Betty - Graham Compleation
Geallaig Hill 12th April 2025
Betty's first Graham was Meall Fuar-mhonaidh which we climbed on the 21st April 2022, the week after compleating our Munro round in Skye. This was a hill that I saw regularly travelling along the A96 to Inverness and although our focus had turned to the Munro Tops, I initially saw the local Grahams as ideal single-outing days to fit in between them. Then, some months later, and having acquired a campervan, we would head off for 4-5 days at a time, seeking out weather windows to tackle both Grahams and Corbetts, many of which we could link together.
Betty, as usual, led the way, although thick bracken (a Graham challenge not visible on a map) proved difficult for her and she would tuck in behind me, letting me blaze a trail for her to follow. She’s also not too keen on boggy bits, preferring to keep her feet dry, but nothing proved insurmountable. It wasn’t all sunshine though. The spring of 2024 meant going out in some pretty wet and windy conditions but Betty, wearing her multicoloured suits, always stayed dry.
Betty enjoys the snow and we struck lucky in both Assynt late 2024 and Arran, early 2025.
Not having researched properly, we had an aborted attempt on Stac Pollaidh late 2024. I didn’t realise that to reach the true summit I would need some help to get her up the last section. She didn’t need to be roped but was passed up (and down) between three of us for her penultimate Graham, and only a few days before a serious wildfire closed the area.
There were no such issues on her final one, Geallaig Hill which we traversed from Crathie to Braenaloin and she enjoyed her usual lunch of two hard-boiled eggs in the shelter cairn.
