Although our total hills bagged in 2015 was a lot less than previously, we managed to achieve our target of 50. The Marilyns we have to do are more difficult to get to now, so we are happy with that total. Islands were again an important feature of our walking trips and will continue to be so. We particularly enjoyed visits to Eigg, Fetlar, Fair Isle and Eilean Shona. On Fair Isle, we would definitely recommend the accommodation at South Light, as our host really looked after us well and the food was excellent. On Eilean Shona, we allowed ourselves the luxury of taking a cottage for a week to do one Marilyn. The island was well worth the time spent there, and we enjoyed the pleasure of simply walking through the forest and around the coastline, as well of course as climbing the hill. Sgurr na Stri was another high point, enjoyed with friends from our walking group.
Our highest monthly total was in June, when we spent a week in the Ross-on-Wye area and were able to achieve one of the targets we had set ourselves, to complete all the English Marilyns. We had also hoped to get to Ailsa Craig in 2015 (and 2014), however that remains on the list of things to do. Gradually working our way around various islands means that in 2016 it should be possible to complete region 17.
One outstanding island is Scalpay and we are again allowing ourselves the luxury of a week in an island cottage for just one Marilyn. The other Marilyns in the region are all on Mull and, with the reduced ferry costs, we will not mind going over on a couple of occasions to complete them.
At the end of the year we were in Stirling Youth Hostel with friends and not in a position to add any Marilyns, however we were delighted to meet Alan Whatley and his two friends there. Thanks go to Alan for some interesting chats about St Kilda Marilyn bagging and other useful information on some of the more challenging areas we still need to get to. The Humps book was interesting to see, but do we want to go down that road? Not sure about that yet.
We are sorry to hear that Marhofn will not be printed in future years. We have been receiving the magazine since 2009 and always look forward to reading it. When friends first drew our attention to the list of Marilyn baggers and to the fact that we had probably done 600, we did not even know what a Marilyn was. Receiving our first copies was a real revelation. Who were all these odd folk counting all sorts of odd hills? Reading the magazine has definitely increased our motivation for Marilyn bagging and possibly introduced an element of quiet competitiveness. There are those whose hill numbers we could never match, but it is interesting simply to see who is doing what and reading the baglogs adds a more personal touch to the list of names and numbers.
We have kept all our copies of Marhofn, including back issues for 2007 and 2008. We have found people's comments on approaches to hills useful to refer back to on occasions and have references on our RHB book that help us to find information from previous copies. We have been surprised at the number of Marilyn baggers we have met on the hills. Chatting and putting a name to a face has made the re-reading of some of the baglogs more meaningful. Thanks to everyone who was involved in putting the magazine together. Marhofn, we will miss you.
