20 May 2025 saw me to my final three Donald hills. I met another veteran walker, of my age, on my way to my very last who, when I told him, gave me a 'Bake Off' handshake - not for excellence in cooking but for hill walking! (For visiting every Munro, every Munro Top, all the Furths, every Corbett, too using the 1981, then the 1997 SMC Tables. But, first the Bridges using the 1973 book, in England and Wales, now Hewitts during the 1970s and 80s)
He then advised me to avoid the slow, rough path I had used to get into the heart of the Galloway Forest Park hills. Instead, to climb the very highest summit, I had already visited a couple of times before, years ago, in order to gain a faster and more pleasant path to the car park. I did the longer walk and had a magnificent finale, under blue sky, to my 13 hour day as I climbed Merrick, the highest at 843 m and found the best path back. Even the six lochs from the summit of Benyellary, the very last, shone blue, far below me!
All thanks to the unknown, 76-year-old, God-send I met just below the summit of my penultimate Donald hill!
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