Another year of good progress on Marilyn bagging, with a lot of varied and enjoyable hillwalking spread mostly across Scotland. I got off to a bit of a flyer with a couple of months work at Braemar youth hostel. Meall Alvie was a wee gem for me, as was a long winter walk to Derry Cairngorm. After a return to Torridon hostel for the new season, numerous excursions included Skye, the Uists, Raasay, Ardgour, the Cairngorms, Assynt and the far north. Overnight trips in the van to west-coast glens before the midgies arrived were as magical as the clegs were irritating. A late December holiday on snow-bound Harris and Lewis yielded only Kearnaval and Chaipaval but was incredibly inspiring.
A visit home to Yorkshire via the south Pennines hills (Black Hill, Hail Storm Hill, Winter Hill) and back via the Borders (Goseland Hill) and Fife (Benarty Hill) added variety and interest to long journeys. As you can imagine, there were a number of local, repeat ascents of the Torridon hills - and why not, Eighe?
And the 600th? A solo Cairngorms day on Beinn a'Chaorainn. This mountain was also my 200th Munro, but not for long. Shortly afterwards, the surveyors knocked my Munro tally back to 199, so I now have two 200th Munros in my hillwalking bag.
Worst: Hill of the 'tree-ridden, where's the top, oh I've walked over it a dozen times, there's the easier route you always find on the way back' Wangie.
Best: December's winter round of the ring of Steall; April's canoe trip down Loch Veyatie to climb Suilven and Cul Mor; September's autumnal day on the Five Sisters.
It was great to meet many new Marilyn faces at the hostel; thanks especially to Jim Fothergill. Finally, here's a trailer for my next Marhofn contribution - The Coyles of Muick bagged by snowshoe on the day I penned this article.
