The Ullswater Way (in a day) plus review of ASIC Sonoma Trail Shoe

Given I was spending a bit of January unemployed, I had a plan to get out and run a bit. In fact, I even managed to rope my poor friend Eryl in to another adventure run in the Lakes. Sadly there was no boat this time, and we planned a low level route to account for possible weather. I'd had a bit of an urge to run the Ullswater way since the Lakeland Trails in November where we had run a tiny section of it, and then walked some other tiny sections of it with the dog. A bit of googling and I managed to find the information page on it and it seemed a great option for January. The Ullswater way is really a series of trails and walks around the same named Lake. Some sections are designed to be done as shorted circular walks but there is a full loop around the lake, though it doesn't always cling to the edge of the water. You an also use the Ullswater Steamers to get between points and walk back, which is probably what most people do. It seemed well signposted (more chatting energy), and with the highest point of Gowbarrow it seemed a good long run for January when I am training for an even longer run in February. 

After watching a few YouTube videos, I made the executive decision we would go clockwise based on doing the bit where we couldn't bus back first. Initially I had thought about starting at Pooley Bridge but a last minute thought made me change to the Glencoyne car park for two reasons: 1, its free to National Trust members 2, it meant we would do Gowbarrow nice and early and get it out the way. In hindsight, this latter thought was an excellent idea! 

On the morning of the run, it was grey leaving Manchester and there was a bot of traffic on the M61/M6 junction but once we got past Preston everything opened up and we made good time. Driving down the side of the Lake, I tried not to think we had to run all this and more on the way back, and we parked in a mostly empty car park. Glencoyne has no loos (there are some at Aira Force), FYI. Having indulged in the phaf-letics that is getting ready for a trail run, we quickly found the first trail marker in the corner of the car park and headed off on the well made trail towards Aira Force. 

The Ullswater way is marked by a series of arrows 

Both Eryl and I knew this section, and how well made the path was. They were actually doing path repairs on this section, as it probably gets a lot of footfall. In my mind, I wasn't sure what underfoot was going to be like, as all the sections I had done were excellently made, but this was certainly not true later on, and my shoe choice may have suffered. I had picked a newish pair of ASICs trail shoes (their mid range Sonoma) as I have been getting some foot pain and wanted a bit of support and cushioning. I hoped the trail would be good but I knew I was pushing the shoes a little beyond what they were designed for. 

Aira Force was pretty deserted. The last time I went was bank holiday weekend and it was madness incarnate, but this morning there were only a few other walkers who let us pass without fuss and we stomped up the side of the falls through the trees, already removing outer layers due to the relatively mild weather. Aira Force is a lovely set of falls, but I don't think its the most magic in the Lakes, but perhaps the one with the easiest car park and tea room so that's fine. I commented to Eryl how my Mum is desperate to go as she saw it on telly, and we chatted about  the change in people coming to the lakes, Eryl's podium finish at the EpicEvents Ullswater Way 10 and much other life stuff as we wound out way to the gate of our first route choice. 

The upper falls of Aira Force 

I had already decided we were going over Gowbarrow and Eryl was happy to concur and we headed out of the national trust zone to a bit more of an open fell area. This was one of the few areas we were a bit confused by signage but it was very temporary. Soon we were stomping up the fell and I was wondering if I was actually fit enough for this. I am still carrying too much excess weight (possibly worse after a ski holiday), and my hamstring and calves were a bit tighter than I was happy with. But Eryl was patient and as we reached the top we suddenly were exposed to huge gusts of wind. But the views over the lake and towards Helveyllan (snow topped) were marvellous. 

Gowbarrow Views

Coming off Gowbarrow I definitely felt the lack of a good fell shoes, though there was actually a better way down if you went back a little way. Then we had a nice down hill to Swinburn's Park. I think Swinburn might be a saint but whatever they are, this was a lovely section of single track undulating through a pretty conifer area. Conifers to stop the worst of the mud too. Unfirtunately, we then had a section of farm land where mud was inevitable but could definitely have been worse. One of the sections is even signed to go the other way if there has been a lot of rain, and there is a road to bash your shoes off on at Bennethead in between. We saw a few groups of walkers along this section and most were polite, with only one sarcastic comment from memory. There is a trip through a campsite just before Pooley Bridge, which was the first of many but the only one you ran through the statics on. The handrail around Dunmallard hill at Pooley Bridge felt worryingly challenging though we chatted about Lakeland 50 and our dreams of doing it. In Eryl's case, she'd smash it, but I may never get fit enough. 

By this point, we had had a smattering of very light drizzle, and a bit of a grey sky but the sun was definitely trying to come out as we crossed the new bridge at Pooley. There were a few people in town and the paths immediately close to it, but generally it was lovely and quiet. In hindsight, I should have filled up with water for this section, as I hadn't drank enough and later ran out a bit before Glenridding. Notably, since Aira Force, we hadn't actually been very close to the Lake until we got to Pooley Bridge so it was nice to actually see it properly. 

