From what I understood of the respawn times areas marked 'cleared' took 30 days to respawn while everything else took 10 days to respawn.

The past few game months I've noticed that areas in which I haven't 'cleared' aren't respawning. A few examples:

The small alcove just to the west of Whiterun that has 2 bandits and then 3 more appear after you loot the chest.
Fort Greymoor has yet to respawn
Serpent's Bluff Redoubt has yet to respawn
White River Watch has yet to respawn
Morvanskar (I think that's the name) hasn't respawned (it's a fort that has 5 caster types on the surface ruins south of Windhelm)

I typically run through these areas clearing only the surface portion, so I never actually enter into any buildings so none of them get the 'cleared' tag on the map.

The odd thing is that these places, while not having the enemies respawn, will often have the chests respawn and I can loot them again. Sometimes places I've cleared on the same day as the above mentioned list will have respawned but these won't. Did something get changed in one of the patches that I didn't see, has anyone else encountered this?

O.o I'm not sure, OP. I may have to check that out in my game...

i read in another thread that a new patch can cause some areas to respawn earlier than usual.

Ive noticed little things like ingredients and such not respawning as quickly as before, haven't noticed caves or dungeons though. Ive been avoiding most of them until my battle skills go up more.

I can't say I've noticed the ingredient issue myself as I usually buy from the hold vendors.

My typical routine is go clear these areas along a specific route (which include my list) and by clear I mean, just kill the surface guards. When this is accomplished I then travel in a circuit to each hold, buying ingredients from the various vendors. I make this trip twice and by the time I get back to Whiterun typically 10 days have passed if not more. I then rest for a good 18 hours (typically 24) just for good measure and head out to rinse and repeat.

I can't say for certain I've never come to a place I've previously been 'earlier' than the 10 day respawn time but I'm fairly certain I haven't as I check before I leave on my 'tour of the holds' x2. I make note of what day it is when I'm leaving in the menu, the 'days passed' line.

I like to do the same thing The T1p but more specifically I try and be level 46 before I start any type of quest. I like the enemies I face to be max level and give me the most challenge

I'm not complaining about this by any means, it just kinda puts a wrench in my character leveling and was wondering if this was an intended deal with one of the patches or not.

Thanks for the responses thus far