Ogden Midsummer Madness

The route has everything: good runnable tracks, undulating terrain, lake, woodland, three stream crossings, stone steps, bridges, a couple of boggy bits, technical descents, technical climbing, waterfalls and a super fast last mile, finishing by the beautiful Ogden Water.

The race starts at the western end of the dam heading first up towards the Withins.

Take the first stile and follow the stoney vehicle track down towards the lake and follow its undulations all the way to the Skirden Clough bridge/silt trap. Carry straight on keeping Skirden on your right. After a short rise take the left turn which is a narrow trail path up to an owl sculpture and bench. Go past the bench and after approximately 10 metres turn right off the gravel path onto a grassy path heading W.

Follow this gradual incline for about 50 metres then take a smaller grass track to the right aiming towards the Scots Pines. Approach with caution as the path drops almost vertically, before heading NW into an area known as Spice Cake Hills. This is a series of ridges and valleys formed by landslips.  The route descends slightly but then takes a left fork, hugging a ridge on your left. After a short while, just after a broken pine which is on your left, head towards that ridge and take the deer trod which zig zags up onto the top of it. Here you follow the ridge summit, NW all the way to the end where you will be faced with a fence and open country.

Turn right and follow the track down towards the Skirden stream. Approximately 15m short of the stream take the path left towards the stream and cross it.... you will see a track on the opposite bank which rises up to the left. 

Take this track following it up towards the fence line, but just before you get there, deviate from it to the right up a shallow gully ... clambering up over logs and broken ground ... about 5 metres. Climbing out of the top head up the hill following the path. It's a steep climb. It follows the line of a deep gully which is to your right, but look out for a faint track which veers left. Follow that towards the fence then it straightens up again towards the gully, which has turned left across your path. Be aware that there is a steep and deep drop unless you find the correct crossing point which is next to a contorted pine tree. Cross the gully there and the veer immediately left and follow a faint line over towards the fence bordering open country.

Upon reaching the fence bear right and continue to climb through the tussocks. At the second fallen tree you will clamber over its trunk and around to your right. This is where you pick up the path from the Giants Tooth and head back down the hill having almost doubled back on yourself. Some 100 metres down this descent there are the bases of tree trunks in the middle of the track and a track veers off to your left. Take this left which soon opens up to be a very fast runnable descent back towards the reservoir. It will bring bear right at the bottom and through a ford over a weir in Skirden stream. Head up and then left back towards the reservoir...turn left across the bridge and then immediately left again up the quad bike track.

Climb a short way on the quad bike track and where it forks, take the right fork. This takes yu up through the woods ... the magic beech tree will be to your left before you find yourself at a path T junction. Turn left here. You should see a straight climb ahead of you which heads up towards the Giants Tooth.

Climb up as far as where the gradient levels out and there is a bench on your right. Turn right on the faint path in front of the bench. This takes you on a steep descent. Watch out for brambles. This deer track meets another ... bear left on that down to a flat plateau. There turn immediately right. You will run diagonally in an aproximately easterly direction, down through beech woodland over some quite unstable ground until you arrive at the stream in Ogden Clough.  There is an area where the stream bed widens and there's a small island. Just before this you will cross through the stream and up tyhe steep bankside opposite ... watch out for tree roots. At the gravel path turn left heading upstream in Ogden clough.

Follow the path out of the woods, over the stile and up the clough. Go left over the first bridge then follow the strem untill you are foreced to cross back through the stream ... hopping rock to rock. Continue up until you reach Ogden Kirk where you go through the gate in the new fence and up the stone steps.

At the top of the stone steps bear right and follow the track back towards Ogden car park. Descending towards the car park take the stile back into the woods and bear immediately left. You will follow the line of the boundary dry stone wall (which is on your left). The path crosses a couple of small creeks then bears right ...go straight across the gravel footpath then bear diagnally left down hill, across a small drainage creek eventually turning left onto a tree root strewn path which follows the line of the reservoir dry stone wall. This path eventually brings yu to a gap in the wall and onto the reservoir-side path. Turn left and sprint towards the finish which is in the duck feeding and picnic area.