Saturday saw four of us head off from Hawkshead through the Grizedale Forest onto this fantastic bridleway which gave us superb views over Lake Coniston to the Old Man beyond ( that’s a mountain by the way, not one off our club members). Kev & El (who seem to always know these routes from previous Polaris expeditions) Matthew and I enjoyed the spring sunshine riding these challenging but extremely enjoyable tracks. Once we were out of the forest, with its North Face (red graded) trail, we were onto wild terrain which was much less predictable, with some very interesting rocky descents. Excellent fun and plenty of uphill with Kev “chomping at the bit” to get the heart and lungs working before we could enjoy the next descent.
A late lunch at Sawrey and then some more forest tracks back to Hawkshead as the rain started. Sunday morning was very wet so we decided to ride the North Face trail through Grizedale Forest. By 12pm the rain had eased off and we flew round the trail.
Only later did I discover that there is a Black Route in the Forest with big berms, jumps and table tops, so another visit will have to be planned.