Meall a' Chrasgaidh is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mountain located in the Fannich group of mountains, 21 kilometres south-southeast of Ullapool.

Overview

The mountain is centrally located within the Fannichs and is one of the most accessible of the group with the A832 and A835 roads running just to the north. It lies on a north-south ridge along with the two other Munros of Sgurr nan Clach Geala and Sgurr nan Each and it is usually ascended along with them. Meall a' Chrasgaidh is a rounded grassy hill which reaches the modest height of 934 metres (3064 ft), being the 242nd highest Munro.www.scottishsport.co.uk.
Gives a list of Munros in height order. The mountains name translates as “Hill of the Crossing” and refers to the 819 metre col to the south of the summit which is the main crossing point in the Fannich group giving access north to south between lochs a’ Bhraoin and Fannich and also between the east and the west."The Magic Of The Munros" Page 168 Give information of name and translation.

Geography

Meall a' Chrasgaidh is made up of three distinct ridges, the NW and NE ridges both descend towards the valley of the River Droma and are used as ascent routes from the main roads to the north. The south ridge connects to the strategically important 819 col which is unnamed on maps, the col is boggy and has a small lochan lying within it. The col connects the mountain to the two highest peaks of the Fannichs, Sgurr nan Clach Geala and Sgurr Mòr. The only steep slopes on the mountain are on its eastern side where rocky flanks descend to Loch a’ Mhadaidh, these slopes are moderately angled and give a scrambling route from the loch. This eastern side shows the mountain at its best and the steeper gradients are well seen from the loch. The western and southern slopes are less steep, they are mostly composed of grass with some heather, nearer the summit there are some exposed

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

rocks (see picture) of which the whole mountain is composed.The Geology Of The Scottish Mountain From A Climbing Point Of View.
Gives geology of mountain. All drainage from Meall a' Chrasgaidh goes to the west coast of Scotland, going via the River Broom and

Loch Broom Loch Broom ( gd, Lochbraon, "loch of rain showers") is a sea loch located in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, in the former parish of Lochbroom, on the west coast of Scotland. The small town of Ullapool lies on the eastern shore of the loch. L ...

to reach the sea at Ullapool.

Ascents and view

Meall a' Chrasgaidh is usually climbed directly from the north and usually in conjunction with some of the other hills of the Fannich range. There are two possible starting points for the northern approach. One starts at a parking spot on the A832 near Loch a’ Bhraoin (grid reference ) and ascends by the NW ridge after following a track by the Allt Breabaig for two km."The Munros" Page 206 Gives details of walk from Loch a‘ Bhraoin. The alternative route starts at the western end of Loch Droma on the A835 (grid reference ) and follows the Allt a’ Mhadaidh west for six km to reach Loch Mhadaidh under the eastern face. From here it is possible to ascend the grassy and rocky ground above the loch to reach the 819 metre col from where the summit can be reached via the south ridge."The Munros Scotland‘s Highest Mountains" Page 198 Gives details of walk from Loch Droma. The continuation to other mountains in the group is by descending the south ridge to the 819 metre col. The summit is crowned by a cairn. The view is restricted to the south and SE by the Fannichs two highest mountains Sgurr nan Clach Geala and Sgurr Mòr, both of which look impressive, however in other directions there are fine views. There is a first-rate aspect of

An Teallach An Teallach (Scottish Gaelic for 'the forge' or 'the anvil') is a mountain group in Wester Ross, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It lies west of Dundonnell Forest, north of Loch na Sealga, and south of Little Loch Broom. Its highest peak ...

, some 15 km to the NW across desolate moorland. Around to the north are the hills of

Coigach Coigach () is a peninsula north of Ullapool, in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The area consists of a traditional crofting and fishing community of a couple of hundred houses located between mountain and shore on a peninsula ...

and Assynt.

References

* ''The Munros'', Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennett (Editor) * ''The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland'', Diadem, 1993, Irvine Butterfield, * ''The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains'', Cameron McNeish, * ''The Magic Of The Munros'', Irvine Butterfield, * ''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'', Baton Wicks, 1996, Hamish Brown, Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Meall A' Chrasgaidh Munros Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands