The Final Ones 
It’s been a few trips down the A90 to the Angus hills over the past few weeks, and today was the final journey to finish off my last two remaining GM/ES hills: Cat Law, GM/ES-044, and Corwharn, GM/ES-048. It was raining so hard on the drive down that I needed to slow down, all the while telling myself that met office radar predictions had said it should only be brief showers, if anything. By the time I parked up, it had stopped, so that was a plus. First was Cat Law.
Not much to look at. There did seem to be a lone tree in a cairn, a little to the southwest of the trig but didn’t go look at it. I setup and tucked myself behind the trig - I didn’t see the cairn as it was in the cloud! A little run on 40m but 20m was more popular. The dry spell ended and the promised shower came through, so it was time to pack up and go.
Back to the car and a 3 minute drive down the road to park up for Corwharn. I had decided to do this on the bike, cycling through Glen Quharity, then a steep climb up. This would give me a quick descent, as I hoped to squeeze in Mount Blair before going home.
This was another muddy cycle, but I was in full waterproofs and rucksack covered so just a few stops to clean my glasses. There were even blue skies for a while but the top was in the cloud again.
Again, the higher bands were in better shape, and had a good run. I was then rewarded with my new badge upon uploading! 
It was a bit early to call it a day, and so I continued to Mount Blair for a few more winter bonus points. Nothing of note here, but nice weather at the top to end my day.
The Rankings 
This is difficult as they all have their own unique aspects - from the big days out of the giants Cairn Toul (GM/ES-003) and Braeriach (GM/ES-002), to the lovely views of little Craiglich (GM/ES-068). It’s probably easier to say where I won’t go back - and this is mostly due to the distance/drive and something else is preferred. The likes of Crock, Hare Cairn, Corwharn, Creagan a’Chaise, Carn a’Ghille Chearr, Creag Mhor. Whilst I’ll do some of the one pointers again, no doubt a lot of them it could be a long time before I do return. Except Strathfinella Hill, GM/ES-075, I’m never going back there.
Some Stats 
Now for something more interesting…
Who else has activated all GM/ES summits? 
I know Fraser, @MM0EFI, has and he has also done 88 out of 87 summits (GM/ES-020 was cancelled when its neighbour, Creag an Dall Bheag was found to be 1m taller, and Carn Liath 1m shorter and so GM/ES-088 was born.)
However, there were two others before Fraser, Barry @GM4TOE and Micheal @MM0ROV. They both completed GM/ES when Carn Liath was the official summit, and so I’d say that counts. This makes me number 4 on the list. Whilst Fraser is currently in a unique position with 88, everyone who did Carn Liath before it closed in 2021 could still come and claim the 88 out of 87 title. @MM0YCJ, @GM7PKT, @MM0DHY and @GM4LLD - if you’re wondering.
What other riveting facts can you tell me? 
