2014 was again a mixture of old and new - some great days up Munros (slowly heading towards a second round) and a reasonable total of fascinating new Marilyns in various corners of the country, from Yorkshire to Cape Wrath.
I enjoyed a good ski-tour on Ben Macdui in early March, but although the winter saw a great deal of snow high up, it was often so windy that conditions were rarely favourable. Macdui was great until late in the day when, due to various minor delays, we discovered the joys of a ski descent of the Cairngorm slopes by head-torch in a gale. It was surprisingly easy, except when you find a piste-basher heading directly for you, headlamps blazing.
Slioch in late September provided quite a contrast from my previous visit in the depths of winter - a beautiful clear autumn day, with wonderful views of Loch Maree.
The Marhof meet at Helmsdale in June was good fun. After some sociable walks up Beinn Lunndaidh and the Ben Griams, I enjoyed a beautiful solo walk over Scaraben, Smean, Maiden Pap and Morven, camping overnight on the summit of Smean. Beautiful wild hills.
Alan Dawson's tampering had, I discovered, a dangerous side to it. After a quick stroll up the newly-discovered summit of Creag an Amalaidh, huge thunder-clouds rapidly gathered. Feeling decidedly vulnerable as massive drops of rain began to fall, I ran down from the summit, just before an enormous bang and flash. Whether the lightning had just hit the summit I did not wait to find out. The descent in torrential rain became very awkward as I missed the track through the woods (by only a few metres) and eventually got down soaked. Who said Marilyns are boring?
A trip to the outer isles in July gave nice weather and a good crop of new hills on the Uists, including a memorable traverse of the Hecla - Ben Corodale - Beinn Mhor ridge from north to south. The bogs were unusually dry. It was clear that some of the routes - for example North Lee and South Lee - could get extremely squelchy in more normal conditions.
The dry weather in April was also a great help on an interesting traverse of some of the Cape Wrath hills. An Grianan, right in the middle of the wilderness, is a wee gem - the scramble up the north side direct from the lochan is thoroughly recommended.
An Grianan (photo: Tony Kinghorn)
One of the best outings in the year was the interesting sandstone hill of Seana Mheallan. The views of Liathach and Loch Torridon are outstanding, and the complex terrain with many outcrops gave lots of interest to the day. Definitely recommended (from the Ling hut) in dry weather, but a direct ascent from Glen Torridon would be interesting, to say the least.
