The bagging year began in mid February with a hotel holiday at Coylumbridge, from where the runs were short up-and-downs of eastern Loch Ness and Cromarty Firth hills. In March my bagging travels took me to Kent and Sussex to tick off the chalk peaks. Crowborough was quite difficult, as I spent a while looking round for the highest point either side of the main road, with gloaming encroaching. A water storage place on the east of the road and a point in somebody's garden to the west were both investigated.
Back in Scotland, a week in April was memorable for some major soakings. Drying stuff out by the bothy fire each night was a palaver. In May we toured the bothies of Sutherland, and I had probably my most memorable run of the year, from Crask to Creag Mhor and back; wild wild country. My week in August was principally devoted to Irish Marilyn bagging, in Derry and Tyrone, though I bagged North Berwick Law in a race on the way back, in a haar so thick you could see nothing at all. I was luckier with Ailsa Craig though this year, which was easier than it looks (once you get there) and the castle is worth a visit. My final week away, at the end of November, was mainly bothy-oriented, and too much festering by the fire meant our daily Marilyn totals never rose above two.
