The main event of 2015 was my entry into the Hall in early June. This was on Beinn Lora with Mark Trengove and Chris Bienkowski and the weather was of the variety that I have become famous for. It was quite unpleasant in the wind and rain, however the good company meant that the time passed quickly. Conditions on the summit were particularly unpleasant, with heavy rain and strong winds. We were doing our best to celebrate in such awful conditions when the rain suddenly stopped and the clouds parted. I guess with Chris Watson absent we had only half of the Watson-Tomkins effect. The descent was a delight, with views to Mull and warm sunshine by the time we reached the car park. It was definitely a walk of two halves that made for a memorable entry to the Hall.
The Hall entry was the high point of a soggy trip to Argyll with Mark Trengove for the Marhof dinner. We turned back from Beinn Sgulaird in worsening conditions, my second failure on this hill, and had an adventurous time on Kerrera. The wind was so strong that I was surprised the ferry was running, and during the five-minute crossing I thought we would capsize. Conditions on the summit of Carn Breugach were so bad, the rain was like needles and the wind made it hard to stand still. We did manage to climb Beinn na Sroine on the way up in the dry and we had a pleasant ascent of Na Maoilean with Chris Bienkowski in the sunshine, so it was not all a washout, but I did feel we were battling the elements a lot of the time.
There were a number of trips to the Southern Uplands, to Larriston Fells, Colt Hill and Common Hill, with Mark Trengove and James, and to Meigle Hill, Sell Moor Hill and Black Hill, on my own. The Colt Hill walk also took in the Donald Deweys of Black Hill and Lamgarroch and was a 21km round trip. James took this in his stride and still had energy left when we got to the car, unlike me. I thought that was impressive for a five-year old.
Other walks with James included Pillar from Ennerdale and an excellent day on the High Stile ridge. In a wet summer, we enjoyed a great day in sunshine in August with Mark Trengove on Knott and its attendant Deweys. James and I also had a great walk in October on Cringle Moor, for my penultimate English Marilyn. An English completion will be made on Mickle Fell in 2016.
Another notable walk was when, with only three Welsh Marilyns to go, I finally got round to scaling Yr Wyddfa. For a person who hates crowds I strangely chose a Bank Holiday Saturday, although I chose the ridge route from Llanberis and had it all to myself until I got close to Garnedd Ugain. Standing on this summit I saw a long snake of people making for Yr Wyddfa. I had never seen so many people on a hill. There was a queue to get to the trigpoint pillar and a huge crowd around it. I still thought it a magnificent mountain though. The scramble on Y Lliwedd was enjoyable and much of the crowd had disappeared. This only left Mynydd Enlli, which I did not get round to before the boat stopped for the winter. That means a Welsh completion will also feature in 2016.
Further progress is likely to be slow, as unclimbed Marilyns get further away from home and with limited opportunities go for extended trips away. However, I am taking James to Stirling in February for three days, where I hope to increase my totals in region 26. I also hope to take James to the Highlands for the first time in the summer.
I feel sorry that the magazine is ending, it has been an important influence on my bagging. The Marilyns have shown me that there is more to bagging than going over 600m, there are some great hills below this height, and the magazine has been an important part of this realisation. I have long enjoyed seeing it come through the letterbox every May and reading about what other people have been bagging during the year. I still have every issue I have been sent in the post and I have even printed out the earlier issues as well. Its demise feels like the end of an era.
A bagger comes to a river that needs crossing, sees another bagger on the other side. She shouts 'How do I get to the other side?' The other bagger looks up and down the river and yells back: 'You are on the other side.'
