The main priority of the year was not to reach summits but to compile a collection of photos of mountain flowers for a lecture I'd been asked to give. However, I did manage to add 38 to my Scottish Marilyn total including, at last, two new Grahams. An early triumph was finding the top of Hill of the Wangie (9A) without too much conifer trouble. Early May and glorious weather for a trip on a friend's boat to Rum, Barra and Loch Scavaig produced gems such as Muldoanich, Cairn Galtar (both 24D), Mullach Mor (17D) and Sgurr na Stri (17B). A return to sunny Barra and the Uists in early June was rewarded with ascents of Sotan and Carnan plus those on Barra, which was some compensation for the disappointing display of machair flowers after so many weeks of drought. Despite all these Hebridean pleasures, the two outstanding viewpoints of the year were Beinn Eilideach (15A) and Auchtertyre Hill (12A). The target for the year end was 800, which was achieved for free on Brimmond Hill (21B) just before Christmas, thanks to my bus pass.
View west from Auchtertyre Hill (photo: Andrew Fraser)
