Path Work - Coire Odhar, Lairig Ghru, Glen Luibeg, Carn a' Mhaim, and Sròn Riach

It is fair to say that these two weeks of work have been weeks of absolutely stunning weather.  Whilst we did do some stone work adding additional drainage features, the main work over these two weeks were clearing waterbars, cross drains, and lets so I haven't taken too many photos of the actual work. I do have some stunning scenery pictures though, not through any skill in my part just because it's been so easy.  

The first day was spent working up the Coire Odhar behind the Corrour bothy clearing out the drainage features there.  Once at the top I cut off onto the path that leads up to the Devil's Point to check the path lines going up, keeping them clear and easy to follow, and reducing the chance of additional lines appearing on this section.  It's definitely a walk worth doing if you're up this way with a great view of the Cairngorms.  I even got to see a ptarmigan, who practically posed for the photo.

The following day we finished the work that we had started doing on Coire Odhar and made sure that we tidied up the area and landscaped any work we had done, such as covering burrow pits and revegetating areas where we had removed stones from.

We then moved back down to the Lairig Ghru path just where it breaks off to take you to the Corrour bothy and where water has been eroding the path quite significantly.  This section was actually finished the week after, but entailed adding additional steps to the path to hold the surfacing in that section and to push any water on the path down the stone let that was already there.

As we knew the third day was going to be good weather wise it was decided to carry out the work that would take us up to the upper areas of the Cairngorms.  It did mean that that day was a lot of walking.  We started by walking up to the top of Carn a' Mhaim clearing the waterbars on this path as we worked our way up.

This did give me a chance to actually take a photo of the work we had done a few weeks ago when the weather is really bad.  

Once at the top we walked along the ridge checking the path to make there weren't any obstructions which would affect their usability.  The views were amazing from this section, helped by the clear blue skies.  We then cut across to just below the summit of Sròn Riach and then carried on down to Glen Luibeg clearing the waterbars and other drainage features as we moved along.

There were some pretty interesting geological features on this route as well, which is always good to see (for me at least). 

The final day of that week was spent on a section on the Lairig Ghru near Robbers Copse where the path is very stoney and has some issues with erosion.  In this section we added a number of step rises to break up the gradient, making it easier to walk on and reduce the loss of surfacing in this area.  We started the work the first week and finished it in the second.

Unfortunately I then got a horrible cold and missed a couple of days from work, but came back to beautiful weather and blue skies.  We also got to see some deer on the way to Mar Lodge on the first day I was back, and by some I mean around 80 which was a lovely sight.

My first day back on this week was spent clearing the drainage features actually on the Lairig Ghru path itself.  My section took me up to the Pools of Dee.  This is a really beautiful section of this path, though a little hard under foot but well worth the trek.  I did have to resist the urge to paddle in the stream that runs along this path.  

The following day we finished the work by the Corrour bothy I spoke about earlier and then worked back along the Lairig Ghru towards Derry Lodge clearing the drainage features until we reached a section my boss had earmarked as needing work the week before beside a small Lochan.  As with other work we do, this entailed deroughening the area and adding in small step rises (though some of the stones we use are massive) to help with making the path more comfortable to walk on and reducing the erosion on this area. We started this work and mademit safe, but will finish the work here another week.

All in all it's been a pretty amazing couple of weeks, though I have to admit being in the sun without any shade for the whole day has been a little harder then I thought it would be.  Been using a lot of suncream, a lot of suncream. 🌞

Book Review: Green Made Easy

This is one of those books I've read a couple of times and actually have on my Kindle.  Not necessarily because it's giving me information I haven't been able to get elsewhere, but because it provides encouragement to keep moving along the path I have taken.

The first thing I should probably mention is that this is a very American based book in the specific information it provides (which may also be slightly out of date).  But the general advice on being more green is still valid wherever you may live, it's just that you may need to do a bit more research yourself on the more local information.

The author Chris Prelitz has been an advocate for green and sustainable living for more than 25 years and is living with his wife in a home he designed and built.  Which is probably why he is able to give such specific antidotes about the things that he's tried and tested in this book.

