As Breac (376) and I set off towards Marsco at the end of September, with the weather about to close in, I wondered if I would get the top clear to do the chant, albeit on my own. It was, so I rang Stuart (who was doing the Pinnacle Ridge), demanding that he get the binoculars out and look across to see me jumping up and down in delight (never mind that he might be clinging on to something by his fingertips). I was in the Hall; no more hanging about in the draughty vestibule for me. As I headed towards Ruadh Stac the weather deteriorated, so with the sky darkening visibly and raindrops pounding, I headed back to the car. 601 would need to wait.
A month later we were going up Durness way for the weekend; Corbetts for me, 2000ft tops for Stuart. I had a look at my list to see how many Corbetts this would put me on. Idly, I also cast an eye over the Marilyns and found a mistake - several, in fact; I was only on 597! The Saturday was glorious, so Beinn Spionnaidh and Cranstackie were done in the unseasonal heat. The Sunday offered another chance to perform the chant, but this time under a beating sun on top of Arkle. Stuart had seen me arrive at the top and phoned to congratulate me from his traverse of Foinaven (we do the same hill sometimes).
However, back home marking up my list, I found yet another mistake. It would appear that 600 had actually been Beinn Spionnaidh. This was becoming embarrassing, and it was time to own up and tell Alan that my Marsco entry had been presumptuous. But I still wasn't totally convinced with my record-keeping abilities, so I decided to get Stuart to do a total recount from day one (Torlum in 1978). I'm glad I did - my list had more holes in it than Watership Down. Marsco had actually been 610 and I'd stepped over the threshold on Cearnabhal on 14 June - unheralded, alone and silent. So, that is absolutely, definitively it - unless anyone else wants to check my list that is.
