Hillwalking Thread

[invergowrie arab]

2 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

Got stopped by the traffic police on Thursday morning when heading to Fort William from Glasgow, just past Ardlui where the road starts to widen. They were sitting at the side of the road a couple of miles before Ardlui and my plate had obviously flashed up on their ANPR and theyve seen that I wasn’t from anywhere nearby. 
 

They flew up behind me and overtook straight away, and I assumed that was that. They’ve  then stuck their lights on and swung their car round to block the road in both ways and pointed me into the lay-by. Guy was asking my reasons for travelling and I told him I was headed for FW to go a walk. Was told that wasn’t a valid reason to be travelling such a distance and that the police have the powers to issue on the spot fines, but on this occasion if I turned back and headed home he wouldn’t do that. I was genuinely unaware that travelling from Glasgow to FW would be any issue whatsoever on Thursday, I know that the rules have changed from yesterday and travelling from a tier 4 area to tier 3 isn’t allowed (don’t think it’s an actual law tbh).
 

Has this happened to anyone else heading north from the central belt? .I’m happy to adhere to rules that will keep people safe during this pandemic but putting restrictions on people travelling in a car with one other person to go a walk outside, seems a tad overkill. I was quite annoyed by it tbh. Just seems completely unnecessary. 

Im genuinely puzzled as to why you think this is a reasonable way to carry on.  The rules aren't "go if you think it will probably not be a risk" it's no "non-essential travel". You might think, and I agree, that the risk is tiny but you surely also know it's not an essential journey.

If I lived in the highlands I would be fizzing at people coming from a place with nearly 300 per 100k heading up for a walk.

[IrishBhoy]

18 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

Im genuinely puzzled as to why you think this is a reasonable way to carry on.  The rules aren't "go if you think it will probably not be a risk" it's no "non-essential travel". You might think, and I agree, that the risk is tiny but you surely also know it's not an essential journey.

If I lived in the highlands I would be fizzing at people coming from a place with nearly 300 per 100k heading up for a walk.

It wasn’t about me thinking anything was a reasonable way to carry on, until I was pulled over I was genuinely unaware that what I was doing was against the regulations. That’s my fault for not knowing. 
 

Also these hypothetical highlanders that would be fizzing at people travelling to their area, do they live in the vast wilderness around Inchree, where I would be able to park my car and go for a walk while never coming within a mile of another human being. I wasn’t going to Fort William for a pub lunch and a look around the shops, infact I wasn’t even getting as far as Fort William itself. As I said, I was unaware that before yesterday travel wasn’t permitted to different areas. I’m not rebelling against these restrictions at all, but if you were to do a risk assessment of my journey, the chance of me infecting another human being would be absolutely nil. 

Edited November 21, 2020 by IrishBhoy

[invergowrie arab]

33 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

It wasn’t about me thinking anything was a reasonable way to carry on, until I was pulled over I was genuinely unaware that what I was doing was against the regulations. That’s my fault for not knowing. 
 

Also these hypothetical highlanders that would be fizzing at people travelling to their area, do they live in the vast wilderness around Inchree, where I would be able to park my car and go for a walk while never coming within a mile of another human being. I wasn’t going to Fort William for a pub lunch and a look around the shops, infact I wasn’t even getting as far as Fort William itself. As I said, I was unaware that before yesterday travel wasn’t permitted to different areas. I’m not rebelling against these restrictions at all, but if you were to do a risk assessment of my journey, the chance of me infecting another human being would be absolutely nil. 

If you are genuinely unaware then fair fucks.

I just get annoyed with the folk on walking sites who seem to think they can disregard any rules as they are an exceptional case.

[IrishBhoy]

2 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

If you are genuinely unaware then fair fucks.

I just get annoyed with the folk on walking sites who seem to think they can disregard any rules as they are an exceptional case.

As I said it’s my own fault for not knowing, and I understand completely how reckless it would be for a couple of Glasgow punters to think they can travel to a place like Fort William or anywhere that there is a low infection rate, and have disregard for bringing the virus along with us and putting other people at risk. I think as a sensible grown man I can strike a balance between what I think is acceptable during these times and what isn’t, and wether other people think it was right or wrong, in my opinion travelling a couple of hours up the road to an area where I could quite confidently say I wouldn’t be coming close to another person at any point, was acceptable to me.  If I had known at the time that the rules stated that travelling that distance was not allowed, I wouldn’t have went. 

