If you were driving down the M74 near Elvanfoot at 16:50 on Saturday 14 January I apologise for any distress caused. After a good day on the hills, from Lady Cairn to Clyde Law (Donald Deweys), I returned to the car to find Middlesbrough getting beaten 7-0 by Arsenal. I embarked on a tirade of Golden Gordon (Ripping Yarns) proportions, shouting, swearing and kicking the car. Anne, a Sunderland fan, now refers to those hills when we pass as the '7-0 hills'.
In February I damaged my knee, again. It was Easter before I got walking again, with an excellent day on Ben Tirran. On a backpacking trip from near Rannoch Station we encountered an unusual hill hazard; fire! We had climbed over Sron Smeur, dropped down to Lochan Sron Smeur and pitched our tent by a small stream. With a lighter load we then went up Beinn Pharlagain and Meall na Meoig. As we descended we noticed smoke billowing across the moor below, and then flames across the hillside. They looked worryingly close to the tent, so despite my knee problems I descended the hillside like Joss Naylor (with walking poles). Thankfully, the fire had not reached the tent, but it blocked any easy escape. We moved the tent to the beach of the lochan, as far as we could get from the fire without having to retreat over the hill. We watched the fire spread, and retired to the tent for a fitful night's sleep, constantly watching the fire's progress. During the night it started to rain, so we slept a little sounder, and by morning the fire was out. On our walk out we found that the fire had stopped less than two metres from where the tent had been pitched. Still, the fire had made the terrain easier for the walk out.
One other notable trip was to Beinn Dearg and Mor Bheinn in Glen Artney, where Anne got covered in ticks. Beware if you have a snooze on the hills around here. Our main summer holiday was a trip to Vancouver Island, where we tackled the West Coast Trail, the toughest we have attempted. With bad weather early on, and seven days worth of gear, it really tested our resolve. At the end of day two we considered returning to the start. Thankfully we didn't, as the weather and our spirits improved day by day. The beach walking and camping were enjoyable, but the forest sections where you had to clamber up steep ladders for hundreds of feet were not. We did complete the trail as planned, and are proud of having done so.
In September we had our usual week on Skye, doing various tops and minor tops in good weather. Excellent hills with hardly anybody about, apart from a miserable couple of walkers trying to put us off walking on the Trotternish ridge near Lealt. We ignored them and had a great day.
Highlight of 2006? Watching Middlesbrough's journey to the UEFA Cup final.
