Wading through bogs, struggling to breathe up steep inclines and battling through extreme weather, anyone would forgive Lorraine McCall for giving up her gruelling four-month hillwalking challenge.
But quitting is not in the formidable 59-year-old’s nature.
In fact, resilience should be Lorraine’s middle name after she became the first woman to climb all 231 Graham hills in Scotland in one continuous journey last year.
And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, Lorraine, who lives in Kirkhill near Inverness, has already climbed all of Scotland’s 282 Munros as well as 221 Corbetts – both in single journeys – while overcoming three cancer battles in the process.
“I just love being out there in the hills,” says Lorraine.
“They say it’s good for your mental health and it’s absolutely good for mine.
“For me the journey is more important than bagging the top of the hill.
“Life becomes really simple when you’re living day-to-day and all you have to think about is where you’re going to sleep that night and what you’re eating during the day.
“I really love that simple way of life.
“What I’ve realised over the years is that when things are really tough, whatever you do afterwards is great, like your first shower and the first night you sleep in a bed again – all the simple things become precious.
“I think that really keeps you going.”
‘I didn’t know the hills existed when I was younger’
Full of ups and downs, Lorraine’s walking adventures, and her life in general, are nothing short of extraordinary.
So where did Lorraine’s epic path to the peak of her powers begin?
“I definitely wasn’t outdoorsy when I was younger,” laughs Lorraine.
“I grew up in Cumbernauld so I was more of a townie.
“We would go out and play in the woods but I didn’t know the hills existed when I was younger.”
Traumatic first hillwalk…
It wasn’t until she was a teenager that Lorraine climbed her first hill but it was an experience steeped in sadness.
“My first time on a hill was a bit of a sad one as it was about a month after my adopted parents, the parents I grew up with, had been killed in a car crash,” says Lorraine.
“I was about 14 at the time and I went away on a school trip to an outdoor centre in Arrochar.
“One day we walked up Beinn an Lochain, a Corbett, but I froze near the top.
“I got a bit of vertigo and I was really scared so I ended up in tears.
“The teacher and the instructor who were there came down and said ‘come on, pull yourself together’.
“I did eventually get to the top but I didn’t go up a hill again for about 10 years after that.”
Going down a dark path…
As a child facing more challenges that most adults face in their lifetime, it’s understandable that Lorraine initially went down a dark path.
“I went off the rails for a few years, says Lorraine.
“I jumped from job creation scheme to job creation scheme and dabbled in drink and drugs.”
But there was light at the end of the tunnel when Lorraine upped sticks to make a fresh start.
“I moved away from Cumbernauld to work in the hotel industry for a couple of years – getting away from my environment really helped,” says Lorraine.
“I got myself together, I got some Highers and went to university in my 20s.”
‘I fell in love with Glencoe’
It was during her time at university that Lorraine discovered her love of hillwalking.
“Between my first and second year at university, a friend took me to Glencoe and I fell in love with the place,” says Lorraine.
“So much so that I went back to university and joined the mountaineering club.”
After university, Lorraine’s love of hillwalking only grew stronger, working as an outdoor instructor in Wales before gradually making her way northwards to the Highlands where her passion reached its peak.
Mammoth Munro challenge…
It was on her 40th birthday that Lorraine took hillwalking to another level.
Armed with just a backpack and some dried food, Lorraine set off on her first solo expedition where she climbed all 282 Munros – Scotland’s highest mountains of over 3,000ft (914m) – in a continuous journey.
“It was probably one of the most special experiences of my life as I was very much living in the moment,” says Lorraine.
“I actually climbed 284 Munros at the time, but two have since been re-measured and have become Corbetts.
“So I walked between them all and I kayaked out to the mountains.
“It took me 141 days to complete.
“So I walked, and when I was tired I stopped and camped.”
‘The sunny days were really special’
Being at one with nature and her surroundings had a profound impact on Lorraine.
“I wasn’t lucky with the weather, but on the days when the sun came out they were really special,” says Lorraine.
“There were 14 occasions where I camped out on the hill with no tent or anything – just a sleeping bag under the stars. That was really amazing.”
Lorraine’s mammoth Munro journey inspired her next hillwalking challenge a decade later, when she became the first woman to complete a similar challenge with Scotland’s Corbetts – mountains between 2,500 and 3,000ft (762-914m) tall.
Battling back from cancer…
This arduous adventure was even more remarkable as Lorraine had not long recovered from a battle with bowel cancer.
“It was a very different journey as I was using a bike to reach the Corbetts and I also organised a sailing boat to get to the islands,” says Lorraine.
After going through cancer treatment, Lorraine says it changed her perspective.
“Previously, I always wanted to get to the top of the hills as quickly as I could,” says Lorraine.
“After recovering from cancer treatment, I started to look around more on my walks, noticing all the plants and the birds.”
Taking on her biggest challenge yet…
But the toughest, yet most rewarding, journey of Lorraine’s life happened last year when, in one single journey, she became the first woman to climb all the Grahams – classified as hills of between 2,000ft and 2,500ft (609m-762m).
“I had actually been through another two cancer diagnoses over the previous 10 years so my body had taken a bit of a beating,” says Lorraine.
“So I started that on April 16 last year on my 59th birthday and I finished on September 5.
“It was really tough as the winter and spring had been really wet so the ground was absolutely sodden.
“So the first month was about getting my body used to sinking into bog – it was a full body workout.”
Physically and mentally demanding…
During the first few weeks, Lorraine says it was mind over matter.
“I could’ve easily given up, but I gave myself a big talking to as I realised I couldn’t carry on the way I was going or I wouldn’t finish,” says Lorraine.
“One of the problems was that I’d made this plan of what I thought I could do each day, but because the terrain was so hard, I was falling way behind it.
“So I just threw the plan out, which my friends found frustrating as they never knew where I was.
“But getting rid of that really changed my headspace.”
Elated to conquer the Graham hills…
Despite the difficult start, Lorraine persevered and started to relish the challenge.
“It was an amazing journey,” says Lorraine.
“It felt so good to complete it, partly because of what I’d been through and partly because it was a tough journey due to the conditions.
“I’m very proud of myself.”
Not one to rest on her laurels, Lorraine already has another hillwalking challenge in her sights.
“I’m keen to climb the Irish hills over 3,000ft,” says Lorraine.
“There’s 13 of them, so I want to go over and cycle between them and climb them.”
With so many hillwalking stories and anecdotes, Lorraine now travels the country to give talks on her experiences and also has plans to release a book.
“It’s good to have a goal to work towards, and it doesn’t need to be big,” says Lorraine.
Conversation