[Honest_Man#1]

16 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

As I said it’s my own fault for not knowing, and I understand completely how reckless it would be for a couple of Glasgow punters to think they can travel to a place like Fort William or anywhere that there is a low infection rate, and have disregard for bringing the virus along with us and putting other people at risk. I think as a sensible grown man I can strike a balance between what I think is acceptable during these times and what isn’t, and wether other people think it was right or wrong, in my opinion travelling a couple of hours up the road to an area where I could quite confidently say I wouldn’t be coming close to another person at any point, was acceptable to me.  If I had known at the time that the rules stated that travelling that distance was not allowed, I wouldn’t have went. 

What would you have done if your car had broken down in FW?

[IrishBhoy]

Just now, Honest_Man#1 said:

What would you have done if your car had broken down in FW?

Ran around the town of Fort William spitting in the face of every person I could see, obviously. 
 

I have possibly worded this badly but I wasn’t actually ever going to Fort William, I was only on the road to Fort William and had planned a walk around a vast expanse of green land beside a place called Inchree. I have been there before and knew where I could park the car etc. If I had broken down whilst I was there and the car was unable to move, I would have called for a recovery. The exact same situation I would be in if I had broken down in the middle of Glasgow.  

[Honest_Man#1]

Just now, IrishBhoy said:

Ran around the town of Fort William spitting in the face of every person I could see, obviously. 
 

I have possibly worded this badly but I wasn’t actually ever going to Fort William, I was only on the road to Fort William and had planned a walk around a vast expanse of green land beside a place called Inchree. I have been there before and knew where I could park the car etc. If I had broken down whilst I was there and the car was unable to move, I would have called for a recovery. The exact same situation I would be in if I had broken down in the middle of Glasgow.  

I appreciate it’s unlikely, but I assume you can see that breaking down within Glasgow is clearly different to breaking down in a lower tier with far lower prevalence of the virus?

There are multiple ways that you would have to interact with people in that lower tier after coming from a high prevalence area (and potentially carrying the virus) and thereby bringing it into that area. 

I say this knowing that if travel restrictions were not in place I would be travelling to similar areas, so I’m not having a go but just showing that whilst you think the risk is nil, it isn’t in reality.

[IrishBhoy]

10 minutes ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

I appreciate it’s unlikely, but I assume you can see that breaking down within Glasgow is clearly different to breaking down in a lower tier with far lower prevalence of the virus?

There are multiple ways that you would have to interact with people in that lower tier after coming from a high prevalence area (and potentially carrying the virus) and thereby bringing it into that area. 

I say this knowing that if travel restrictions were not in place I would be travelling to similar areas, so I’m not having a go but just showing that whilst you think the risk is nil, it isn’t in reality.

I can’t argue with that at all tbh. I have family who live on Skye and back at the start of the first lockdown I was raging at people who were travelling from the mainland thinking the rules didn’t apply so they could have a nice time in their holiday homes up there, with no regard for health of the people on the island. I wouldn’t say driving 2 hours to walk around outside is comparable to that, but I can see why people think it’s not the right thing to do. It genuinely wasn’t a case of me thinking the rules didn’t apply and I could swan off to any part of the country I desired. I was, and still am, certain that my journey would not have put any other people at risk of catching this virus. 

[Snobot]

1 hour ago, IrishBhoy said:

but if you were to do a risk assessment of my journey, the chance of me infecting another human being would be absolutely nil. 

Not having a go but there are elements outside your control if eg you crashed your car south of FW through no fault of your own due to someone else’s negligence, were taken to hospital in FW etc etc. All of a sudden you are a potential super spreader. That is why people were told not to risk it in lockdown 1.

Just checking, the A82 is statistically the most dangerous road in the country which comes as no surprise.

Don’t get me wrong, I get where you are coming from but it is impossible to say the risk is nil as no matter how careful or competent you are, there are plenty of fuckwits out there who might take you down with them.

Here’s hoping we can get back to normality ASAP. 

