More than four months after setting out on a continuous round of the Grahams, Lorraine McCall has climbed her final summit. She is the first woman - that we know of - to complete a round of the 231 Grahams as a single journey, travelling on foot over the hills, by bike on the often long stretches between them, and via ferry to the islands.

Lorraine's final Graham was Stac Pollaidh, completed today (Thursday 5th September) in the company of friends and supporters.

After reaching the top 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."

She began the epic route around Scotland on 16th April, in the hills of Strathconon close to her home in Beauly, first working through the Grahams of the west coast, the Inner Hebrides and the Western Isles, and then looping through Galloway and the Borders before returning north via Angus, the Cairngorms and the far northeast.

To complete the feat and close the Scottish loop, she is now cycling 80 miles by road back to her start point.

After three different cancer diagnoses over the past 12 years, a sense of humour and a wee bit of stubbornness go a long way

Grahams are the 231 Scottish hills between 600m and 762m (2500ft) in height, each with a minimum prominence (ie drop between it and the next higher ground) of 150m.

Alan Dawson, co-creator of the Grahams list, has been impressed by Lorraine's 'sense of purpose': 

"The concept of climbing them all in sequence, with hardly a rest day, leaves me marvelling at the willpower, stamina and dogged determination required" he said.

"Galloway alone can bring you to tears, when you can hardly see your feet for an hour or more at a time. Views are irrelevant when you are always having to look down. The hidden holes, the concentration, the slow progress, the midges, the flies, the sodden summer weather..."

"I do like a challenge and a long-term quest. Yet I am a lazy softie compared to someone bold and bonkers enough to tackle all the Grahams in a continuous walk. Just thinking about it makes me smile."

Lorraine is not only the first woman to make a continuous Grahams round, but now has a 'triple crown' of Scottish hill lists, having in previous years made self-powered rounds of the Munros and then the Corbetts.

The journey has made huge demands of her stamina and determination, and it has not all been plain sailing.

"I've found myself flagging at some point on many days in the last few months" she tells us.

"Sometimes I've had a good old shout at the universe. But then something good happens and the mood totally lifts." 

Among the most gruelling hill stages have been those in the south, she says, with Cowal and - as expected - the Galloway hills being particular stand-outs for awkwardness, thanks in part to the dense summer vegetation.

"At times it was hard to make progress, with thick pine forest to get through, then bracken I couldn't even see over, and above that deep heather. Compared with higher hills Grahams tend to be far less visited, and that can mean no path to follow. Many of the hills on the west coast are particularly tough thanks to the steep and rugged ground, and the lack of traffic, and I'm glad I got these done early in the trip before the bracken had a chance to grow."

And the very hardest stage of all?

"Mull" she says, without hesitation.

"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 so strong; and then I had trouble even reaching the next hill thanks to a swollen river. I ended that day totally trashed!" 

After Arran, her final island, the hills became more spread out as she journeyed through southern Scotland then back north up the eastern side of the Highlands.

"There's been a lot more biking in the second half of the trip" she says "and out east the hills were generally easier than those of the west, with higher starts, gentler ground and even footpaths."

The final long leg up through Easter Ross, Caithness and Sutherland reverted to type, with some very remote and tough terrain, long road sections linking the disparate hill groups, and not always the most amenable conditions.

On her walking round of the Munros in 2005 she notched up around 1600 miles on foot, while on a self-powered round of the Corbetts nine years later her distance was closer to 3000 miles, roughly half on foot and half by bike.

Grahams are scattered even more widely across Scotland, from the Borders to the far north, and including several islands. While her exact distance and ascent stats are yet to be calculated (she is not a regular user of Strava), the final numbers are likely to be very big. The support team's initial back-of-an envelope guesstimate is eye opening - roughly 1500km on foot, 4000km by bike, and with total combined ascent well over 180,000m. Most nights have been spent in a tent, often in poor weather.

In a summer that broke rainfall records in parts of Scotland, her journey was dogged by wet, windy and cloudy weather much of the time. Snow lay on the high summits at the start, while night time temperatures dropped close to freezing in northern glens towards the last few days of the challenge.

"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" she said "and now it's September I've yet to finish the same bottle." 

The cumulative physical impact of back-to-back big days in challenging conditions took its toll, and there were initial challenges with infected blisters, but by keeping to a sustainable pace she managed to maintain steady progress despite a succession of early starts and late finishes. Opportunities for recovery have been limited, with the only full rest day being an unplanned convalescence at a hostel in the Borders following injury.

"I put my foot in a hole, and that night it couldn't bear weight. I borrowed some frozen peas, put my feet up for the day, and it was back on the road the next day." 

Towards the end, she says, she felt a deep underlying fatigue, with enough energy to keep going at a slow and steady pace but nothing in the tank to push harder. But with the end in her sights she couldn't bring herself to take a break.

"The Grahams round has been much, much harder than either the Munro or Corbett rounds. I can't even quantify how much tougher it has been" she said.

"My body is older and a bit more worn out than it was on previous rounds and I have also had to deal with three different cancers – two bowel cancers and breast cancer – over the past 12 years. This has made me slower, more breathless and I have some toileting issues.

"I don't want to shy away from this; it has changed my life and made some things more difficult, but there is strength in dealing with life's knocks and if it helps one more person get out there then of course it's worth it. A sense of humour and a wee bit of stubbornness can go a long way."

Food has been a major feature of the experience, and she was pretty much permanently hungry.

"It's a full body workout on the Grahams and I've been hungrier than previous trips. I've preferred savoury to sweet (though I'll take what I can get!) and it's all about the carbs. On the hills my favourite has been rolls and cheese. Any hot food was good, in the glen. When I could get it, fish and chips was a massive treat."

Day one also marked Lorraine's 59th birthday, celebrated with cake and friends on her first summit. Much of the rest of the journey was spent walking, cycling and camping solo, but logistical and moral support from friends and well-wishers proved vital along the way. While the initial detailed schedule soon fell by the wayside, her team managed to coordinate via WhatsApp, sharing the tasks of moving her bike around the country and delivering spare clothing, batteries and food parcels.

"I've had a lot of help from my friends" she 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.

"Overall I've enjoyed a lot more company on the hills and camping in the glens than I had on my Munro and Corbett rounds. But there have been long periods alone too, especially early stages in the West Highlands."  

Hill lists can be subject to change over the years as summit heights are re-surveyed, and the Grahams are no exception. While an earlier version of the list counted 219 summits between 2000ft (609.6m) and 2500ft (762m), each with a minimum prominence of 150 metres, the criteria were revised in 2022, and Grahams are now defined as the 231 Scottish hills between 600 and 762 metres in height.

Small they may be, but they are no pushover. Pathless ground, thick vegetation and bogs are all frequent themes on these usually obscure and less-visited hills.

Walkers Andrew Allum and Peter Lincoln have (separately) made continuous rounds over the Munros, Corbetts and Grahams in the same journey, but to date nobody else has recorded a continuous round of just the Grahams, making Lorraine's the first in that sense.

Having completed the Grahams, Lorraine is now cycling back to Beauly to finish her Scottish odyssey where she started.

Over her journey Lorraine has been raising money and awareness for Alzheimer Scotland - see JustGiving

She said: "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."