GLENMORE CLUB’S FIRST GRAHAMS COMPLETION

This major milestone in the Club’s history, or sad example of the lengths some people will go to in order to stay motivated, took place on Sunday 21 September 2008 on Sgiath a’Chaise near Strathyre. The determined hill-bagger who accomplished this feat was David Foster, who is also the humble author of this account.

The Grahams are the 224 Scottish peaks 2000 feet or more and less than 2500 feet in height, with 150 metres of ascent separating each from any higher ground, and are thus a subset of the Marilyns. They are named after Fiona Graham, who published the first list of them after spending much time studying maps while in hospital.

My first Graham was probably Beinn a’Chearcaill on the south side of Loch Maree, climbed during the Club’s New Year meet for 1973/4 at Carn Dearg near Gairloch.

The quest for the Grahams caught my imagination in 2002 when I came across a copy of Dempster’s guide in the library. Starting from a total of twenty eight, progress was then steady though unspectacular at about 30 per year, limited by attendance at most Club meets. Most of the Grahams were reached by public transport, often with bicycle, and climbed solo, although I had company on 72 of them and got transport in our car or somebody else’s for 81. Alastair Morrison was my most frequent companion, being with me on fourteen, along with some of his last few Munros and the odd Corbett. Stella Lowder and Ingrid Parker provided transport and came with me up eight each. These three plus Elizabeth Maitland and Alan Stevens accompanied me on the completion day, which was warm and dry with bright intervals,and with no cloud on the hills. Some of the party were persuaded to carry stones to the summit, and the resulting small construction means the statement in the guide that there is no cairn is no longer correct. I now just need someone to tell me how to pronounce the name of the completion hill.

The main charm of the Grahams arises from the virtually guaranteed seclusion. Apart from friends walking with me, I met others on a summit on only two occasions. Most of us prefer the hills to be uncrowded, and the Grahams provide the ultimate in this experience, which is now hard to find on the Munros and even on the more accessible Corbetts. They also take the dedicated seeker to new corners of the Highlands, Islands and Uplands remote from even the Corbetts.

Grahams being relatively unfrequented, distinct tracks worn by the passage of hundreds of pairs of boots are very rare. Instead, one often has to fight through trackless vegetation, which for some reason seems to be much more prolific than at the same height on a Munro. There are also some huge depths of peat eroded into impassable miry-bottomed trenches, providing the awful terrain one just has to encounter to claim to be a complete experienced hillwalker.

So all you Corbetteers, get cracking while your bodies still have the strength. If you have use of a car and are willing to burn the fuel, you will find it much easier than I did, though in some ways a lesser experience.