Outdoor Activity & Leisure Thread

Shoot

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Jan 12, 2019
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It looks like a lovely day in North Wales on Sunday. Highly likely I will take myself off and up Snowdon, might even have a go at doing it 2 days (different routes) if the legs feel up to it.
I have no clue if this is presently within the rules for England or Wales. Not so sure I care anymore as long as I am comfortable I am not putting others or myself at risk.
Get a good hike in locally Wed & Thu as preparation.
 
Might want to check rules about travelling from England into Wales for leisure purposes before going i know some of our lads have been stopped and asked to show evidence that they’re travelling for work reasons.
 
I shall have my hotel booked via a business account and wear the oranges while travelling for the purpose of being devious ;)
 
you can't moan when you see others breaking the rules then. It doesn't matter you think you're safe. They probably think they are safe in their own mind.
 
You are taking risks though you're staying at a hotel, you will no doubt encounter people along the way for fuel, food, toilet breaks etc.

It's non essential travel for leisure purposes and you really are losing you seat upon your high horse by taking these risks during an enforced period of lockdown in England and it's disrespectful to the Welsh who've just had their own lockdown to travel there when you don't need to.

I get that you want to be outside we all do but if everyone brakes the rules just a little bit they're going to be less effective and therefore we stay in the current situation longer which sucks for everyone.
 
So the SEA mafia banned me from going to Wales :confused:
It so happened it turned out to be a nice day around the Chilterns so having been very lazy since doing Ben Nevis 6 weeks ago (and putting 6 lbs on) I gratefully took my chance to get a good hike in. It has done nothing but piss down here for weeks. So an excellent 4 hour hike was taken.
HIKING POLES - I always looked at these as probably a good aid for older people to get around the hills, certainly not for me.
I recall when I was climbing Goat Fell on Isle of Arran I got talking to a guy about the same age as myself who was using them. He highly recommended them, saying they took up to 30% of the work from the legs depending on how you use them. I just thought it defeated the object - I wanted my legs to get the full work out to strengthen them to take me to further and higher places.
It was on the way back down Ben Nevis I started to think these poles could come in handy. Starting the descent with compacted snow underfoot I felt vulnerable to a possible slip and considered that a strain or muscle pull when you have to get back down could make your day pretty bad and I could see others using them were clearly treading with much more confidence and I was glad to soon get back to firmer ground. Then further down I started to struggle a bit (about the last 2 miles down). My legs were totally shot and my toes were struggling with the pinching. I lost a lot of time at that point as my progress slowed and again I started to think hiking poles would help the situation to take some of the strain from the legs.
SO - Sure enough when I got home I was soon on Amazon purchasing a set of poles. I used them today on my hike and found they are also very useful in other situations like today where some of my hiking route was very muddy and slippy due to all the rain we been having. I went straight through these areas with the poles acting as stabilisers, without them I am sure I would have been trying to find an alternative route.
VERDICT - Hiking Poles are very useful indeed, they help propel you along and likely take you further, take some strain from the legs both in ascent and descent and as previously mentioned act as stabilisers in other tricky situations. A very worthy investment for any hiker in my opinion.
 
Suggestions are the outdoor exercise restrictions will not go on past the 2nd December.

When does a walk become a hike?
 
Suggestions are the outdoor exercise restrictions will not go on past the 2nd December.

When does a walk become a hike?
I guess different people would give you different answers, here is my take on it.

A Walk - Sometimes a forced and unwanted activity, such as a low earner walking to and from work to save fares. Otherwise a simple leisure activity to get fresh air, stretch the legs and possibly have some social interaction along the way, which will usually lift the mood. Nothing but your feet required.

