For the first time more trips were made to Wales than Scotland, the Lleyn Peninsula being the main destination on two out of three visits. I had been dangerously close to 1000 Marilyns for a year or so and I decided that Wales was a good place to get to that total - easy to get to and lots of unclimbed hills to choose from. My first visit to was to Llangollen in May where I picked off all the hills in the Clwydian range, starting in glorious weather on a busy Moel Famau and ending on an eerily cloud-covered Mynydd y Cwm (999th Marilyn) three days later. The tree cover meant that the view was the same, cloud cover or otherwise, but nevertheless I found it to be a strangely pleasant summit.
A long weekend in Criccieth with Linda enabled me to get to 1000 on Yr Eifl. It was a day of unbroken sunshine and starting from Trevor harbour enabled us to climb this brilliant mountain all the way from sea level. We were so taken by this corner of Wales that we returned in September to explore the area more, Gyrn Ddu this time providing the roughest walking and the most stunning views.
In July I walked the Shropshire Way and bagged eight Marilyns en route. Stiperstones was by far the best, with Caer Caradoc coming a close second. The others were not unappealing - just pleasant green hills. Scotland took rather a back seat with just one visit - a week in Ullapool at Easter where many old hills were re-climbed in sunshine and snow.
Now I am past 1000 I do not envisage my total increasing at a particularly fast pace. The South Downs Way has been planned for Easter 2014 so that will be a foray into region 42 - a new area for me.
David Hughes celebrates reaching 1000 on Yr Eifl
