Beinn Dorain.Bridge of Orchy. A questionable path?

It must be twenty years since my feet and I tramped up the grassy path from Bridge of Orchy Station to climb Beinn Dorain. I have fond memories of the place as I've camped and stayed here with various clubs during my Munro bagging days. Must be over 30 times at least, sometimes camping beside the stone bridge near the Inveroran Hotel, at one time my favourite highland pub. Many musical evenings spent in there. I've been up Beinn Dorain at least five times but the last was two decades ago.

It was not the best of days as the forecast had changed from sun to mist and drizzle overnight but both myself and Ron decided to go up it anyway. It was a new hill for him. Nowadays most of my hill-walks take place on Corbetts, Grahams, and Marilyns so I'm used to faint tracks up mountains or, in most cases, none at all. Thirty years ago all but the most popular Munros like Ben Lomond,  Ben Nevis or Schiehallion  had the same faint paths up them. The majority of the more remote summits had no obvious signs of any previous visitors except for a modest summit cairn. Couldn't tell you what they are like now though.

Beinn Dorain is a popular hill and twenty years can bring about some radical changes but I was not prepared for the damage we encountered underfoot. The path in places in 2013 resembles the hillsides you see on the news from South America where they power wash gold and precious metals from the ground using giant hoses leaving only spoil heaps in their wake.. Same effect here using booted feet and the west coast's abundant year round rainfall. I'm as guilty as anyone else obviously with five ascents.

This is one path that needs some form of maintenance badly however as it can only get worse. It also brings, to my mind at least, the question of numbers on the Munros versus income generated for the economy against the cost of path maintenance. Certainly when I was bagging Munro summits we camped, brought food with us and contributed very little to the local economy other than tent fees and a substantial pub drinks bill. We liked a good swally then and still had money in our pockets when petrol was cheap. I'm aware some folk do far more as regards accommodation and sit in meals when they arrive. As I wandered up here however I found myself wondering how much the actual profit and loss measured up when placed on the scales side by side. Obviously it's a range of different bodies paying out for different things so it's too hard for poor old simple me to work out.

A number of new long distance walking routes have sprang up recently and some are already showing signs of wear and tear. Although they bring in some business for local hotels, B and B's and the like I often wonder what the real pros and cons of such 'concentration highways' on mainly grassy path networks are, given our climate. The cost of renewing this Beinn Dorain path professionally from railway station to col with a staircase of large stones and slabs; drainage ditches;maybe helicopter drops and a work party, is going to be considerable. A recent survey on the drier east coast was quoted at a quarter of a million pounds for two paths.
I'd imagine this example is only one of many needing attention.

Places like the Lake District of course, which I like for its dry clean paths, faced these problems years ago and most of the mountains there already have purpose built walkways running from roadside to summit. They also have £8 pound car parks, double yellow lines in almost every village and private land restrictions due to the numbers of visitors going there.
In another twenty years we will probably have much the same thing here in places like Glencoe as I've noticed an abundance of signs springing up with some amusement in places like Knoydart and Fisherfeild advising the visitor that... 'you are now entering a remote and uninhabited area'. (I know that's why I'm here.) In fact it's getting harder in Scotland  to walk into a 'remote uninhabited area' without a large sign informing you of that fact.  It felt even more secluded and uninhabited before all the large signs went up pointing at destinations in every direction. I  naively thought hill walkers knew where they were at any location in the UK now thanks to GPS and smart phones but apparently not.

Anyway, once over the spoil heaps and onto the ridge the mist and drizzle made an appearance. Usual summer weather on the 3000 footers. Luckily there was no wind to speak of so it was fairly pleasant.

Mist, rain and ridges for those that like that sort of thing. I'll not bother with a route description as it's almost impossible to get lost on this hill. Just follow the gravel and boulder highway to the top.

Young toad. Bet it was him causing all the upheaval and soil erosion! Bloody reptiles and amphibians crawling and hopping everywhere.

Loch Tulla from the hill.

Back down after an invisible clagged in summit we ended up here which brought back loads of flashbacks from yesteryear, sheltering from the rain. Some things never change.
Bridge of Orchy railway station.

On the walk back down from train station to car park I was sad to see the primary school and the old village hall lying empty. Had a few memorable ceilidhs and other social meetings in that wooden hall over the years, bouncing up and down with boots on.

As usual it dried up once we were back in Glasgow. A sunset shot of  parting rainclouds.
I enjoyed the walk but mainly for the memories. A real novelty nowadays having a hill day out in the rain but I still prefer the sunshine on the mountains so normal service will be resumed.

The news that bats lungs and internal organs may collapse flying close to wind farms and that pods of dolphins and whales might just have serious navigation problems with the undersea version (tidal turbines) highlights that this modern age can seem to throw up more problems than solutions every time we think we have invented a good idea. Not that I think wind farms are a good idea but it makes a point. The complexity of modern life....or maybe it was always complex but we were too unenlightened or uninformed to notice and just ignored it.
With the civil war in Syria raging on and the powers that be reluctant to get involved for one reason or another I thought I'd include this video by the only artist to have won the Mercury Music Prize twice. This song seems more topical than ever now with its open question at the end. I also like the fact that she includes the mistake on the autoharp, leaving it in. Very few artists would. The ever evolving PJ Harvey.