It began with The Buck in 1980 and ended with Shee of Ardtalnaig in 2012; I did not plan it like that, though I know some who might. I first became aware of Grahams the weekend I finished my Corbetts, but of course I thought I must have inadvertently climbed lots of them and it would be the work of a few weekends to polish them off. The TACit table put me right, when I realised I had climbed precisely 23 and that almost 90% still lay ahead.
The ones already climbed were mostly those you would expect - Stac Pollaidh, Pap of Glencoe, Ben Venue, Suilven, Tinto and so forth, but also included one or two off-day hills I was happy not to have to revisit. I started working my way through the list in summer 1997, when a move from Glasgow to Inverness was imminent, and it seemed sensible to get some southern hills in the bag. The first intentional Graham was The Stob, above Loch Voil, which gave a pleasant route up but a bracken hell on descent, setting an early precedent which has been revisited on many other hills since. My general view is there are no bad hills but plenty of bad routes. I mopped up one or two Cowal hills, giving me a taste for that unsung rough corner of Scotland - it must have been fabulous before the Forestry Commission came, although I am not objecting to their network of tracks.
Grahams come in all shapes and distances, even if size is contained between 610 and 761 metres. The really remote ones involve a lot of planning, and sometimes a bike, but there are quite a few where it is just hard graft. An Cruachan is many people's choice of remotest hill in Scotland, but it is not too bad from Glen Strathfarrar - so there are a few peat hags - and Croit Bheinn above Loch Shiel can be approached from Glen Moidart via Beinn Gaire, without too many problems. Returning by Glen Gluitanen is not without its excitement, especially if you think the river bank is a good route. An Stac and Meith Bheinn were done in a very fine round from Oban bothy on a hot day, and another fine day allowed me to combine the Caithness pair of Morven and Scaraben. The Ben Armine twins involved the long cycle in from Badanloch, then a mix of good paths and soft ground in less than ideal visibility; I do however take my hat off to the couple I met at Badanloch who were approaching Klibreck from that side. Each to his own I suppose.
If no hills are inherently dull, some do take more spicing up than others. I have yet to find anyone with a good word for Blackhope Scar above Innerleithen, and I have not found it necessary to repeat most of the Grahams close to Inverness. As usual, the west is the best, both for the ground beneath your feet and the views over mountain, loch and sea, including my absolute favourite, Carnan Cruithneachd perched above Glen Elchaig.
Loch Treig (photo: Bert Barnett)
I have been blessed over the years by being able to combine work trips with hill walks, so most of the Perthshire and Stirlingshire Grahams were evening jaunts on the return to Inverness. Election night 2010 did produce one good result, in Stob Breac way up the Balquhidder glen, but it was midnight before I got home that night, and I was certainly not celebrating. By this time I was in the countdown to completion, and each of the last dozen or so hills sticks in the memory: a train journey for Creag Ghuanach at the head of Loch Treig, a canoe trip on Loch Etive for the elusive Beinn nan Lus, and a springtime visit to gorgeous Glen Esk, the first for 25 years, for Hunt Hill and Hill of Wirren. By the end of 2011, only two hills remained, and I managed to grab Uisgneabhal Mor on Harris on a day trip from Uig between weather systems with the help of Donald Smith and his campervan; that just left Shee of Ardtalnaig, chosen equally for its central location and its Land Rover track, the latter minimising the possibility of losing semi-intoxicated walkers in the mist.
Donald Shiach's last Graham - Shee of Ardtalnaig
Most of the Grahams have been solo efforts, although Elizabeth has been persuaded to join me from time to time and others have been dragged along on the promise of a short and easy day; this was rather turned on its head when huge numbers turned out for the final hill in June 2012. We started in shorts and reached the summit in full foul weather gear, as the photo shows. A fitting end to a 32-year meander through the best of Scotland's varied scenery and weather.
And now? Well, there are almost 250 Scottish hills between 457 and 609 metres, and curiosity has already led me up the first sixty or so.
