The elusive Queen of Winter.
19th February 2024
Went for a walk in search of the Queen of Winter today, but she was definitely hiding. A Chailleach is a lovely hill which has good views across to the Northern aspects of the bigger Glencoe hills. I’m always hesitant to talk about hill names, as they often have nuances, and the common translations are not always agreed upon, however, A Chailleach is thought to come from gaelic “Cailleach”, Old Woman or Divine Hag. Often associated with the legend of Beira, Queen of Winter, in Scotland. It’s a shame she’s not around at the moment !
Snow is hanging in above 900 metres on North to East aspects. We are expecting it to go colder from Thursday onwards, fingers crossed!
The main Glencoe massif. Sgreamhach to Bidean and SCnL.
Stob Dearg and Coire na Tulaich
Stob Coire nan Lochan
Looking North to the Southern aspects of the Mamores. Na Gruagaichean and Binnein Mor
The Northern aspects of point 903 on A Chailleach. No sign of Beira !
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Martin Howard
19th February 2024 8:01 pm
Thanks for this info. Very useful having a clear day to check the snow cover. One point to note, though, for those trying to find your location today (it took me a while!): A Chailleach isn’t a Corbett (the drop is only 138m). Its 903m summit isn’t named on my Harvey map, and the name is displaced by about a Km on the OS landranger map 41. Hope this is helpful.
glencoeadmin
19th February 2024 10:47 pm
Hello Martin, as a “non bagger”, thanks for the clarification.
Mark
20th February 2024 7:00 pm
Thanks, I was struggling to find it as well