Meall Dearg [Northern Pinnacles]

About Meall Dearg [Northern Pinnacles]

Rising as a key bastion on the notorious Aonach Eagach, this peak offers a narrow, exhilarating perch above Glen Coe. Reached via some of the finest scrambling in the Highlands, the summit provides a dizzying perspective over the jagged Chancellor’s arête and the deep, shadowed corries of the north face.

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Did You Know?

• •The name translates from Scottish Gaelic as ‘Red Hill’. This refers to the weathered rhyolite and porphyry rock of the ridge, which takes on a distinctively warm, ruddy glow in the late afternoon light or after heavy rainfall.
• •While the main ridge is famously narrow, the Northern Pinnacles themselves form a secondary spur leading towards the Am Bodach path. This route is a serious undertaking, involving Grade 3 scrambling that is significantly more technical and sustained than the standard Aonach Eagach traverse.
• •The summit serves as a spectacular grandstand for the 'Three Sisters' of Bidean nam Bian directly across the glen. To the northwest, the view is dominated by the massive bulk of Ben Nevis and the grey screes of the Mamores.
• •Classified as a Munro Top, this summit marks the point where the ridge is at its most uncompromising. To reach it from the east, walkers must negotiate the 'Crazy Pinnacles', a section so narrow that the only forward progress is often along the very crest of the rock.
• •It is one of the few summits where the arrival of a thick mist can actually be a relief, as it charitably hides the sheer scale of the vertical drops into the glen that surround the summit cairn.