On the whole 2012 was a year when I recognised my limitations and struggled for small prizes, mostly sub2000ft, though I trailed Margaret over 14 Grahams. For views, Beinn an Eoin in March was wonderful, as was a re-ascent with friends of Caisteal Abhail on Arran. Because of the clear, snowy conditions, views obtained from 500m hills around Ullapool at the end of January were equally spectacular.
I particularly enjoyed the Lleyn peninsula in Wales, despite hobbling around after Moel Hebog, the hawk, had taken a swipe at my good leg on a simple scramble. Also in Wales, in November, traversing Moel Famau along the ridge yielded the nerdish satisfaction of being doubly qualified for the Marhofn Hall.
Caisteal Abhail (photo: Alan Dawson)
Orkney was new to us and the walks, especially on Hoy, were great. It was not all roses and chocolates, however. On the descent of Knap of Trowieglen, after noting attacks by unusually abundant bonxies, my diary continues: 'At about 70-50m we should have contoured around to the Dwarfie Stane but, ignoring earlier warnings from a local, we decided to head directly for the road. It looked so easy, and didn't we have waterproof boots and gaiters? It was horrendous: lank heather wrapped its stems around our ankles; the ground between enormous tussocks was unpredictably soft. My feet often sunk a further six inches and gave me no purchase for the next stride, which made it seem like climbing very steeply, and unpredictable boot placements constantly threw us off balance. The final ten to twenty metres were a slight rise to the road, but worming, wiggling, worrying through took an absurd effort. Looking back, we could see a large white stone in the shape of a cottage. We were told that someone had once put up a bed and breakfast vacancies sign on the road, they may have also painted the rock to make it look more realistic, and several backpackers had tried to reach it by our terrible route only to find they had been hoaxed. That could be an Orcadian rural myth, but is not implausible.'
Bring on 2013.
