Longest day: My first ever foray onto the Lake District fells came belatedly in the form of the Old County Tops fell race, which was held in a heatwave in May. Very testing conditions, especially on the purgatorial climb from Cockley Beck Bridge to reach the Old Man of Coniston. However, I did manage to complete it (assisted by my partner in crime Fran Williams) and bagged three Marilyns in the process.
Shortest day: The Ward of Scousburgh was bagged en passant in a howling gale in just 16 minutes. The wind made for a fast ascent and an opportunity to lean well forward on the descent.
High point: The highest new Marilyns were Ben More and Stob Binnein. Another serious wind and plenty of cloud, but that did not stop the local shepherds from successfully driving their sheep over Bealach-eadar-dha Bheinn, which provided some interest on the descent
Low point: The lowest new Marilyn was Mid Ward on Muckle Roe, Shetland. This was climbed in thick fog, and it proved quite a challenge to find the high point (CW: It wasn't easy without the fog when we did it).
Longest night / shortest night: I managed to spend a night out on the summit of Beinn Narnain, cocooned in my bivvy bag trying to escape midges - how often does one get midges at the summit of Beinn Narnain I wonder? As it was almost midsummer, I did not have to wait long before it was light enough to continue my walk on to Beinn Ime and Ben Vane. In contrast, Scrae Field on Shetland Mainland was climbed on a dark winter's night, using a headtorch to find the trig point.
