Path Work - Carn Crom, Derry Dam Bridge circuit, Clais Fhearnaig, Quoich Water path, Mount Keen, & Scolty Hill

We're now doing into are sixth month of maintenance and these few weeks as seen us doing a variety of different jobs, mostly on Mar Lodge.

Before

After

Before

After

Doubling a waterbar and adding a couple of step rises.

The last week in August was where we finished the work we were doing on Carn Crom of step rises and doubling water bars.  

We also cleaned the waterbars and cross drains on the Derry Dam Bridge circuit, 

and the Clais Fhearnaig path that crosses from Glen Quoich to Glen Lui.

That week we also carried out some work on what I am going to call the Glen Tilt path which works its way south from the Bynack Lodge ruin on Mar Lodge. 

Before

After

Stone let

This entailed clearing the water features but also adding in a stone let and raising the path slightly on a section that was having an issue with water logging on the path.

We tend to come across quite a bit of rubbish doing this job, just because of how we move around the sight, and never leave behind what we can pick up.  This is just a selection of the random things we found on that path - someone must have had a very bad bike day.

As well as cleaning the cross drains on the path to Carn an Fhidhleir (otherwise known as Carn Ealar) from the Geldie Lodge ruin.  We also checked the path to see if there was any damage which was not an issue right now but would need to be worked on in the future.  

Like many Cairngorm path this one travels from one estate to another and I love the way it just disappears as it leave Mar Lodge - like you're going into the unknown.

We also got to check out some amazing stone culverts put in by a contractor a few years ago.  Quite a piece of construction that is still holding up now and with stones found in the surrounding area.  That is quite a skill and I take my hat off to the people that put this together.

The next week saw us working on a construction contract rather than maintenance on a path beside the Quoich Water on Mar Lodge.  Here the bank on which the path sits has been eroded by the river, especially after the large storm a few years ago that caused large flooding in the area.  Walkers had made their own path through the area after the main path disappeared, but even this was now falling into the river and a completely new route was needed.  This has meant cutting a route through the heather, digging a tray through the remaining vegetation, roots, and peat, and then adding small stones, cobbles, and surfacing to make it a solid usable path which will hopefully last a while whilst the river carries on in its natural behaviour.  We're still working on this so I don't have any after pictures at the moment, but that will come.

The second week of September was another mixed week, with us clearing the waterbars and adding step rises to the south side of Mount Keen.  This meant me walking right up to the top as the waterbars start pretty high on this Ben and I don't think I've ever been so wind swept in my whole life.

We also worked on the waterbars on the paths around and over Scolty Hill near Banchory.  This is a lovely little selection of paths in a wooded area and is a little gem of the area.  However, there were a lot waterbars and a lot of ferns to have to shove yourself into the clean everything out properly.  I was very happy to not have to see another waterbar that week.

The last days were spent back at Quoich Water working on the construction of that path as was this week as well.  Unfortunately this week was cut short by Storm Ali with the sheer amount of rain brought in causing the river we have to cross repeatedly to get to the site rising beyond what our vehicle could handle.  We'll be doing a longer week next week and this will hopefully mean finishing this path so that it's completely usable for walkers again.  We'll just have to wait and see.  At least the vegetation is getting the watering it's been needing these last few months.

Deer and mist over the River Dee

I have no idea what these gelly like globs are in the little lochan
found on Glen Derry.  If you know please let me know.

As usual there were stunning scenery to look at, even in bad weather, and wildlife most of which I have no idea the identify of.  

Even the hostel we have been staying at in Braemar has its little visitors that make any bad weather worth going through.

Path Work - Cairn Lochan path, Fiacaill path, Windy Ridge, Beinn a'Bhúird, & Carn Crom

The start of the first week in July was spent on the Cairn Lochan path, which needs a lot of work done to it due to the level of erosion.  

Before

After

Before

After

On this path we added some double waterbar with additional steps above.  In the before picture I've kept in the stones that are going into the structure so that you can see the size of the size of the stones used to ensure their permeance.

We also added a few more step rises to help with the steepness of the path as well slowing the movement of the path surfacing.  As well as spreading surfacing along the path.

Before

After

The last day that week was spent on the Fiacaill path that takes you to the Fiacaill Ridge.  There was erosion along this path so it was needing step rises and surfacing added along the way.

The second week was spent completely on Windy Ridge on the CairnGorm Estate.  Even though we were low down on the path it still lived up to its name, apart from the Friday when there was hardly any wind and lots of midgies.

This is a very steep path with large steps and one of the most popular routes on this estate, so it needed a number of step rises added to the path a long most of the path to make the path easier to use and reduce the erosion on the path.  I didn't take any before pictures as the after are pretty self explanatory.

For the third week we were back on Mar Lodge Estate on the Beinn a'Bhúird path.

Before

After

After - ditching on the left

On a section that has suffered from particularly bad erosion we turned the waterbar into a double waterbar, added step rises, and a ditch along the side to reduce the amount of water actually hitting the path.

Further down the path step rises were added to a particularly steep section (I've only shown my work here).

Before

After

And more step rises in a section where there has been some signs of water erosion, moving the surfacing off the path.

The last week was spent on Carn Crom.  This path was interesting for me to go to as it is one of the path I did my training on last year.  We were lower down this time and in a section I used to walk by on a regular basis and is were the erosion had meant that the path is down to the base rock on one side and was we into the vegetation on the other.

Before

Before - where ditch will be

After

After - ditch

After - down hill

First was to add a much needed waterbar at the top of the steep section to reduce the amount of water rushing down the path.  We found a lovely but particularly large stone that took a little while to move, but which fitted perfectly and worth the effort of moving.

Further down I added a couple of steps to help with a section that was quite steep and should now help hold any surfacing in that area.  I'm really chuffed about this one as it looks like a very natural feature and you wouldn't necessarily know it's man made.

I also worked on a couple of step rises further down to, again, hold the surfacing in place as it's likely there will be water moving down the path just because of the base rock on one side.  As well as resurfacing the section.

Before

After

Then there was turning a waterbar into a double waterbar to hopefully reduce the amount of surfacing being lost here.  We had noticed that this was a particularly bad waterbar for surface loss and definitely needed some work.

And then more step rises and more surfacing, as always.  Working on this section was an interesting challenge as the stones had to be balanced against the base rock and placed to ensure they didn't slide down (which can be an issue when placing stones on base rock) but I think it worked out quite well all in all.

Unfortunately not a large amount of wildlife to be seen, but the weather was interesting with us back to the usual Scottish weather.  I don't think there was a day when we didn't spend time repeatedly taking off and putting on our waterproof jackets as the weather swung from cold, windy, and raining to hot, sunny and calm.  We also get midges this week, a rarity for us this summer.