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The village of Mallaig was founded in the 1840s, when Lord Lovat, the owner of the North Morar estate, divided up the land and encouraged his tenants to move to the western part of the peninsula and turn to fishing as a way of life. The population and local economy expanded rapidly in the 20th century with the arrival of the railway. It's also the starting point for ferries sailing to Armadale on Skye, Inverie in Knoydart, and the small isles of Rum, Eigg, Muck, and Canna. Thanks in part to Lovat, Mallaig became the main commercial fishing port on the west coast of Scotland, and during the 1960s was the busiest herring port in Europe. As such it's had its share of loss of life at sea.
Memorial to those lost at sea
Mallaig harbour from where we parked
We left the car in the East Bay car park and started the walk by the side of a bungalow next to the Springbank Guest House. The path passes through a gate and the day we went was busy with people walking their dogs.
Partly paved path
There are a number of benches for folk to sit and enjoy the view over the harbour so Pete and the dogs decided to try one.
Bench with a view
We took the detour off the main path to the left to walk north along a little ridge which gave good views to the west and led to a viewpoint above the scattered houses of Mallaig Bheag and out towards the hills of Knoydart.
West to Eigg, Rum and Sleat peninsula of Skye
Jack surveying the view west
Jack leading the way
Viewpoint at the end of the ridge
The previous day on the beaches at Arisaig we had met a man with his dog Ghillie and as we chatted he had mentioned he had a son who was into walking. The next day I looked at the description for this walk and read the user report by Duncan who mentioned his dog Ghillie, which was too much of a coincidence and it had to be the same one! So at the back of my mind I was angling to include the hill Cruach Mhalaig but wasn't sure if it would work out with what Pete was wanting to do and I didn't have any means of printing out Duncan's map and directions so it was all left a bit vague.
When I saw the track curving round the north side of the target hill it looked a suitably easy walking approach with views over Loch Nevis to Knoydart, which Pete could accompany me on before I headed off piste to reach the summit.
Settlement of Mallaig Bheag and track leading round the hill
We retraced our steps a short distance then turned left down a faint path to reach the main path of the circular route we'd started on and continued in the direction of the houses at Mallaig Bheag.
Cruach Mhalaig on right straight ahead
When we reached an obvious junction we turned right and walked uphill to follow the track I'd seen earlier winding round the base of the hill. Pete then decided he'd turn back to investigate a second hand bookshop in Mallaig and I continued until it seemed a good point to leave the track and head up the hill.
The track we followed round north side of the hill
Point where I left the track
Boat heading for Inverie
There was no path but it was easy walking over heather and grass. The gradient eased as we reached lumpy ground at the top and I spotted the cairn on one of the humps a bit to the south.
Cruach Mhalaig summit
Islands of Eigg and Rum
North west to Knoydart
South to Loch an Nostarie
I'd arranged to meet Pete back at the car an hour after we parted so decided the quickest way off the hill was straight down the west side, which I knew to be steep but hadn't clocked the knee high heather and waist high bracken to be negotiated along with the steepness!
When I got home and checked the map I realised a better route would have been to walk a bit further south along the top then down less steeply to return by the path we'd taken at the start. But I think part of me was keen to complete the Mallaig circuit so heading straight off is what I did.
To start with the gradient was gentle
Then it got steeper
Jack saying "Is this really the way you want to go?"
The thick mix of heather, bracken, myrtle and bramble was high enough to inhibit walking and when the dogs forged through it they disappeared completely. I was annoyed with myself for my choice of route but by this point just had to bash on through it, miraculously only snagging my trousers once on the barbs of a trailing bramble!
My dogs are in there somewhere
Once clear of the jungle of bracken etc it was a case of hopping over wet areas by a stream then through a gate into a field of grass beside a cottage, which might have been private land but by this stage I was just trying to reach the road any way I could. I passed a large rock but don't know if it was there by accident or design.
Random rock
Once on tarmac I put the dogs on the lead and we trotted back to Mallaig and the car park by the harbour. Pete saw us coming and drove along to meet us meaning we were only 5 minutes later than I'd predicted we would be.
Adding the hill to the Mallaig circuit is a good addition if you want more of an adventure but, direct though it may be, I don't particularly recommend my descent route!
Mallaig and Cruach Mhalaig taken on return from Rum two days earlier