2020

[mynthdd2]

I guess it takes a rotten year to appreciate all the good ones - I will never take the mountains for granted again (I know people have lost a lot more than that..... )

[KeithS]

An odd year indeed.

Within the last four weeks I lost my father but gained a granddaughter

[Fiona Reid]

2020 has been hideous beyond hideous.

We managed a few months in the bigger hills before being locked down yet again until heaven knows when. The days we did manage were great but always tinged with that sadness as you knew it wouldn't last so you treated every trip like it was your last. Rarely did the virus leave your head, for a few moments some mornings you forget and then it's back.

It has made us rethink what we want from life and we'll be relocating to be closer to both family and hills as soon as we feasibly can.

Fingers, toes and anything else crossed that 2021 is better.

[johnkaysleftleg]

Had some good days out including a wonderful morning up on Hardrian's Wall on Tuesday and managed a week north of the border in October but overall the fact all my family are OK is the best thing.
Of course 2020 had a kick in the teeth in the shape of me collapsing in the toilet this morning and gashing my head open in a couple of places. A morning in A&E getting all kinds of tests revealed nothing wrong. Not the best end to the year but then again I'm still here and so are the hills.
Roll on 2021!

[al78]

I missed a Scotland trip this year, but I did manage a scrambling course in Snowdonia in between lockdowns, so not a total loss from a hill experience perspective. Next year should be better, the only dilemma being which backpacking trip to do, Glenfinnan to Shiel Bridge via Knoydart, or Blair Atholl to Aviemore via all munros in between?

[MountainTrail]

Post removed - user banned

[Lightfoot2017]

2020 has been pretty awful for everyone, no doubt.

On the lighter side, it was the year that saw me regain my hillwalking Mojo (between lockdowns) after I'd managed to bag 13 new Munros and camp overnight atop Suilven with a couple of pals.

As someone has already said, we'll never take the hills (or the right to roam) for granted again.

Wishing all WH'ers a Cool Yule and a far more positive 2021.

[CharlesT]

Agreed, a year I shan't be sad to see the back of, though at my age wishing time away is not welcome. Haven't been able to get near a hill all year, my nearest "serious " hills being in Wales, which has pretty much been forbidden territory the whole year. However, it's not all doom and gloom, my garden has been my saviour and rewarded me with some pleasing results from my reworkings, though as ever it's cost me a small fortune in plants.

My other passion, road cycling, has also come to my rescue, with lots of useful and pleasant mileage to help hold back the march to oblivion. Have even resurrected and reshod the Winter bike, so I can now get out in all but the worst weather, something I haven't done seriously for a while.

Very much missing not being able get to Scotland for Winter outings though, that is a real downer for me. I can live with missing the Summer, but the snow and ice beckon strongly.

I suppose we ought to be glad for small mercies. All my associates and family have avoided the plague so far and I remain healthy. Many have succumbed and my best wishes to those left behind.

As for you lot, hope you are well and able to enjoy this festive season as best you can. I'll be back, as they say.

Happy Christmas and a better New Year to all.

[Jaywizz]

My husband offered to give me a new 'anorak' for Christmas - as more lockdowns loom, I've taken to 'collecting' trig points in the local area!!!
Thank you to all at Walkhighlands for keeping spirits up during a really difficult year and very best wishes for 2021 xx

[madprof]

Started the year unemployed but got up to Scotland twice and had some epic walks on Munros I'd not done before. Then...well pretty much the standard story. Culminating in the usual post-xmas holiday being cancelled and no indication of when I could legally be allowed to get back out. On the plus side I've got an amazing new job so I can afford to keep walking!

[iain_atkinson_1986]

Haven't done my numbers for the year yet but think it's about 45 Corbetts, 15 Munros and two Grahams which isn't too bad given I lost 3 and a half months' hillwalking due to February's awful weather and then lockdown. Tons of coastal walks have been a highlight of the year. I'm certainly more glad than ever I moved to the Highlands two years back! A car crash on the A82 (nobody hurt) two days before Xmas was a pretty fitting way to end a car crash of a year!

All things considered, 2020 has actually been alright for me. Certainly feel for all the folk who've not been able to get out of the central belt much and obviously who've been badly affected by COVID.

[Scottk]

It was really frustrating during April and May when the weather was so good and we were unable to travel. On the other hand, I felt incredibly lucky to live near a beach with plenty local walks, still have a job and never lost any family or friends. Benefits to living rurally. Our daughter finished uni which was a total damp squid for her with no graduation, no balls and not much of a summer but , in context, not such a big deal and she managed to find a job which was a real bonus.
Feel sorry for the younger ones who have probably been the hardest hit in terms of work etc but the virus has very little effect on the health of the majority of them.

[al78]

Feel sorry for the younger ones who have probably been the hardest hit in terms of work etc but the virus has very little effect on the health of the majority of them.

I'll second that. They had to live through one of the worst recessions in the last 100 years 13 years ago, now they have had to live through one of the worst pandemics and resultant economic destruction. I feel very lucky I was born early enough to have a house and a stable job that has weathered both of these. Next on the list, the consequences of climate change and unsustainable living, well they say bad luck comes in groups of three. There is a whole generation who have been punished for being born at the wrong time.

[weedavie]

I'll second that. They had to live through one of the worst recessions in the last 100 years 13 years ago, now they have had to live through one of the worst pandemics and resultant economic destruction. I feel very lucky I was born early enough to have a house and a stable job that has weathered both of these. Next on the list, the consequences of climate change and unsustainable living, well they say bad luck comes in groups of three. There is a whole generation who have been punished for being born at the wrong time.

Get a bit of balance. We came up through inadequately heated houses, crap TV, 10 pm pub shutting, prog rock, Thatcher and hill gear that weighed a ton even before it got soaking, which it did without fail. And don't get me started on uniformly dire keg beer (Younger's Tartan "Your beer is good!") or the state of the toilets at Hampden. We'd have welcomed a pandemic for a bit of interest in our grey lives!

[CharlesT]

We'd have welcomed a pandemic for a bit of interest in our grey lives!

Now why did that send me scurrying onto YouTube to look up the "Four Yorkshiremen Sketch" ?