This weekend sees the launch of a major appeal to raise £100,000 to tackle erosion and restore footpaths on two of Scotland’s favourite Munros. <\/p>\n
With hundreds of thousands of people enjoying walking and climbing in Scotland’s mountains every year, campaigners hope to hit their target over the next eight months by encouraging the nation\u2019s hillwalkers to donate small \u2013 whether that be the value of a new pair of hiking socks or a new bobble hat. <\/p>\n
Mountaineering Scotland and the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland (OATS) are jointly leading the Scottish part of this UK-wide campaign which will support one project in each of Scotland\u2019s two National Parks. \u2018Mend Our Mountains\u2019 will enable vital path work to restore the ascent routes and surrounding habitat on Ben Vane in the Trossachs and Beinn a Ghlo in the southern Cairngorms.<\/p>\n
The path up Carn Liath, the most accessible of Beinn a Ghlo’s summits, has long been a highly visible scar upon a hillside which has a high nature conservation value, and is a prominent eyesore even from the A9, one of Scotland’s main transport arteries linking the Central Belt with Inverness and beyond.<\/p>\n
Ben Vane remains a popular mountain in the Arrochar Alps west of Loch Lomond, despite a badly eroded summit path which is peatbog in its lower section and higher up turns into a loose, stony streambed under heavy rain or a rubble chute in the dry.<\/p>\n