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The lower section of Ben A'an welcomed us with its dauntingly steep gradient, towering step risers and a slowly migrating surface that when climbing it, left me in no doubt that I was nowhere near as fit as I thought I was. The path was uncomfortable to walk on and had considerable scarring from where struggling people had lost their battle with the hill’s path and deviated off to the sides in hope of avoiding the conflict altogether. The path had become widened by the resulting erosion and in some places the vegetation was completely worn away. Armed with pinch bars, mattocks, spades, and shovels, digging bars, hammers, chisels and a winch, we arrived at our work site ready to tackle the task of creating a new, more comfortable route. The plan was to remove the steep, eroded section of existing path, re-route it and create a much more gentle and comfortable path that then joined up with the current path further along the way. The resulting path was 1 meter wide and the aggregate surfacing material had been won from borrow pits to create a natural looking walkway. Anchor bars were installed to prevent material migrating down the slope. Block stone pitching was also constructed as a hard wearing surface on steeper gradients where aggregate was impractical. Drainage features included water bars which were added to shed water off the path and a cross drain to channel water from above the path to the lower side. Drainage ditches were also dug to collect water and direct it away from the path. We used revetment for embankment and edge stabilisation, site restoration including re-vegetation and natural landscaping to make the ground look as if it had never been touched. Although our time on Be A’an was productive, it was also limited and the final section of pitching will land in the hands of a contractor. Once their work is complete, the new path will meet up with its older counterpart, ready for the public to conquer.

This image, taken early in our traineeship in upland pathway building, is a good one. As we become more fragmented in recent times, for a variety of reasons, it is good to reminisce about a time a short while ago when we were all together, raring to get going on this new challenge. Different ages, outlooks, backgrounds, hopes, dream, aims and ambitions, we'd all somehow converged in this one place, at this time. All managed to come through a testing and competitive selection process to get the much sought-after jobs in the first place. Us each being there, that day on Ben Ledi, was notable achievement in and off itself. We all aspire to different things, some to conserve the natural environment, others to simply seek permanent paid employment, others still looking for the sort of solace, mentally and physically, that only outdoor manual labour can provide. I personally fall into all those camps, especially the latter. So, being all different, a team emerged demonstrating various strengths and abilities, finding ways to work in tandem or alone, seeking our own strengths and developing skills. Eventually, given the nature of the course demanded time off, and placements with actual path building companies, the group started to disband, break up into fragments so that perhaps on 3 or 4 of us were together at one time, replaced by a different set of the same number the week after. Only on office days on Friday, catching up on paperwork, did more of us come together. But almost exclusively we'd all rather have been out on the hill. We, all of us, each have our issues, our challenges in life. They vary over time and in nature. But dealing with them, facing up to them, is where the true lessons lie. Many of us, I'd argue, are stronger and more rounded and less troubled as a result of such an interesting and challenging, even in just these past few months which have raced by. Never again will this group of people come together again, at least not in this context and at this time in our lives. The photograph captures the wide-eyed excitement, the concern, the realities, that we all face in life every day. It is relatively insignificant in and of itself, but for some (and I'd like to think I can include myself in this) it is a moment to look back on with fondness, for an exciting new venture was just beginning, and off the back of it even more interesting life opportunities have arisen.

Taking apart owl pellets to see what they have been eating. We talked about Barn owls all morning and then we looked outside and therre was one sitting in a nearby tree!! The cold weather had forced it out to hunt in the daytime.

In the spring we planted lavender and other pollen producing plants to attract the bees, having first cleared the bank of nettles and weeds.

After 6 very interesting and informative weeks of working on Craigmore we built approximately 130m of path. The finished path is a 1m wide aggregate path with anchor bars, water bars, block stone pitching and drainage ditches. Site restoration and natural landscaping was also an important feature of Craigmore’s path work. This included effective re-vegetation and natural landscaping using turf, rocks, waste and spoil won from excavations. With these materials we reinforced path edges, created mounding to block off alternative paths, desire lines and eroded areas. We also restored any damage caused during path works in order to make the ground look as if it has never been touched. For many of us on the trainee team, Craigmore was the first taste of path building so each day brought a brand new skill marinated in lessons to be learned. Although the biggest lesson of all was that in a very similar way to the uplands themselves, upland path work has its own highs and lows - but providing you keep going, the results are usually always hugely rewarding.

