Path work on Quinag

The John Muir Trust has recently completed work on a section of new path on Quinag in the Northwest Highlands. The new path is being created to join the Spidean Coinich slab route to the shoulder which has a hard and sustainable surface. The Trust hopes that the new route will provide an attractive alternative to the trudge across peat hags that some walkers are taking from the stalker’s path lower down and therefore prevent further erosion.

Stone has been harvested from boulder fields up the mountain and carried by helicopter bags to the new path site. The new section of path is around one hundred metres long and crosses one river at the end of the slabs before joining on to the shoulder of Spidean Coinich. To construct the path around 30cms deep was cut out on the level sections which was lined with a geotextile before being filled with several tons of aggregate. This means the path which is around 80cms wide “floats” on the peat and forms a relatively inconspicuous but durable across the peat moorland.