Bob Graham Round Leg 2: Threlkeld to Dunmail Raise

The route

Leg 2 of the Bob Graham Round leaves the road at Threlkeld and climbs straight onto Clough Head (726m), the northern gatepost of the Helvellyn range. From there it rides the ridge south the whole way to Dunmail Raise: Great Dodd (857m), Watson's Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, White Side, Helvellyn Lower Man and Helvellyn (950m), then Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike, before the dog-leg east over Fairfield (873m) and the final drop over Seat Sandal to the road. It is 22.3km with 1690m of ascent and twelve summits, the most flowing leg of the round.

Bob Graham context

The Bob Graham Round is the Lake District's classic 24-hour challenge: 66 miles and around 8,200m of ascent over 42 fells, starting and finishing at Keswick Moot Hall, first completed by Bob Graham over 12 to 13 June 1932. The five legs are divided by road-crossing support points, and Leg 2 runs from the Threlkeld changeover to the busy Dunmail Raise stop on the A591. Aspirants on a clockwise round usually reach here in the small hours, which is why knowing this ridge in the dark matters.

Why it works

As a stand-alone outing this is some of the best ridge running in England: high, grassy and fast, with twelve Wainwrights banked in a single line. The climb is front-loaded onto Clough Head, after which the gradients ease into rolling tops. Recce it in daylight before any Bob Graham attempt, because in cloud the Dodds are featureless and the Helvellyn edges drop away to the east. Carry map and compass and pick your line off Seat Sandal carefully to land at the Raise. The dog-leg to Fairfield and back is where time and morale leak away, so know exactly where you leave the main ridge and rejoin it. Schedule cards typically allow strong contenders a little over three hours for this leg, but as a day out in its own right there is no clock, just a superb high traverse from Clough Head to the road.