It took four months, 932 miles / 1,500km of walking and 2,485 miles / 4,000km of cycling – including a total ascent of more than 20 times the height of Mt Everest – for a dedicated adventurer to complete a record-breaking mountains challenge.
Lorraine McCall has become the first woman to complete a non-stop and self-powered round – with a few ferry trips – of 231 significant mountains in Scotland called Grahams.
Like the better-known Munros – Scotland’s 282 mountains of at least 3,000ft / 914m in elevation – the Grahams are also defined by stature. The list is identified in metric measurement and includes all Scottish summits of between 600m and 762m (2,000 and 2,500ft).
The round, which started on April 16, saw the 59-year-old Highlander journey north, south, east and west – and to seven islands – across the country.
The most summits 'bagged' in one day was six near the village of Luss, close to Loch Lomond, during a 14-hour walk.
Lorraine also spent many nights sleeping in a tent, bothies or hostels and she carried a heavy hiking rucksack with all her kit, food and water.
On Thursday September 5 at 11.40am, after reaching her final summit Stac Pollaidh at 2,008ft / 612m elevation in north-west Highlands, she said: “It is the hardest thing I have ever done by far. It has been much harder than I could have ever imagined.
“But I am so proud of myself. I have been close to giving up quite a few times but I kept going and I am now very happy that I did.”
To complete the feat, Lorraine then needed to cycle 80 miles / 129km back to her home town of Beauly.
‘The Grahams are much tougher than the Munros’
Lorraine, who has faced cancer three times, is no stranger to epic mountain circuits. In 2005, aged 40, she became the first woman to do a non-stop, self-powered round of the Munros on foot and by kayak.
Almost a decade later, she also set a record as the first female to link another huge list of mountains known as the Corbetts (mountains between 2,500ft and 3,000ft) in a similar way.
This week, she said: “The Grahams round has been much, much harder than either the Munros or Corbetts rounds. I can’t even quantify how much tougher it has been.
“My body is older and a bit more worn out than it was on previous rounds and I have also had to deal with two bowel cancers and breast cancer over the past 12 years. This has made me slower, more breathless and I have some toileting issues.
“In addition, the Grahams, while smaller in stature than the Munros and Corbetts, are spread out much further geographically. They have very few paths because they are much less walked than other mountains and often thick with vegetation.”
Tough times during an epic mountain challenge
Lorraine recalls the Grahams on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll, and in Galloway as some of the hardest.
She said: “At times in these areas it was hard to make progress, with thick pine forest to get through, then bracken I couldn't even see over and wading through deep heather underfoot.
“There has been a lot of steep and rugged ground too on the west coast. The hardest stage of all was without doubt the seven Grahams on the Isle of Mull.
"The combination of difficult terrain plus terrible weather really came to a head there. It was so stormy and wet on the tops I could barely see.
“On one Graham, I struggled to get back down because the wind was really strong and then I had difficulty even reaching the next hill due to a swollen river. I ended that day totally trashed.
“There has also been a lot of very boggy ground to deal with and then there has been the swarms of midges, which are very unpleasant.”
Pushing hard to make the final summit
The final stage, through Easter Ross, Caithness and Sutherland, has entailed many long and arduous days to reach very remote Grahams.
Lorraine said: “I have had extremely long days of cycling and walking and it has not been an easy finish to the challenge.”
Rain, wind and injuries
Statistics have shown that some parts of Scotland have suffered the wettest summer on record. There have been many days of high winds and few consecutively sunny days.
Lorraine said: ”To give people an idea of the weather conditions during my round, I started out in April with a small bottle of factor 50 suncream. Now it's September and I've yet to finish the same bottle.”
In the first week of the Grahams challenge, Lorraine faced infected blisters on her feet and hands. She also had a sore knee in the early days.
In the Scottish Borders, she was forced to take her only full rest day. Lorraine said: “I put my foot in a hole and that night it couldn't bear weight. I borrowed some frozen peas, put my feet up in a hostel for the day and it was back to it the next day."
Support and motivation
The record-setting walker has high praise for the many friends who have turned out to support her quest.
Lorraine said: “The round started out as a small group of friends and a WhatsApp group. I didn’t even have a full plan. In the end, I’ve had so much support from so many people and I could not have done it without them.”
Lorraine is grateful the support of a number of brands and sponsors including Summits Outdoor, Rab, Terra Nova and Radix/Vango.
Lorraine’s Grahams round has also served as a fundraiser for charity, with more than £3,000 raised so far. She said: “I have been raising awareness and money for Alzheimer Scotland. A very good older friend of mine died after a long time living with dementia. My mum is now at the start of this difficult journey.”
Kirsty Stewart, Alzheimer Scotland’s Executive Lead of Fundraising and Engagement, said: "We are very grateful to Lorraine for her amazing fundraising efforts and send her a huge well done. It’s been wonderful to watch her progress over the past few months as she’s continued this extraordinary journey through some tough conditions.
"Lorraine’s story is an inspiration to all and will also help to raise awareness of dementia."