The books covers all areas of living, from very personal aspects of everyday life such as clothing and toiletries, to more general, home areas such as the bedroom and recycling.  It also has a broader part which goes into detail regarding what you can do at work and when travelling.

All in all it's pretty thorough in covering all aspects of a Western lifestyle and would be great for both those starting out and those who are already carrying out green behaviours but want to take it a step further.  The one down side I would say to this book is the fact that it is written as if you are actually able to make those changes, such as you own your home, have a garden, and get to have a say in how your office is run.  All in all though, I would say this is a good reference book and I'm glad I have it to full back to when I need it.

Path Work - Carn a' Mhaim, Glen Luibeg & Coire Odhar

For the last few weeks we have remained in the Glen Luibeg area of Mar Lodge moving up to Lairig Ghru later on.  The first week was pretty varied and saw us finishing off the work that we had started on the path to Sròn Riach with the last bag of stones.

As before, this entailed adding a bit of stability to the path by adding step rises to steep sections of the path and doubling up the waterbars (which is adding another row of stones arterthe liners, effectively making it a hybrid between a waterbar and a cross drain) to hold the surfacing in place.  We had a good amount of stones for this but finding aggregate for the surface was more of a struggle.  It took three burrow pits to get enough, which meant a lot of landscaping to help reduce the visual impact of our work and to help the regeneration of the vegetation along the path.

On Thursday we started the work we would continue the week after on the path to Carn a' Mhaim.  There has been work carried out before on the steepest section of the path and we are working on a section just above this where erosion from water and footfall is affecting the path.  The results will be shown later on, but we working on this section by adding a stone revetment along the outside of the path and adding step rises through a central section of the widened path.  This should make a more comfortable walk for those using this path and also prevent it from widening further, damaging the surrounding habitat.

I'm not going to lie, the walk up the Carn a' Mhaim path was a real heart worker and I had to stop a couple of times, especially as we were carrying all our tools, but it was worth the amazing views we got during our breaks.  Anyone who's spent anytime outside in Scotland can tell you that you normally get all the weather in one day and this week was a real example of this.  As we were working at around 750m the change of weather was even more extreme, with beautiful blue skies and warm take your jacket (but not fleece) temperatures one moment and a snow blizzard the next.

We work a slightly shorter day on Friday so we tend to work further down the hill.  We had noticed on a walk up that a waterbar needed an extra work as it had a similar issue to the previous waterbar with the water moving down the path removing the surfacing from the path.  This was a slightly more unusual change due to the angle and size of the waterbar.  We started by adding an edging stone to the downhill side of the path, followed by two stones as step rises.  Stones were then added in between the waterbar liners and step rises to act as additional steps to increase the ease of getting over this feature.  More edging were added to help hold the features into place.  In this case finding the aggregate for the surfacing was a breeze, literally the easiest burrow pit we've dug so far.  We were also able to save a lot of surfacing from the draining section of the waterbar which had been washed down by the water and replace this back on the path.

The next week was back up the Carn a' Mhaim path to finish off the feature we had started.  This was a real struggle this time as the wind was particularly strong and was blowing me all around the place.  Unfortunately I didn't get a finished picture of this as we needed to get the work done and then get off the hill with all our tools as quickly as possible.  

We moved further down the path back to just above Robbers Coppice and added some more step rises and an extra side to the water bar to help keep the surfacing on the path rather then it heading down the ditch from the waterbar itself.

The last work was on some smaller work needed in Robbers Coppice itself.  My colleagues worked on adding some steps whilst I worked on a section where the water was collecting on the path.  In one section the water was running onto the path and pooling as the outlay had become blocked.  To fix this I  unblocked the outlay and then increased its size to reduce the chance of it being blocked again.  Right beside this there was a large puddle on the path where the water had collected but had no where to go.  Cobbles were added to this section to raise the path up and then surfacing added onto to make it an easier walk on.  The week after I added a step rise to help hold the coddles and surfacing in place and prevent the water from washing this away.  Even if water does remain on this section again it will no longer affect the path itself.

