My first Marilyn definitely remembered was Blencathra on 5 Jan 1967 with a friend from university. Innocent of technology such as ice axe or compass, we had a fantastic day of snow, sun and blue skies on Narrow Edge that got me addicted to hillwalking, especially in winter. I moved to Glasgow in 1973, completed the Munros in 1979 and the Corbetts in 1986. My current obsession is to finish the Grahams, of which I have been doing about 30 a year. An obstacle here is that I spend a lot of time on Glasgow Glenmore Club meets, when I sometimes make progress to a third round of Munros (24 to go) and a second round of Corbetts (82 done), but rarely a Graham, so my Graham-bagging is nearly all done solo.
Apart from the occasional people with me, I have never met anyone on a Graham summit, except Ben Cleuch (was it Dave Hewitt? TW). My style is unusual - not being a driver, nearly all my Grahams are reached by a combination of public transport, cycling and walking. This adds up to long strenuous days with logistical problems of food supply and the amount of gear I can carry. It also imposes a limit on rate of collection but gives a smug self-righteous feeling in these conservation-conscious days. Accounts in Marhofn give the impression that it is common practice to drive alone several hundred km to get another one or two ticks. If I complete the Grahams, I will put in a claim for the greenest hill round ever, in terms of CO2 emissions during the travelling.
A long-term target might be the Scottish Marilyns 500-609m, of which there are 175. These have the advantages of being 'real hills', providing an ambitious but achievable target while excluding St Kilda, the northern isles and many other Hebridean hills with difficult access. I have only done four of the 391 Scottish Marilyns under 500m.
