Cnap a' Chleirich

Tucked onto the massive southern shoulder of Beinn a' Bhùird, this high-altitude Munro Top epitomises the scale of the Cairngorm plateau. The terrain is a vast expanse of wind-scoured granite grit and moss, offering remote, sweeping views across the depths of Gleann an t-Slugain toward the distant, jagged silhouette of Lochnagar.

• •Derived from the Scottish Gaelic Cnap a' Chlèirich, the name translates as the 'Hillock of the Clergyman,' though history does not record which specific member of the clergy frequented this remote height.
• •The summit sits on the rim of some of the most dramatic mountain architecture in the Cairngorms, looking directly down into the steep-walled sanctuary of the Corrie of the Chasm.
• •Walkers typically reach this peak via the long approach from Keiloch, a route that passes the ruins of the 'Secret Bothy' and the old shooting lodge in Gleann an t-Slugain.
• •Despite being a subsidiary top, its elevation exceeds that of famous individual Munros such as Ben Nevis’s neighbour, Carn Mòr Dearg, or the prominent Schiehallion in Perthshire.
• •To the Gaelic speakers who named it, a 'Cnap' is merely a lump or a knob, which seems a modest description for a peak that stands nearly four thousand feet high.