Two occasions dominated my hillwalking year - entering the Hall of Fame and completing the Corbetts. Edinburgh was the chosen venue for my 600th Marilyn, and Arthur's Seat provided everyone who came along with a great little walk. The weather was dry and sunny with a cold wind; favourable conditions for late January. When the summit was reached the champagne and whisky bottles were opened and there was the obligatory Hall of Fame chant, all of which seemed to bemuse the onlooking tourists. After the walk we regrouped at the nearby Tass Bar for a few more drinks. A memorable day.
Next on the agenda was completion of the Corbetts. Early in the year, 6 November had been pencilled in as the finishing date, giving sufficient time to get through the remaining 15, though there was a degree of uncertainty as these included Rum and Harris. Good progress was made however, with an especially prolific bagging spell in May, including a wonderful outing in perfect weather to Rum. By early June I had only two left, but my penultimate Corbett, Clisham, was to prove more problematic. The first planned trip was cancelled at short notice due to the ferry not sailing. Another trip had to be organised for late September but this too looked in doubt, with most of the island ferries being cancelled because of gale-force winds. Luckily our ferry did make the rough crossing to Harris. Conditions on Clisham were equally stormy but we made it to the summit - just.
Lindsay and I had previously finished the Munros together on Ben Wyvis, because it is on former Munro clan territory. For the same reason Little Wyvis had long been the obvious choice for our final Corbett. There was a good turnout for the occasion - 29 people plus four dogs - and the scale of the walk was ideal for a large group. It was a blustery day with sunshine and a few showers. Food, whisky and ten bottles of bubbly were all carried to the top and consumed during the summit party. That evening a celebratory party was held at Abriachan to round off what was a hugely enjoyable day.
After a lean spell prior to Little Wyvis, I felt my Marilyn tally was in need of an end-of-year boost, so in November and December I added a further 13 including Cheriton Hill in Kent, my only non-Scottish Marilyn in 2005. Now looking forward to 2006, I have no overly ambitious targets but hope to up my totals in various hill lists and perhaps visit a few more unusual places - not too difficult when it comes to Marilyn bagging.