121 different activators have been out on the hills of GM/ES undertaking 1,811 activations between them. With these hills being the ten most popular:
| Reference | Name | Activations |
|---|---|---|
| GM/ES-012 | Glas Maol | 53 |
| GM/ES-021 | Ben Rinnes | 46 |
| GM/ES-061 | Bennachie - Oxen Craig | 38 |
| GM/ES-001 | Ben Macdui | 37 |
| GM/ES-035 | Mount Blair | 37 |
| GM/ES-080 | Cairn-mon-earn | 36 |
| GM/ES-008 | Lochnagar - Cac Carn Beag | 35 |
| GM/ES-036 | Geallaig Hill | 35 |
| GM/ES-068 | Craiglich | 34 |
| GM/ES-086 | Brimmond Hill | 34 |
But who has been the keenest of beans? No prizes for guessing…
| Callsign | Total Activations |
|---|---|
| MM0EFI | 218 |
| GM4TOE | 174 |
| GM5ALX | 114 |
| MM0ROV | 108 |
| GM4JXP | 91 |
| GM7PKT | 82 |
| MM0YCJ | 75 |
| GM3GAV | 54 |
| MM0DHY | 44 |
| MM0GYX | 43 |
If you want to find your number it’s in here:
All activators count
| Callsign | Total Activations |
|---|---|
| MM0EFI | 218 |
| GM4TOE | 174 |
| GM5ALX | 114 |
| MM0ROV | 108 |
| GM4JXP | 91 |
| GM7PKT | 82 |
| MM0YCJ | 75 |
| GM3GAV | 54 |
| MM0DHY | 44 |
| MM0GYX | 43 |
| GM4LLD | 41 |
| MM0RFN | 41 |
| 2M0RVZ | 40 |
| M0JLA | 37 |
| M6BWA | 37 |
| GM0PKX | 37 |
| MM8WNA | 36 |
| GM8OEG | 32 |
| M1MAJ | 30 |
| M3ZCB | 30 |
| G5AIB | 27 |
| MW0CBC | 26 |
| ANON22082801 | 21 |
| 2M0IMP | 19 |
| MM0TAI | 17 |
| MM0GLM | 16 |
| 2M0KAU | 16 |
| GM4COX | 15 |
| GM0BKC | 15 |
| MM0VPM | 14 |
| GM7NQP | 12 |
| MW0KZN | 11 |
| G4OIG | 11 |
| ANON54803907 | 10 |
| G1INK | 10 |
| GM0UDL | 9 |
| GM3YTS | 8 |
| M1EYP | 8 |
| G6DDQ | 7 |
| M0HGY | 7 |
| G5OLD | 6 |
| G1JTD | 6 |
| GM0AXY | 5 |
| GM4YMM | 5 |
| G0FIM | 5 |
| G4OOE | 5 |
| MM0BCR | 5 |
| GM4KNU | 5 |
| 2M0AVL | 5 |
| M6GYU | 5 |
| M1EYO | 4 |
| MM0IVR | 4 |
| M0RPK | 4 |
| MM3WJZ | 4 |
| GM7SRJ | 4 |
| GW4BML | 4 |
| G5OAT | 4 |
| KK7BCO | 3 |
| M0YHB | 3 |
| MM7MOX | 3 |
| SQ9MDF | 3 |
| MM0SKJ | 3 |
| GI0AZB | 3 |
| GI0AZA | 3 |
| G6WRW | 3 |
| M0NJH | 3 |
| MM0UHR | 3 |
| MM7VXJ | 2 |
| M0ZKK | 2 |
| M7RTC | 2 |
| VK6NI | 2 |
| HB9TWM | 2 |
| DJ6TB | 2 |
| 2M0FWH | 2 |
| G0EVV | 2 |
| G4MD | 2 |
| 2M0HSK | 2 |
| 2M0LEW | 2 |
| MM0ROR | 2 |
| MM6AON | 2 |
| W6PNG | 2 |
| HB9BIN | 2 |
| 2M0IIG | 1 |
| 2M0SWY | 1 |
| 2M0IMG | 1 |
| G0KPE | 1 |
| G0MHF | 1 |
| G4DDL | 1 |
| DL9SP | 1 |
| GM4YMI | 1 |
| GM4UXX | 1 |
| GM0PKF | 1 |
| G7VJR | 1 |
| G8MIA | 1 |
| G7WKX | 1 |
| GM1AUZ | 1 |
| G4YSS | 1 |
| HB9BQU | 1 |
| HB9IAB | 1 |
| MM0ECU | 1 |
| M1HAX | 1 |
| KI6SYD | 1 |
| GW8OGI | 1 |
| M0USV | 1 |
| M0YZY | 1 |
| MM0HVW | 1 |
| MM0HAI | 1 |
| MM7RCW | 1 |
| MM0YSO | 1 |
| MM3OQR | 1 |
| MM7LEF | 1 |
| MM7LDH | 1 |
| MW0PDV | 1 |
| MW7SRA | 1 |
| MW0XDD | 1 |
| MW0WML | 1 |
| MW7WDP | 1 |
| OK2PDT | 1 |
| OE8MPR | 1 |
| SQ9OZM | 1 |
| SQ9NOT | 1 |
Now what? 
More hills obviously! Having only done 121 out of the 1,219 in GM alone, there are plenty more to discover, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be going back to my locals. Even the same hill is different everytime - plus I don’t have to drive as far!
Plus there’s also completion of the better GM/ES list. 
