As you can see, I struggled to make it into double figures during 2010. The weather played its part more than once as a day set aside for a new Marilyn or two dawned wet and went downhill from there. There were other obstacles too: forestry workings in Kintyre and lack of space on the Arran ferry, to name but two. However, I ought to admit that finishing another round of Munros took priority for a little while. I had got a bit fed up with having a short 'to do' list and they were all good hills, ones that demanded another visit
Even so, I broke my Marilyn duck for the year as early as mid February: Beinn Chreagach on Skye was squeezed in en route (sort of) to the Uig ferry, and the following afternoon I was on the wild and snow-covered summit of Guainemol. I was back on Lewis a month later at the end of one my better days. It had started badly with a text from CalMac saying that the morning's sailing from Ullapool had been cancelled. This turned out to be a blessing as it gave me a few precious hours on a fantastic, calm, sunny day to run up Meall an Fhuarain from the Oykel road. Big, wide, lonely views.
Spring finally arrived on 24 April as far as I was concerned; a visit to Mochrum Fell clad only in shorts and t-shirt, to find that the feared forest had gone. A faint track led easily to the summit - a perfect way to start the day.
Summer passed all too quickly and my final new Marilyns for the year were again in the Western Isles. Roineabhal, at the foot of South Uist, gave an interesting run on a bright and blustery evening in mid-September, and the next day we were on the imposing pyramid of Eaval, a gem of a mountain in miniature.
