The weather has definitely changed for this week then from the last few and much more in line with the type of weather I am used to working in in Scotland. We're still in Mar Lodge, but we have moved around the estate a little bit more.
The first day was in Glen Dee on the path that takes you to Glen Geusachan. There are a number of stone drains across the path and there was an issue with erosion on the outer side of the drain and moving the splash stone. It took us a while to find the stones for this as there was definitely few and far between, but we managed to protect the sides of the drain and reset the splash point.
On the way back we did get to have a quick look at the Chest of Dee, definitely looks like a good swimming location should the weather get nicer and we have time. A girl can dream. 😏
The next couple of days was spent on the Mar Lodge side of the Lairig an Laoigh path. The start was spent with me clearing the drainage feature from the top of this path to the location we were working on. Then we found a section that had some issues of water erosion which meant there was also no surfacing and a lot of rubble making it much more difficult to walk on. I added some step rises to the path, added cobble to raise, harden and stabilise the sections before adding the surfacing. Our burrow pit ended up being a bit away from the path and over quite a bit of heather, so a really good leg work out for the day. My colleague also worked on a section of the path that needed a revetment to help stop the water flowing on the path.
The last couple of days of the first week was spent by the Derry Dam bridge on a section of the path that gets used a lot but which is a little bit eroded. We picked this section because the weather for these couple of days was meant to be particularly bad and one was very, very windy with a lot of rain, which definitely made work more interesting.
The next week was spent clearing a lot of vegetation which had grown and spread so much that it was now blocking the flow of water away from path on the west path on Glen Dee. We also cleared the drains on the path on Gledie Burn (which takes you to Glenfiddich) and Beinn a' Bhúird. It was a little back breaking after a while, but should get easier as I get stronger.
Beinn a' Bhúird was particularly beautiful with an amazing sky which looked almost unreal. This is definitely a beautiful, relatively easy path, and well worth a walk.
As usual we got to see a variety of wildlife which is always great and I'm trying to learn as much as I can.
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