Another quick change and it was out on to another monster run stage. The 11km route took us up the west face of Helvellyn to the summit then down along Striding Edge to the Patterdale YHA taking in almost 900m of climbing.
Once again the fell was shrouded in the cloud and the ascent was windy with poor visibility, but at least mostly dry. Finally the peak loomed into view and after checking in with the marshall I headed off along Striding Edge. This route is a sharp ridgeline with a path/rocky clamber cutting right along the top. The route requires a lot of attention and the prospect of a long fall is close at hand.
As I came away from the summit the weather cleared and I was treated to a spectacular view down the East of the fell and along the ridge. This prevailed and visibility remained good all the way down.
The descent was a mixture of picking down rocky sections and running along the more gentle well-defined track which for much of the length was paved with stone making it a jarring but quick descent.
I found the right track to cross the valley and was on the run in to transition.
I seemed to make pretty good progress and arrived at Patterdale feeling pretty good, but rather concerned about the long 12km paddle up Ullswater that was the next stage.
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