A Hike - Hiking is a more strenuous form of walking and is aimed at fitness in addition to leisure. It will be of a significant distance and time and will involve different terrains such as countryside trails, forests, hills and mountains. Much more energy will be required to negotiate these more challenging terrains. This should result in improved muscle strength, improved cardiovascular function and improved sleep all of which will contribute to a feeling of wellbeing. An appreciation of countryside, mountains, remote locations and solitude would also contribute to a persons interest in hiking and this would only be enhanced with time. Some training should be undertaken prior to the most challenging hikes to achieve a condition known as "hill fit" to avoid disappointment of failure on the most challenging planned hikes.
A backpack will be necessary for hiking with essentials such as water, extra layer, gloves and hat. On longer/ higher hikes other items like food supplies, torch, map & compass and some first aid supplies will be required.
Additionally hiking requires accessories such as hiking poles and mountain crampons and ice pick in winter months. Hiking is also likely to require different specialist clothing for both summer and winter months, hiking boots, Gortex breathable waterproofs etc.........

In short their is little to no comparison.
 
Well, this is a game changer for me - while planning my next visit to Ben Nevis to do it fitter and in faster time I also done some Youtube research to see what my follow up Munro challenges should be.
I realised there is another achievable route to Ben Nevis summit called the Carn Mor Dearg (CMD) Arete route. The added bonus is that Carn Mor Dearg is itself a Munro (so you bag 2 Munros at once).
You climb to the summit of Carn Mor Dearg and then cross along the arete to the Ben Nevis summit all the time looking at the dark menacing North Face as you go, which is never visable via the tourist route. So, it's time to get fit in preparation, I will probably do The Ben via the tourist route again first as part of my prep and then again via CMD Arete.
It's a bit more than a walk @jsp
Ben Nevis via the CMD arête - YouTube
 
yeah yeah, get the message. Go join a friggin hiking/climbing forum.
I done that now so wont bore you lot with it no more. Enjoy yer silly wee walks in the snow this Christmas :(
 
yeah yeah, get the message. Go join a friggin hiking/climbing forum.
I done that now so wont bore you lot with it no more. Enjoy yer silly wee walks in the snow this Christmas :(
Hiking isn't essential and should be banned, end of
 
Hiking isn't essential and should be banned, end of
End of? I ain’t heard that said for years. I hope your not going to follow it up with “and that’s the bottom line”.
If you do I will get Jimmy the Weed to smash yer head in.
 
I think exercise is very much allowed as it's deemed as essential for peoples mental and physical health? And unsure why anyone would want that banned?
 
I was being flippant as on other threads Shoot (and others) have been very totalitarian re lockdown rules lol. Part of the lockdown strategy is not wanting people straying too far from their locale, Govt logic being that less travel leads to less road traffic accidents leads to less pressure on the NHS during Covid. So if we're expanding on that, what if Shoot gets into difficulties on a hike and has to be rescued by the emergency services? More resources diverted to non Covid emergencies etc so that's why the Govt wants you exercising in the house. Must caveat all this by repeating that I'm anti lockdown.
 
They want you in the house as much as possible to minimise contact with others it’s as simple as that. A consequence of that is less cars on the road meaning policing/emergency service resources can be diverted elsewhere it’s not the other way around.

Going hiking during a lockdown would be a bit reckless if you’re travelling and taking on isolated or dangerous routes that you aren’t experienced to tackle. However, that would apply when there isn’t a lockdown and to be fair to shoot he cancelled some his recent plans after thinking it through.

I’d be guessing but people are much more likely to injure themselves exercising at home than in a gym or outside environment because you won’t have trained people around to make sure you are doing things properly. 2021 will be a great year for physios sorting out everyone’s back injury caused by home exercise haha!
 
They want you in the house as much as possible to minimise contact with others it’s as simple as that. A consequence of that is less cars on the road meaning policing/emergency service resources can be diverted elsewhere it’s not the other way around.
I work for a Government body and have contacts further up in government, they told me that that's the reason for keeping people closer to home, doubt it if you want though.
 
Guys, none of this matters anymore. Your attempts to recover the situation are futile. I shall be taking taking discussion on my heady adventures elsewhere in future.
When I do the CMD Arete I shall be shooting my own video and it will be your loss. :cool:
 

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