WATCH: Highland volunteers maintain paths in Cairngorms with Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland
It’s not often in life you get to see immediate results, but life in the mountains does tend to be that bit simpler.
So many of us connect with the outdoors as an escape or an antidote to the everyday pressures and struggles we may face.
I’ve been walking in the Cairngorms for decades, making the most of the excellent opportunities to explore the mountains. Some, such as Meall a’ Bhuachaille above Glenmore, are easily accessible and therefore very popular with some of the millions who visit the national park each year.
It’s used by hill walkers, runners and even adventurous mountain bikers, all of which adds wear and tear to the path surface – along with the pounding it gets from the weather.
The Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland (OATS), a charity that focuses primarily on upland path development and maintenance, is playing its part to keep as many routes as it can in good working order.
We’ve all seen the difference a well-made and well-maintained path can make when we’re out on a walk in the wilds, but how many of us actually stop to think about how it’s looked after?
I went to the Cairngorms to meet up with OATS staff and volunteers, and lend a hand in helping to look after the paths over Meall a’ Bhuachaille.
The charity’s volunteer coordinator Eva Kubska explained: “Our volunteer programme is mostly based on path maintenance and mostly involves clearing the drains on the paths.
“Obviously Scotland gets a lot of rain throughout the year, so there’s always lots of erosion, and as soon as the water starts running down the path it creates lots of problems. There’s lots of drains built but they get filled up with the material coming down the paths, so it’s always good to keep this clear and keep the path in good condition.”
Armed with mattocks and spades, we headed up the hill with Ewan Watson, the outdoor access project officer for OATS, and volunteers Brian Macgill and Evan Holahan. We were also joined by Forestry and Land Scotland staff Stevie MacLeod and David McMillan.
There was plenty of work to keep us all busy, as each drain needed to be cleared of debris washed down from the path above, whether it was sand and silt or large rocks that were stopping the water from draining away properly.
It’s a good day’s work, but as Brian, a 68-year-old retired Highland Council worker from Inverness tells me: “I think most hill walkers are pretty fit, and if you keep a garden then you know how to wield a spade, so it’s not difficult – and it’s surprisingly fulfilling.”
Brian has been volunteering with OATS for the last two years and is a real advocate for the role. He said: “If you are a hill walker and you’ve walked paths, you know that some paths are maintained much better than others and you appreciate a well-maintained path. And suddenly you realise, well, they don’t maintain themselves, somebody has to do it!”
It’s definitely satisfying when you can see that you’ve made a difference – especially as the rain started to fall that bit heavier and suddenly we could watch the water change course and go where it’s supposed to as we worked.
Evan is a 29-year-old freelance photographer from North Carolina in the United States, currently living in Edinburgh. Since being in the UK he has joined the Cairngorms National Park Authority’s volunteer ranger programme.
“I really enjoyed getting up in the hills and getting out and about, so that was what prompted the idea of trying to tie something good and positive into this as well, which is why I looked into the park authority’s volunteer programme,” he explained.
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“It’s a way to enjoy your time out in the hills while also doing something that’s benefiting the community.”
On the other side of the hill, as we made our way down towards Ryvoan bothy, I helped Ewan clear a blocked culvert under the path – something which could have caused a lot of destruction if it had been left. Never has that gush of flowing water sounded so satisfying!
Ewan said: “The maintenance programmes are a huge benefit to Scotland’s path network overall. It means that we can maintain access to the paths in the national park – and further afield, and help people access the hills sustainably without causing further spread of erosion.
“Relying on volunteers we are able to cover a lot more areas and also encourage people to get out and help them think about their access to the hills and how they can help maintain them.”
On top of its volunteer programme, OATS uses contractors and works with partners to develop the path network and other facilities that provide access to Scotland’s outdoors.
It has been involved in the extension of the Speyside Way to Newtonmore and parts of the Moray Way, develops community path networks, builds bridges to open up routes and even constructs car parks, for example at the Fairy Pools on Skye.
It is also developing plans for a larger car park and path works at Stac Pollaidh, where visitor numbers have put serious pressure on the nearby single-track road as well as on erosion of the paths themselves.
Ewan added: “OATS are also working with Mountaineering Scotland on a project called It’s Up To Us to help fund path work on An Teallach which is targeting outdoor businesses and retailers, and getting them to think about their contribution to the outdoors.”
The organisation, which describes itself as “an environmental charity promoting sustainable public access”, is keen to show the bigger picture and give individuals – as well as businesses – the chance to get involved in looking after the infrastructure that provides opportunities for more people to access the countryside in Scotland.
One day of clearing drains on one hill makes you realise just how big a job it is to look after all the paths we are lucky enough to have in the Highlands – and the volunteering is good fun, too.
Ewan added: “For people to be able to come out with us and volunteer and do some good, while they’re out doing something they enjoy – all our volunteers are hill walkers, climbers, mountain bikers themselves, they all love being in the outdoors, so this is a great opportunity for them to come and give something back.
“It gives them access to volunteering opportunities to do something that’s positively benefitting the landscape and it’s also good for them – it’s good exercise, it’s good fun, and you get to meet like-minded folk.”
• To find out more about volunteering opportunities with OATS, see https://www.outdooraccesstrustforscotland.org.uk/volunteer/
Route details
Path repairs on Meall a’ Bhuachaille
Distance 7.5 miles / 11 km
Terrain Mountain paths and summit plateau
Start/finish Glenmore Visitor Centre
Map OS Landranger 36; OS Explorer OL57
Joining the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland volunteers on a path repair day on Meall a’ Bhuachaille in the Cairngorms National Park
Click here to see the route in OS Maps
