Tucked into my copy of RHB is a note from Alan Dawson, dated 19 Apr 2000, saying: 'Keep going Kevin. Another 50+ this year and you'll be entering the Corridor.' Despite Alan's encouraging words as I lurked in the 340s, life's many complexities intervened, and it was not until 1 Sep 2005 that my hill log recorded: 'From Altnafeadh, up west side of Beinn a'Chrulaiste. Stunning views. A great hill as my 400th 'Dawson' and thus entry into the Corridor of Uncertainty.' (AD: You've been listening to too much Geoffrey Boycott; it's the Corridor of Obscurity, not Uncertainty). By the end of 2005 my total had crept up to 405, but in October 2005 I moved to a small house in the Sierra Cabrera (goat mountains) in the far south-east of Spain, a tactic likely (but not specifically designed) to decrease my snail-like Marilyn progress even further.
So to 2006. Having completed the Munros and Wainwrights by 1994, I've been nibbling away at the Corbetts since, though increasingly the RHBs have come to seem a more realistic nibbling target. A February week with the old hillwalking crowd from the mid-1970s near Fort William brought a few new Corbetts, including Ben Tee. Getting out of the car after driving to the starting point for Meall na h-Eilde and Geal Charn (10C), with a team of six others (plus Freddie the dog) ready to go, realising I'd forgotten my boots was something of an embarrassment. The mark of good friends is that they'll lend you a car and walk slowly while you do an hour's round trip to collect your boots then jog, a sweating maniac, to catch them up as they have an early lunch. This brought RHBs 407 and 408. We ended drenched and tired, and Freddie failed to catch the snow buntings he chased, but it was a great day.
In late August we were in west Wales in the camper van, escaping the Spanish heat. I echo Mark Trengrove's comments about the Pembrokeshire Marilyns (Marhofn 153); each is a gem bach. Last new tick of the year, discovered here in Spain, was Bodmin Moor's Brown Willy. Convinced I'd actually done it but never recorded the fact, I was looking back through boxes of slides and files of magazine articles, only to discover published pictures of mine, with my article, in a monthly glossy, taken from the summit of said Brown Willy. Bizarre! I blame advancing years and possibly cheap Spanish wine.
I write this on 25 Jan 2007, as the first rain of the year falls outside. In preparation for yet another February week in Scotland, I've been pounding the local hills. The twin tops of Cerro de los Lobos, (hill of the wolves) 602m and 604m, lie just across the valley from our house. A circuit of both in running mode (in truth a stately shuffle), takes less than an hour. So far this month I've done 14 ascents, bringing the overall total to 42.
Best and worst from the last couple of years? Worst was Mount Eagle on the Black Isle on 20 Aug 2005. We went up easily via tracks to the obvious trig in an area of cleared forest. The return, aiming direct for the tall mast near where the camper van was parked, via a line marked on the OS map, was an overgrown nightmare. A definite wee shite. Four ticks for the price of one, and three of them were buggers to remove. Best was Ben Loyal, just two days after the above episode - a hill I'd long wanted to do. It didn't disappoint. Good weather, no other folk, huge views, a stunning day. The very best of the far north.
This year a further ten Marilyns might be an ambitious total, but I'll definitely reach the tops of more of the Sierra Cabrera, including the highest, Cerro de la Mezquita (962m). I've already prepared a chart (for personal use only, given its likely shortcomings) of the Sierra Nevada showing what appear to be all the worthwhile mountains; nothing scientific, just the things that look, on the basis of the (possibly erroneous) maps I have, like they would be worth the effort, including of course all the 3000m peaks. Two hours drive from here; plenty to go at.
Will I ever get out of the Corridor? Probably not. Quién sabe?