Looking South by South West from the top of the Lake

After Pooley Bridge, there is a section through the bottom of campsites along the shore which is mostly very flat but I was struggling a bit. I tried to stuff more Chia charge flapjack in and drink a bit more but ended up walking a bit on the gentle climb up away from the lake on the road and Seat Farm. I think I started to move a bit better once we hit the bridle way which incidentally signals the 'higher route' via the stone circle rejoining the lower route after Pooley Bridge. One for another day I think! The path through this section had been a real mixture; closer to the lake is was shale or made path, but the section by the farms was more grassy and muddy. The road was unexciting but the bridleway seemed pretty good with reasonable progress made. 

Dropping in to Howtown we decided to have a quick lunch stop. We sat on the little bit of shaley beach on some stones and munched, whilst a group came out of the Outward Bounds Centre. We bumped in to a few groups of kids strapped to gigantic backpacks between here and Sandwick, not all of whom seemed to be enjoying themselves. As we handrailed the lower slopes of Hallin fell, we got our last views of the north section of Ullswater in the sunshine. Part of the joy of the Ullswater way is the the odd shape of the lake means that the view evolves as you go round. 

Looking at the top section of Ullswater before we turned the bed

The next section was probably my least favorite section of the run; Hallinhag wood was entirely unrunnable. Usually, I love a woodland path but this was a mixture of jagged rocks and roots, and at times the path barely existed and at others it hung just above the lake shore (very) mildly perilously. I found myself picking inelegantly between the rocks whilst the more nimble Eryl pushed on a bit ahead. I was glad to get to extremely attractive cottages that made up Sandwick where we popped out on a road and then rejoined the bridleway, startling some elderly picnickers. From here to Patterdale was all bridleway, though I spied another wood section on the map and prayed it was a bit better. 

Over this next bridleway section I was making slow process and at some point ran out of water (unsurprisingly the tiny cafe at Scalehow was not open so much out of season and so remote from anywhere). Fortunately the path was better but my feet were making hard work of it. We did get a nice view of Scale How falls in the distance and I am very keen to come back and explore the fells above here. But at that moment, I was fantasing about orange juice and lemonade, in a pint glass, in a pub. Fortunately the path in the woods was okay and I stayed upright if mostly slow. We also found a great view point.

The view point, courtesy of Eryl 

Arriving at Silver Crag (passing some more slightly off walkers) gave me a bit of a boost as I now knew the rest of the route. Also, the path got better from here in. There were a few more people around, signaling our approach to civilization again. The weather remained impossibly good for January. I asked Eryl if we could walk the path between Side Farm and Patterdale, and she kindly agreed. When we hit the road I tried to make up for it with what she termed ' my second wind' but was really my desperate desire for water from the shop in Glenridding, and also memories of my failed ultramarathon attempt from a few years ago. 

The little shop on the corner in Glenridding was open and I was pleased to be slightly over charged for a bottle of water and a bottle of orange juice. I hadn't been in any danger from dehydration but I was still very thirsty, perhaps having been in a deficit earlier than I appreciated. My thought of it being January and so not sweating loads was obviously a daft one in my case; I always sweat buckets! In my head this was sort of the end of the run; the next section of path after the village runs close to the lake between some small bays and probably was quite exciting to me once but is now a bit old news and very close to the road. I made a bit of a hash of it (slowly) anyway. Its only about 2 miles from the shop and soon I could see the car park. 

Back at the car, it was 20 ish miles all in (our watches disagreed on exact distance) which we considered a good effort. We also had a bit of a chat to the chap who was putting stuff on his van next to us, and who we had actually seen sailing his light craft across the lake! He'd been plagued by the relatively infrequent wind, whilst we had obviously reveled in it. I managed to end up stripping off my top as a group of walkers entered the car park, oops. I was pleased with our attempt but very aware it had taken quite some time and also that my race in a few weeks in 4 miles more, and a heck of a lot more elevation. 

We headed to the Pooley Bridge Inn for food, marveling at the distance we had run. The next day I was a bit sore of foot and back but no disasters. 

So the final question is how did the ASCICs Sonoma stack up? I am not going to lie, I always steered clear of trail shoes from non trail shoe brands dismissing them as for 'urban and easy' trails. I bought the Sonoma with spring trips to our local woods in mind, and maybe the canal at the muddier times of year, buying it at a good reduced price. They didn't stop my metetarsalgia but they did help I think. Also, I appreciated the pronation protection at times. They weren't great in muddy fields (at times even Eryl's Innov8s clogged mind you) and I didn't trust them on wet rock in the same way I always trusted my Roclites. But that said, they definitely didn't let me down and coped admirably with some of the mildly slippy rocks and trails. I was going slowly which may have helped, and I wouldn't want to test them going fast on greasy rocks. The toe box had a reasonable shape too, with minimal pressure on my ridiculously wide feet, and they didn't have the lacing problems of some of my previous shoes. They would probably be fab for running longish distances on bridleway type paths without the technical sections. I am sure I will get plenty of use from them.