My bagging year started and ended with a splash in Cumbrian waters - the first in the floodwaters of Carlisle, and the last on the Ullswater ferry en route to my last English Marilyn, Hallin Fell (34C). The year's highlight was my first trip out to the Shetlands, via the Aberdeen ferry. On arriving after two nights of travelling, I squeezed on to the morning flight to Foula for a day of ducking the bonxies while striding over The Noup and The Sneug. Apart from a thorough soaking on Noss Head, five other summits were ticked in fine conditions. After 30 years I revisited the Isle of Man, picking off the three southern eminences on a day-return ferry trip from the mainland. This expedition involved two consecutive nights without a proper bed, having been on a foray to mid Wales for Gwastedyn Hill and Rhiw Gwraidd the day before. A gentle walk, but I nearly got hamstrung by barbed wire when a fence collapsed.
Another visit to Assynt in May recorded my third failure to reach Suilven (16F), where once more the weather proved totally uncooperative, although I did finally get to the summit of Stac Pollaidh (16F) in glorious sunshine, having been deterred by ice on my only previous visit. The vagaries of the Cape Wrath ferryman prevented a thorough bagging of the 16A hills, but the alternative afternoon on Meall Meadhonach (16B) was very enjoyable. In November I used day trips to Mull for Beinn Talaidh, Beinn na Duatharach, Cruach Choireadail and Ben Buie, from where gunshots were heard coming through the mist in the corrie below. An overcast Sunday was the ideal opportunity to hop on the ferry to Kerrera for Carn Breugach before returning to base via the forested Cruach Lerags (19A). Benign weather over Christmas enabled me to make further inroads into the region 10 Corbetts and Grahams, and to have a superb day out in Ardnamurchan to appreciate the Loch Sunart inversion from Ben Laga (18A). The recent addition to the timetable of an early morning Aberystwyth train, and the Welsh Assembly's enhancements to the bus network, should mean that my outstanding Powys summits (including Upper Park) are now easier to get to.
