2015 was the year I completed the Corbetts, on Broad Law in July in the company of about 50 friends, a large dog, and a dozen bottles of champagne. Less welcome was the fact that I turned 70 three days later, however we had two great parties. This continued my tradition of completing hill lists on or near big birthdays. First were the Wainwrights on my 50th in 1995, then the Munros, Tops and Furths on my 60th in 2005. Having done 106 Grahams already, I am planning to complete them on my 75th in 2020, with the final Donald scheduled for my 80th - or earlier if I think my knees will not hold out until then.
I started the year with 18 Corbetts left to do before my self-imposed deadline of 15 July. Not too daunting, but they included the two biggies of Beinn a'Chaisgein Mor in Fisherfield and Ben Aden in Knoydart.
Beinn a'Chaisgein Mor is a strong contender for most remote Corbett, however with the use of a bike it can be done as a day trip. I started from where the A832 crosses the Gruinard River. It involves 16 km of cycling plus 18 km of walking. Even taking account of my serious slowness these days, that should not really take longer than 12 hours, however it took over 17 hours. Reasons included the cycle route being rough and crossing the Allt Loch Ghiubhsachain on the way back. It was dark and my lights were insufficient to actually cycle. I had foreseen these problems and had told the hotel staff and my wife not to expect me back until morning. I was wholly prepared to wait until dawn, so getting back to the hotel at about 11.15pm was just fine. I slept well. The views from near the summit, across to the Fisherfield Munros were quite stunning, although the Corbett itself is not the most exciting.
I had chickened out of Ben Aden in 2014. My plan to walk in from Loch Arkaig to Inverie, staying two nights at Sourlies bothy, seemed too much. In 2015 I decided to throw money at the problem and enjoy myself. Since retiring, I have become averse to bad weather, so I go at short notice when fine weather is forecast. Getting a boat from Inverie to the eastern end of Loch Nevis, however, does not work like that - unless you make a bespoke booking. Normally the skipper, Iain Wilson, plans in advance and takes at least six people, and often they walk back to Inverie so that only one boat trip is necessary. However, I wanted to go at two days' notice and I was not prepared to walk an extra 13 km over a 600m high pass back to Inverie. So I had to take the whole cost of two voyages myself. It was worth it, though. Iain was brilliant, dropping and collecting me by dinghy at the stony beach near Camusrory. It was a beautiful day and a great adventure. Ben Aden is a fine craggy hill with superb views, and I had a wonderful time.
Other memorable trips were Arkle in mist and rain, the weather forecast having failed this time. And my final two Arran Corbetts, starting out in mist but ending in sunshine, were wonderful, except for the bike puncture on the cycle back by road to Brodick.
Since the excitement of the Corbett completion, I have been taking it easy on the Marilyn front and just clocked up a further three Grahams - two in the Borders and Beinn Dhorain. However, I recently started really enjoying Tumping. Done around 29 locally in the Borders in 2015.
As the days get longer in 2016, I shall pay attention seriously to the Grahams if I am going to complete them in 2020. I plan to concentrate on the long difficult ones this year and avoid leaving them until near the end: hills like An Cruachan, Ben Armine, Creag Mhor, An Stac, and Meith Bheinn. I am looking forward to it immensely.
