I climbed 60 new Marilyns in 2011, but as 25 of these were in the island where leprechauns roam, they do not count here. What I lacked in quantity I certainly made up for in quality, as the 35 Scottish Marilyns in 2011 provided some of the best days that I have ever experienced in the Highlands. I am amazed that so many people have droned on about the dire weather of 2011. You just need to be in the right place at the right time. The end of April and early May saw me walking the Highland drove road from Skye to Crieff, making detours to bag Marilyns, principally Corbetts and Grahams. The weather so dry, hot and sunny that several fires were raging in the Highlands. Nothing but cloudless blue skies were provided for such wonderful excursions as Ben Aden, Sgurr a'Choire-bheithe (glorious ridge) and Slat Bheinn, linked in a one-day walk, Sgurr nan Eugallt and Meall nan Eun. The weather was more Mediterranean than Caledonian, with wall-to-wall sunshine from dawn to dusk.
The majority of my new Marilyns were bagged during the first two weeks of June. Well I won't brag on about the weather, but I walked without rain on all but one day of a 15-day trip, most of which were long days, up to 14 hours on the hoof. The first two days of this trip were spent with Eric Hardman, whom I was fortunate to accompany on his 600th Marilyn, Beinn Maol Chaluim above Glen Etive. That evening Eric and I spent in the Clachaig Inn, together with Eric's wife Glenys, celebrating Eric's entry into the Marilyn Hall of Fame.
The more remote Cs and Gs were all accomplished on foot, not using a bicycle as seems to be the trend - why rush through such magnificent country, when there is ample day-length at this time of year? The 'best of class' were:
Mid-July saw me in the western Highlands again, this time taking my 11-year old niece, Carys, along her first long distance path, the West Highland Way. Again we had a week of clear skies and sunshine, albeit too many midges, and finished with her second ascent of Ben Nevis on a glorious summer's day (her first was when she was eight years old, when the weather was more 'traditional', so she has no illusions about the Highlands). I finished the year needing 12 more Cs and 13 more Gs to complete my Corbett-Graham round, and two more Marilyns to reach 1000 mainland Marilyns.
'But what about the dreadful weather of August and September?' some may ask. Well, I'm not stupid. That time of year I head off to warmer climes, in 2011 to walk with Beryl the 1000km+ of the Camino del Norte to Santiago and Finisterre in northern Spain, leaving the Highlands to the stalkers and to the rain.
