Day 1 - 11.06.2019 - Ben A'an Path Maintenance (conserve)

My first day of McLaren HS Junior Rangers was on Ben A’an with Rosie Winch from the ‘Mountains and the People’ project, who aim to increase and maintain path quality on mountains around both of Scotland’s National Parks. On the way up, we discussed some of the ways in which they monitor which paths need more maintenance than others, one of these being a people counter (image 1), a wooden post fitted with lasers to detect walkers going up and down the path. By using this data, the Mountains and the People can then see which paths are most walked and will require more work. We also had time for some STEM in the outdoors (image 2), by using a klinometer to measure the gradient of the hill (which was around 14°). 2.5km and 545ft later, we reached the top at around 12pm and had lunch with a view (image 3). On the way back down, we learned more about what Rosie does with volunteers for the project and helped clear some cross drains and water bars. Drainage is incredibly important on mountainous paths because if water is not diverted as it runs down the hill, it seriously erodes the path and increases the maintenance needed. They quickly fill up and frequently need to be cleared, which is what we helped with (images 4 is a before and after