Duchray Hill [Mealna Letter]

Rising above the head of Glen Isla near Braemar, this rounded, heathery Graham offers a quiet alternative to the busier Munros of the Mounth. Its broad plateau provides a sense of remote isolation, with the climb from Auchavan revealing a landscape of peat hags and sweeping moorland characteristic of the eastern Highlands.

• •The name is a fusion of Gaelic elements: Duchray likely stems from Dubh Chruach, meaning 'black hill', while the alternative name Mealna Letter is derived from Meall na Leitir, the 'hill of the slope'.
• •From the summit cairn, the view north is dominated by the massive bulk of the Munros Glas Maol and Creag Leacach, which tower over the head of the Caenlochan Glen.
• •The hill sits at the northern fringe of the Angus Glens and is frequently climbed following the old drove road from Glen Isla that once served as a high-level trade link towards the Dee valley.
• •Despite its status as a Marilyn, the broad, peat-pocked summit plateau is so vast that finding the exact highest point on a misty day can feel less like mountaineering and more like a scavenger hunt through a bog.