Meall an Tionail

Sitting high above Glen Spean, this expansive northern shoulder of Beinn a’ Chaorainn offers a wild, airy perspective of the Lochaber wilderness. The terrain is typical of the range: a broad, stony plateau that demands navigation skills in the mist, rewarding the effort with views of the great cliffs of Creag Meagaidh.

• •The name comes from the Gaelic for 'Hill of the Gathering.' This likely refers to its historical use as a muster point for hunters or a site where livestock were gathered from the high summer pastures of the surrounding glens.
• •This summit is most often visited as the northern anchor of the three-top circuit of Beinn a’ Chaorainn, a route that follows a high, undulating ridge above the dramatic eastern crags of Coire na h-Uamha.
• •The summit offers a perfectly framed view of 'The Window'—the distinctive high notch between the summits of Creag Meagaidh and Stob Poite Coire Ardair—and the massive, dark walls of the Inner Corrie.
• •In winter, the ridge between this top and the main summit of Beinn a' Chaorainn is notorious for the development of massive, unstable cornices that overhang the eastern cliffs, requiring walkers to stay well back from the edge.
• •Despite its impressive height of nearly 2,900 feet, its primary classification as a Tump suggests a certain lack of mountain glamour, being a category defined simply by having a thirty-metre drop on all sides.