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Marilyns: Breac-Bheinn, Meall Dheirgidh.
Date: 12/12/2021.
Distance: 11.5 km.
Ascent: 910m.
Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes.
Weather: Calm and overcast.
Eh...where?!
I've been meaning to go up this pair of hills for 6 or 7 years now, being the closest Marilyns to Inverness that I haven't been up yet. But for whatever reason the names have never stuck in my head, and I would have struggled to place them if just reading them off a list. Tucked away up the other Strathcarron (near the Dornoch Firth), they don't see a great deal of hillwalking action and don't stand out prominently in any views. I think I was always waiting to use the train and bike to go up there but the timetable is pretty sketchy so I never did get around to it. Since we currently aren't using public transport, I thought they would make a pleasant short afternoon out at a time when there isn't much daylight.
Jackie was along for the chance to visit somewhere new and did a cycle along both sides of the glen and up towards Glencalvie, Alladale and Croick. We parked up at Sgodachail and I set off through the field to the east of the house. There was an open gate at the back of the field and a rough quad bike track heading up Allt Coire Ruchain. I used this for a bit before turning right into the heather to get up Meall nan Eun. No real reason to include this hill in the circuit other than to make the walk a bit longer and give me a little more ascent. Heather was typical rough country but not obnoxiously so, and thinned out as I got higher.
River Carron 
Meall nan Eun 
Across Strathcarron to Carn Salachaidh 
West up Strathcarron to Alladale The day was a bit hazy and overcast but there were pleasant enough views across Strathcarron and down to the Dornoch Firth. The larger hills to the west were mostly capped in cloud. Meall Dheirgidh did actually present a shapely profile from this direction - these are never going to end up in anyone's list of top 20 lower hills but they are far from unpleasant.
East to the Dornoch Firth 
Meall Dheirgidh from Meall nan Eun I dropped straight down the other face of Meall nan Eun into deeper heather, crossed the burn then headed up the steep slopes of Breac-Bheinn. I was able to dodge the worst of the heather. The summit is actually halfway between the trig point and the prominent cairn on an unassuming mass of peat, but any of the summit bumps give a decent view.
Meall Dheirgidh from Breac-Bheinn 
(almost) summit of Breac-Bheinn 
Meall Dheirgidh and the Alladale hills Through the haze, various interesting hills were just about visible - Suilven, Canisp, Ben More Assynt and Ben Klibreck. They would be much more obvious in clearer conditions.
Zoom to Ben More Assynt More heather and rough grass on the descent between the two hills. After hitting the corner of a ruined fence, I actually dropped a bit below the level o the col to pick up a deer track. This made the going onto Meal Dheirgidh more straightforward for a bit. The big dome was steep in places and the summit cairn on the other side of a tall deer fence. Not to worry - the fence had collapsed and was easy to cross. There was a gentle breeze here which was the most wind I felt all day.
Loch Meall Dheirgidh and Dornoch Firth I had a quick lunch break on the way down from here (3pm - a bit on the late side!) and dropped steeply to the Allt Coire Ruchain. There may have been a direct way back to the car, but again I was spinning things out a little, getting some more ascent by going over An Cabagach as well. This was less steep and appeared to have about 4 summits. While I was going to visit them all, I spotted a quad bike track heading in the direction of the car after I reached the second one, and the light was starting to go now.
Allt Coire Ruchain I opted to ditch the other summits (which turned out to be lower anyway) and make a quick descent of the track, as it removed any need to think too hard about the best way down. I reached the car in the last light shortly after 4pm, rather surprised to find that Jackie wasn't back yet. I was glad as she would have been cold sitting waiting for me. But where was she? She appeared 5 minutes later having diverted to Croick church for a nosy.
