My legs were still a little beaten from the Manchester Marathon and from the Loughrigg Fell race the evening before, but nevertheless, I was keen to make the most of the weather and the time in the Lakes to do a recce of leg 2 of the Bob Graham round.
When I plotted the route I’d come to consider leg 2 as one of the easier sections of the round; a long slog of a climb up to Clough Head from Threlkeld and then a long, but steady, ridge run over the Dodds, Helvellyn and down to the Grisedale Tarn. In a way this is exactly what leg 2 is, however, what I hadn’t accounted for was the amount of relative elevation loss and gain whilst on the ridge.
Leg 2 “officially” begins in Threlkeld, heading south by the disused quarry and then onto Hausewell Brow. For convenience, Abigail dropped me off just south of Threlkeld so that I could begin the route along the Old Coach Road beneath the Threlkeld Knotts. I was able to pick up the route proper at Hausewell Brow, crossing the stile at Hause Well Spring and then beginning the steep grassy path up towards Clough Head. The path is un-runable, for me at least, so I shuffled my way up, stopping to admire the views to the north and west. As I edged closer the summit of Clough Head the gradient began to ease and I was able to move a little quicker. At the summit cairn I turned around and looked back at Blencathra. I traced the route that leg 1 would have brought me down over Hall’s Fell.
From Clough Head I had a clearer view of what awaited; looming to my left was Great Dodd, followed by a long stretch of meandering ridge, with Helvellyn in the distance. It looked like miles. It was.
I made a good line over to Calfhow Pike and then headed south east up the steep incline to Great Dodd. The sweat was absolutely pouring off me as I reached the summit cairn.
From Great Dodd there was some momentary respite as I dropped down along the ridge to Watson’s Dodd and then over the boggy ground to Stybarrow Dodd. The route then continues south, over Sticks Pass and climbs once again towards Raise. I stopped to take a quick photograph of the ridge behind me.
The ground around Raise is rocky and so I made a mental note that on the attempt proper I may well be running this section in the early hours of the morning with limited visibility.
The climb over White Side was tough, as was the route up over Lower Man. The flat top of Helvellyn came as sweet relief however, and I was treated to some stunning views over Red Tarn and Striding Edge.
From the Helvellyn summit, the route continues south and undulates over Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike. The route down off Dollywaggon Pike is steep. I had to take it slowly as my tired legs weren’t moving quite as well as they would normally. Reaching the level ground besides Grisedale Tarn, a narrow gravel path curves around the tarn to Hause Gap, where, ordinarily a BGR runner would head east up to Fairfield in the dreaded out and back. For me, however, I was done; my legs had to turned to jelly and I decided, probably wisely, that it would be best to stop at this point and walk down to Grasmere (where Abigail was waiting).
Had I completed the recce, I would have ascended Fairfield and then retraced my steps back down to Hause Gap where I’d then take the steep path up to Seat Sandal. I’ve climbed the path to Seat Sandal before and it’s a killer. The route off Seat Sandal then heads west to Raise Beck, where it drops down to Dunmail Raise, ending leg 2.
A few things to note:
1) I didn’t join the route at the usual starting point, so it might be worth doing a quick recce of this one day, particularly as I’ll be doing it in the dark.
2) The climb up to each individual summit on the ridge is a grind and there’s nothing you can do about it.
3) The ground, especially in the second half of the leg, is very rocky so care must be taken.
4) The route down off Dollywaggon is steep. Try to avoid looking up at Fairfield and Seat Sandal…