[Archie McSquackle]

I appreciate you thinking you would not have put anyone at risk on your trip and I can see where you're coming from but there is a tiny risk of something happening whether it's a traffic incident or you going over on your ankle on your walk and needing assistance. The more people that head out on these sort of trips, the greater the chance there is of something happening that puts you in contact with others

Fair enough if you were unaware of the situation but it's not new (although it was a guideline before but has only just become law I believe). The surprising thing is you were stopped as I had heard the police weren't going out of their way to stop people and would only take action if they were talking to them for some other reason and found them to be out of their area unnecessarily.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Archie McSquackle

[vikingTON]

I actually can't appreciate the 'thinking' behind taking a four hour round car trip from the pandemic hotspot of the entire country 'to go for a walk'. You also must have been living under a rock for the past six weeks to be 'unaware of travel restrictions' - it seems much more likely that you were only unaware that the police could enforce measures and just thought that you could try your luck. 

[8MileBU]

44 minutes ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

What would you have done if your car had broken down in FW?

 

38 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Ran around the town of Fort William spitting in the face of every person I could see, obviously. 

[Archie McSquackle]

There are aspects of the regulation regarding travel between areas which don't make a lot of sense but I appreciate they have to draw the line somewhere. I live in Glasgow (tier 1) and considered going out on my bike for a wee bit of exercise this morning. From the corner of Glasgow I live in, I would normally head out on the canal but that would very quickly take me into East or West Dunbartonshire (both also Tier 1) which i shouldn't be doing.

I suppose to put it into perspective I heard Jason Leitch on the news last night saying there's no point going into lockdown if people look for ways round the rules and we just end up with the virus being spread around wherever they go instead of the places they instead of the places that have been closed.

[IrishBhoy]

1 hour ago, Snobot said:

Not having a go but there are elements outside your control if eg you crashed your car south of FW through no fault of your own due to someone else’s negligence, were taken to hospital in FW etc etc. All of a sudden you are a potential super spreader. That is why people were told not to risk it in lockdown 1.

Just checking, the A82 is statistically the most dangerous road in the country which comes as no surprise.

Don’t get me wrong, I get where you are coming from but it is impossible to say the risk is nil as no matter how careful or competent you are, there are plenty of fuckwits out there who might take you down with them.

Here’s hoping we can get back to normality ASAP. 

That’s all fair enough but if we are going down the road of ‘what if x happens’ or ‘what if a meteor drops out the sky and you need stitches in Fort William Infirmary ’ then we might all as well go back to our homes and lock the doors for the duration of this lockdown. As I said if I knew the rules stated not to travel I wouldn’t have, but in the same way risk assessments are weighted towards events that are more likely to occur rather than events that aren’t likely to occur, I was quite confident I wouldn’t be coming into contact with any other human being at any point of my trip.  

Edited November 21, 2020 by IrishBhoy

[Robin.Hood]

6 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

then we might all as well go back to our homes and lock the doors for the duration of this lockdown. 

Isn't that is what is meant to happen ? Especially those in tier 4.

I mean if Dundee go into tier 4 I will just go to work and then home. Kinda do that anyway and thats tier 3.

Saving lifes

[IrishBhoy]

22 minutes ago, virginton said:

I actually can't appreciate the 'thinking' behind taking a four hour round car trip from the pandemic hotspot of the entire country 'to go for a walk'. You also must have been living under a rock for the past six weeks to be 'unaware of travel restrictions' - it seems much more likely that you were only unaware that the police could enforce measures and just thought that you could try your luck. 

Well I’m sorry to disappoint you but that’s just not true. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was a 4 hour round trip or a 144 hour round trip, the risk of me spreading the virus while sitting in the confines of my own car is zero, absolutely zero. I’m quite able to make that judgement call myself. I wasn’t rolling the window down to cough on pedestrians. 
 

As I said, I was going to a place I have been before. It’s in the middle of nowhere, a small car park and a nice long trail around vast expanses of absolutely nothing. Again, I could quite confidently say that during that walk the risk of me infecting another human being with Covid 19 was zero. After weighing up those risks, and being unaware that travelling that distance wasn’t permitted, I was quite happy to get out for a nice drive and nice walk content with the fact that I was posing no risk to any other person. 
 

If I had decided to pop into a local newsagents, and then fill my car up with diesel and buy a packet of crisps, and take a walk along Fort William High Street, that would be a disregard of the rules and would be putting other people at risk of the virus. Fair enough if people think I was chancing my arm and just wanted a nice day out with no regard for the rules, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter a great deal, but that wasn’t the plan. The police were sound enough and are obviously just doing the job they have been told to do, I’ve no problem with that. I’m more than happy to abide by the restrictions for as long as is needed. 

[IrishBhoy]

17 minutes ago, Robin.Hood said:

Isn't that is what is meant to happen ? Especially those in tier 4.

