The same number of new Marilyns as last year. Opening trips to Wales both years but this time came a 'first' - camping with the bike. At the end of March I took the train to Aberystwyth, a bus inland and the folding bike, with the rucksack on the rear carrier into the hills. An evening stroll up Disgwylfa Fawr and next day Banc Llechwedd-mawr and Drosgol.
En route to the west coast for the summer afloat we popped up Well Hill. Wet and windy weather for the two weeks at the boatyard near Oban in May curtailed hill activity but I managed a sunny bash up Cruach Doir'an Raoigh using the bus from Fort William to Polnich. On another dryish day, I got swooped on by a golden eagle on Beinn Dubh Airigh. We both took a couple of days off from boat maintenance and drove to Crieff for the night, doing Creag Each and Torlum on the way there and Knock of Crieff the next day.
Then came a Marilyn lull until mid-June when I took shore leave. From Inverness I did Carn Faire nan Con and Torr Achilty with a night of torrential rain camped in a bog between the two. The ascent of the latter is not recommended from the south, especially with a heavy rucksack. I then took the bus from Inverness and pitched beside Loch a'Bhraoin from where I finished the Fannich Munros and did the Corbett, Creag Rainich. Another bus from Inverness dropped me at the Beinn Eighe visitor centre for four nights camping in the secluded wilds behind Beinn Eighe and Liathach. I climbed Ruadh-stac Beag, Beinn Eighe, sadly in rain and mist, and the magnificent Corbett Beinn Dearg which gave fabulous views to Lewis. Heading to rejoin David and the boat in Northern Ireland, I slipped a train at Dalwhinnie and nipped up Graham Creag Ruadh. A memorable couple of weeks.
Creag Rainich and Loch an Nid from Sgurr Ban (photo: Alan Dawson)
The next Marilyn was directly from the boat - Mynydd Enlli on Bardsey Island. Long awaited, but seals on the rocks and choughs feeding their fledged young in the fields made it worth the wait. A few days moored up the River Dee at Kirkcudbright yielded four more Marilyns with the help of buses and bikes, and the last few days of the sailing season were spent on Mull, polishing off my last three Marilyns there.
The laying-up period was wet and windy - again. I squeezed in a trip by car to Killinan, inland from Dornie, to cycle up the glen to camp near Iron Lodge. On the way in I went up Meall Sguman. On day two it was a long, sunny day going up Mullach na Dheiragain from the north and on over Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan. Day three was very different as I spent it watching the nearby burn rising and falling as the rain hurtled down and the wind howled. Sunshine again on day four for Corbetts Faochaig and Sguman Coinntich - memorable for the view from the latter and a rabbit at 812m according to the GPS. After that trip I slipped in the Corbett Beinn Bhan near Fort William and on our way south we managed another Corbett, Broad Law, near Moffat.
As a final fling, in November, I spent a week in Inverness doing seven Marilyns including Grahams Carn Glas-choire, Carn na h-Easgain and Carn nan Tri-tighearnan by bike, bus and train. Having booked the night sleeper in September I couldn't believe my luck - a calm, warm, and fairly sunny week with barely a drop of rain and clear tops. A very good end to a good and varied year.
