Again most of my new Marilyns were in Scotland, where I spent seven weeks walking during the year. My progress with Corbetts is very slow - I did only six in 2008, but I was delighted to get Beinn Lair, despite the appalling July weather.
Attending the Marilyn baggers' dinner at Builth Wells in June caused Dee and I to spend a week doing Welsh hills. We completed the Nuttalls of south Wales and those in the Plynlimon area. The Friday evening barbeque and the Saturday dinner were extremely enjoyable, with lots of opportunities to meet other baggers. Later in June, just too late for the good weather, Dee and I made our first visit to the Outer Hebrides, where we managed all the Marilyns on Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay and South Uist. This trip included a wonderful day doing the traverse of Beinn Mhor, Beinn Corradail and Hecla, walking from Loch Aineort to Loch Sgiopoirt. I met two very interesting local people on the ridge and walked with them for most of the day. Unfortunately after South Uist the days of sunshine and showers turned into days of rain, and we gave up for 2008.
In October we spent a week in Shropshire and Herefordshire, which gave us a bag of all the region 38 Marilyns. On several of these walks we felt as if we were doing a tour of the ancient hill forts of the Welsh Marches. My 800th Marilyn was Ellson Fell (28B) on Christmas Day in good weather. In 2009 I plan to make a real effort to climb some more Corbetts, and to continue our exploration of the Scottish islands.