Having started my traineeship as an upland path worker in April, I have now well and truly reached the half way point of my journey. Throughout the past four months I have gained skills, understanding, respect and appreciation for the incredibly immense landscapes of Scotland. I have learnt about environmental conservation and the importance of upland path work and I have undertaken practical work that has helped to enhance and protect the wild and special qualities of the mountains within Scotland’s National Parks. The necessity of this work being undertaken is due to the increase in the popularity of hill walking and outdoor recreation, which in turn has led to informal paths developing, which suffer increasing wear and serious erosion. The impact of this erosion results in very large and obtrusive scars causing unacceptable visual impact, particularly in areas which otherwise appear wild and natural, as well as destruction to the surrounding habitats that are crucial to the residing wildlife. Sustainable and environmentally beneficial upland path work is desperately called upon in order to minimise the impact of this erosion, and restore sites to an acceptable and more resilient state. Building and repair work is done sensitively using techniques that will withstand the pressures of path users, and climate, but not detract away from the experience of walking through an awe inspiring, wild landscape. As I now continue into the second half of my training programme, I hope to continue to develop and utilise these skills and techniques within my own work, in order to contribute towards the ongoing efforts to conserve the wild and wonderful places of Scotland.

In what may seem like wanton destruction, and the antithesis of outdoor environmental conservation work, here I am being photographed hacking at the trunk of a young tree with my axe, as sure fire way as any of killing it off. Why on earth, I hear you ask? Well, in terms of biodiversity, an area too full of trees it not necessarily good for the whole. No light beneath the canopy to the forest floor, trees growing tall and thin without much root structure, a race to the top and to the light. In addition trees at different stages of life - and of death - can be good for biodiversity in a woodland. Species, insects etc, will gravitate toward dying trees in the way they will not to healthy growing ones. The decaying process, ironically, opens up the forest to more life. Creating a variety of different stages and ages of standing dead wood is the goal, a habitat in short supply, plus allowing gradual change of ground flora rather than sudden shock. So, as part of the volunteer task pictured, we set about a certain number of barks to 'ring', ensuring their eventual death. Optimum word being eventual, because it would be easy enough to saw the tree straight down, hand or chainsaw, but what is aimed for is the slow gradual decline and death of such trees, again aiding biodiversity overall. With more space left by these no longer growing, the more mature trees in the area, the already fully grown and beautiful looking native Scots Pine (Pinus Sylvestris) will only get stronger.

The image is of a 'cross drain' we built on a new section of path at Ben A'an. It is a neat example of why we do what we do, why upland pathway building is so important. Firstly, a path's number one enemy is water, particularly if it stays on a path, eroding away as it goes. Scotland, the last crazy few months excluded, generally gets a lot of water! So, in order to divert such water away from our path we create features such as this one. This will take water down a drainage ditch, across the path without damaging it and off the other side. Ideal. It has to be solid however, the stones need to be big and solid and tight up to one another, with any gaps in between packed well with smaller stones and material, hammered and chiseled tight. Without this water will find its gaps, it channels, and start to erode and undermine. In essence a path worker's job is to keep water off a path and people on it, so a further considerations is making the 'tread' of the stones, the top section people will put their foot on as they pass through, as comfortable as possible. As flat as possible and big enough to put a good sized foot on. If not, if the tread is jagged, uneven, uncomfortable, or even placed in the ground to high to step on, people are more likely to step off the path and around it. This is just what we don't want. Keeping people to the path not only guides their progress and makes our work worthwhile, it also potentially protects the surrounding vegetation and habitat, which could flourish without people wandering here there and everywhere all over it. Before this course I'd never really considered why such features were there, and why. I'm sure you see them and maybe wonder yourself. I hope the above helps explain the considerations and challenges and aims of upland pathway work and potentially provided a new-found admiration for the efforts of all path workers.