A year of wee hills. 2013 proved to sometimes be a frustrating year, with work and far away family commitments taking up much more of my time than in previous years. How often I read this type of statement in Marhofn and think about the lives of some baggers I know and some that I do not. It is almost always a pleasure to meet so many hill baggers as part of my job at Torridon youth hostel and fingers crossed this will continue for a few years yet.
I only made it above 600m to bag eight times in 2013 - the rest of my new hills were a bit of a numbers game. And indeed to call them all hills is a bit of an exaggeration. Yes, you guessed it, I went to the south of England - twice. I surprised myself by mostly having a nice time, even on Dundry Down.
Back north, the highlights included a bike ride into Morven and wild camping with Emily to visit Beinn a'Chaisgein Mor and Beag in spring and Beinn Lair and Meall Mheinnidh in autumn. Perfect days out so close to home. I am a lucky man.
Orkney Mainland from Ward Hill, Hoy (photo: Martin Richardson)
The main holiday of the year was a tandem bike tour of the Orkney islands. An incredible way to see the islands and their archaeology - and pick up a few Marilyns along the way.
The September trip to Harris was productive for me, even if St Kilda proved elusive. Naturally the Shiants were a highlight. Special thanks to Alan Holmes for organising everything but the weather.
Extracurricular activities took me backpacking in Romania but ended up with me receiving rabies drugs on my return. Highly recommended (Romania, not being bitten). Three days on Lundy Island were rather tame in comparison but enjoyable none the less.
I will give the hills around Loch Ruthven the wee gem award. On a blustery early winter day these were a delight to explore for the first time. The other side of the coin has to be awarded to Christ Cross; in failing light I could not find the summit on the first visit and had to wait until November to cross the muddy field once more to find the trigpoint pillar in the hedge.
Although I just missed out on the Upper Hall in 2013 I am heading east for a week's holiday in early 2014 so hopefully Mount Keen will be number 1000.
