Meall Dearg

The first part of our superb new hillwalking series takes on the challenging Glen Coe Munro

- ROBERT WIGHT

Pronunciation: Me-yal Ger-ag

Meaning: red hill (notched ridge)

Height: 953m (3127ft)

Rank: 202

OS Landranger Map 41

Summit grid ref: NN161584 (cairn)

ONE of two Munros and four summits on the infamous Aonach Eagach, Meall Dearg offers one of the most thrilling ascents for hillwalkers in Scotland.

The Aonach Eagach is the saw-toothed ridge that bites savagely into the sky atop the massive wall of rock guarding the northern side of Glen Coe.

Meall Dearg sits at the heart of the ridge. The most common way of reaching it is from the east, after some exciting, exposed and challenging scrambling.

Continuing west after the peak presents further scrambling-only this time more exciting, more exposed and more challenging. It's one of the finest mountain outings in all Scotland, certainly on the mainland.

Meall Dearg can also be climbed from the north, a route devoid of any scrambling difficulties - but where's the fun in that? It was via that route, however, that the first person to "compleat" the Munros, the Reverend A. E. Robertson, climbed what was the final hill of his round in 1901. Famously, on reaching the summit, the reverend kissed first the cairn and then his wife.