I mean if Dundee go into tier 4 I will just go to work and then home. Kinda do that anyway and thats tier 3.

Saving lifes

Well Glasgow is in tier 4 as of yesterday and you wouldn’t notice a difference. Vast majority of the shops are still open, roads as busy as they ever are. My job classes me as a key worker so I’ve worked right through this, but it looks like this ‘second lockdown’ isn’t being enforced as harshly as the one earlier in the year. 

[microdave]

18 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Well I’m sorry to disappoint you but that’s just not true. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was a 4 hour round trip or a 144 hour round trip, the risk of me spreading the virus while sitting in the confines of my own car is zero, absolutely zero. I’m quite able to make that judgement call myself. I wasn’t rolling the window down to cough on pedestrians. 
 

As I said, I was going to a place I have been before. It’s in the middle of nowhere, a small car park and a nice long trail around vast expanses of absolutely nothing. Again, I could quite confidently say that during that walk the risk of me infecting another human being with Covid 19 was zero. After weighing up those risks, and being unaware that travelling that distance wasn’t permitted, I was quite happy to get out for a nice drive and nice walk content with the fact that I was posing no risk to any other person. 
 

If I had decided to pop into a local newsagents, and then fill my car up with diesel and buy a packet of crisps, and take a walk along Fort William High Street, that would be a disregard of the rules and would be putting other people at risk of the virus. Fair enough if people think I was chancing my arm and just wanted a nice day out with no regard for the rules, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter a great deal, but that wasn’t the plan. The police were sound enough and are obviously just doing the job they have been told to do, I’ve no problem with that. I’m more than happy to abide by the restrictions for as long as is needed. 

What if you'd had an accident in your car? What if you'd slipped and broken your leg on your walk? Your chances of passing on the virus were probably low but they certainly weren't zero. The only way yuur chances would've been zero is by staying in the house. And you said that you're a key worker so I'm flabbergasted that you didn't know the rules that have been well publicised for quite some time now. I'd love to get out for a walk on the hills today but I'm not burying my head in the sand and thinking the rules don't apply to me!

[Honest_Man#1]

26 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Well I’m sorry to disappoint you but that’s just not true. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was a 4 hour round trip or a 144 hour round trip, the risk of me spreading the virus while sitting in the confines of my own car is zero, absolutely zero. I’m quite able to make that judgement call myself. I wasn’t rolling the window down to cough on pedestrians. 
 

As I said, I was going to a place I have been before. It’s in the middle of nowhere, a small car park and a nice long trail around vast expanses of absolutely nothing. Again, I could quite confidently say that during that walk the risk of me infecting another human being with Covid 19 was zero. After weighing up those risks, and being unaware that travelling that distance wasn’t permitted, I was quite happy to get out for a nice drive and nice walk content with the fact that I was posing no risk to any other person. 
 

If I had decided to pop into a local newsagents, and then fill my car up with diesel and buy a packet of crisps, and take a walk along Fort William High Street, that would be a disregard of the rules and would be putting other people at risk of the virus. Fair enough if people think I was chancing my arm and just wanted a nice day out with no regard for the rules, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter a great deal, but that wasn’t the plan. The police were sound enough and are obviously just doing the job they have been told to do, I’ve no problem with that. I’m more than happy to abide by the restrictions for as long as is needed. 

I actually don’t think you’re trying to be a dick here, but you’ve no repeated several times that the risk is zero, in the face of people pointing out that it is categorically incorrect. There is the risk of interacting with people due to various circumstances.

[IrishBhoy]

6 minutes ago, microdave said:

What if you'd had an accident in your car? What if you'd slipped and broken your leg on your walk? Your chances of passing on the virus were probably low but they certainly weren't zero. The only way yuur chances would've been zero is by staying in the house. And you said that you're a key worker so I'm flabbergasted that you didn't know the rules that have been well publicised for quite some time now. I'd love to get out for a walk on the hills today but I'm not burying my head in the sand and thinking the rules don't apply to me!

I’m a key worker because I’m involved in the rail industry, my company have managed to bend the rules to class us as key workers so we have to keep turning up for work and get no entitlement to furlough if we stay off. Don’t worry I’m not NHS staff. I can see that a lot of people hold a different opinion here and I’m willing to accept that in some peoples opinion travelling that distance wasn’t the right move, and if I had known at the time that the restrictions didn’t permit me to travel to that area I wouldn’t have went.