A solitary 12 km jog/run (quite a bit of pausing to read the map and walking up hills) with some novelty.Route: taking the 10:21am train to Windermere and exiting te station for once down hill on roads: turning left onto Cross St, Orrest Drive, Droomer Drive, Droomer Lane and then turning right down a paved minor road to reach the obvious edge of town path. Unusually, turning right on this and then continuing along it spurning all temptation to turn left and climb School Knott. Leaving the town on a broad stony track and climbing, eventually turning left on a path now marked as the Dales Way.
Following this familiar route to Hag End, Outrun Nook and Crag House. But, here, leaving the Dales Way to turn right in a marshy valley, crossing the stream on a foot bridge and then continuing almost due south on improving tracks. To minimise use of the pedestrian-unfriendly B5284, continuing over the road onto a c-road before turning left on a muddy path across a field to rejoin the B5284 for 100m. Taking the next left and gaining ground across fields and then tracking laterally across the hillside, past isolated houses to the bigger complex of Yew Tree Farm. Having climbed left out of the farmyard, arbitrarily selecting the left fork onto higher ground - very much at a walk - then descending fields to re-join the Dales way on a climbing c-road (again walking) and hence descending on the most direct route to the Staveley Mill Yard.
Conditions: 4C but some bright sun.
Pub: the Hawkshead Brewery, Staveley, for Hawkshead Red.