I also landscaped the areas I collected the surfacing from to give it a more natural feel, make it less construction like, and to help the vegetation grow back in the area.

The last week was mainly spent on Coire Odhar, a path which takes you from Lairig Ghru to The Devil's Point.  It's a beautiful path and is just above one of the most used paths in the Cairngorms, but it also a two hour walk in, all very good for your heart and health. 😀

Here was a very similar issue with the water bars.  The steepness of the paths meant that the surfacing was being washed off the path by the water running down the path and being washed down the waterbars.  Extra sides were added to the waterbars to reduce this from happening.

I realised that I haven't really been showing you the stone work being carried out as the after photos kind of hides the work that has been carried out.  I will try and remember to do this in the future, but I did remember to do it once this week and it I'll be finishing this next week.

As usual this job allows you to enjoy the landscape we work in and see some areas most people don't get to see from the usual activities they do in this area. Absolutely gorgeous!

Project Use Up Update #4

So this was definitely going to be the month were using up the products slowed down significantly.  The main reason is obviously I'm not wearing makeup on a daily basis now that I work outside.  However, I have needed the moisturising products more and so have been able to work on these more.

So, let's start with the Barbara Day eye primer.  We all know the score with this, I use it every time I wear makeup but you still couldn't see any difference from the outside.  I did get bored and swirled the brush around and there is now a section where the product has moved away from the size (finally!) and I most be half way through by now, but I just can't tell for certain.

The NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale is now my only concealer and is getting a lot more use.  However, I do only use this on my undereyes and so it is going down, just slowly. It will definitely take me the year though.

The Living Nature eye liner in Midnight is another slow mover in my makeup bag, but like the other products it is going down.  I am trying to do makeup looks which use more eye liner (especially as I am using the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Rose more), but it is still moving slowly.  Though I am beginning to think I might be able to get it almost finished by the end of this year now.

I have given all my lipsticks some love this month.  Once I had worked out that I could use the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Plum as a very pretty blusher I've stopped using it on my lips for now.  Instead I now mainly wear the Gosh lipstick in Rose.  I also bit the bullet and wore my MUA lipstick in Raven.  This lipstick was much more creamy and transparent then I was expecting and didn't really stay on my lips evenly when I first put it on, but I do still love the way it looks and will wear it again.

Since the Pacifica roll-on perfume in Island Vanilla is letting more product out every time I use it then it used to I'm now using this up a lot quicker.  Unfortunately the previous lines I had have now disappeared but there is definitely a big jump.  I wasn't wearing it to go to work, but have started wearing this everyday again which means that this will probably be gone in the next two months.

As before, I am completely forgetting to put the Argan Oil hair treatment on.  This is really something I need to remember to do everytime I wash my hair.  Thankfully, my travel brush makes my hair a bit frizzy which is a good reminder to regularly use this so I don't spend my time looking like I've stuck my fingers in the mains.  I don't use conditioner anymore so this is probably an important step I need to remember.

Now that the Neal's Yard hand cream is used up I've moved onto the Neutrogena anti-aging hand cream.  This is slightly different in the fact that it has SPF in it so it makes sense the put this on during the day.  This is a completely different habit for me and something I have never done before.  I've put it in my coat pocket to try and get me to remember to put this on as I leave for work.  The one good thing about this is that I can (and have) put it on my face to add SPF protection and a strong moisturiser.  The extremes of the weather means that the skin on my face takes a real beating so this extra moisture can only be a good thing.  It was full at the beginning of the month so there's only one line.

Lastly, the Burt’s Bees hand salve.  This has definitely taken on an important role in keeping my hands healthy over the last month.  Weirdly I don't think it's the work that is drying out my hands but the hand soap I use at the hostel where I'm usually staying.  At the end of every night I put this on my finger nails and along my knuckles.  The next morning my hands always feel a lot softer and it's definitely helped reduce the skin cracking I usually get.

See my progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products