The Volunteer's Tale - Making the Mountains Glad

Julie Catto

We set off with every intention of camping at Glen Nevis on Friday and Saturday nights, but driving up after work, and finding driving rain in Glen Coe at 8.30pm, we took a swift detour into the Clachaig Inn and found (as fate would have it) that the last spare room had just been released. We even made it into the bar in time for supper and a couple of drinks before an early night.

We easily found the rest of the John Muir Trust work party in the visitor centre car park on Saturday morning, for introductions and to get instructions and equipment. We were relieved to hear arrangements in place for people of different abilities reaching the summit at different times or options to do lower level work on the tourist path if we didn't make it to the summit (which we weren't altogether sure of when we set out).

Carrying the plastic trugs was an instant conversation piece with fellow walkers at each rest stop..."I have to ask you; what's with the bucket on your back" and allowed us to let everyone know about JMT's land ownership, management and conservation role. It was rewarding to get the moral support of many people on the mountain, and even better when one practical soul who we met on the way down decided to ask for a spare rubbish sack and join in.

The advance party who made it to the summit first did the lion's share of the cairn removal and rebuilding, however the slower climbers amongst us were able to join in once we got to the top. It was a shame the weather was so wet so we were in full waterproofs all day, and so no-one was inclined to linger longer on the summit than necessary. My top tip for the future would be to take hot drinks in case of a chilly summit, as well as plenty of water for the climb. The views below cloud level were great, and it was a special moment to come across the snow near the summit; someone we passed had told me there was a nice surprise at the top so I was glad to find they weren't kidding.

The amount of banana skins, tissues and cereal bar wrappers that we collected on the way down was disheartening; I think there is room for some preventative re-education about how much biodegradable material can be sustained at high altitude on one well visited mountain; (maybe in REALLY CLEAR LANGUAGE on a big sign in the car park), but knowing I'd left the area half a sackful of rubbish better than I found it was as personally rewarding as actually making the summit itself. It was also good to have a chance on the easier walk down to catch up with other members of the work party.

After the nine or so hours on the mountain in total and the 'mid-summer' weather still poor, we felt we needed to reward our day's labours with a hot bath and some creature comforts in a local B&B which fitted the bill perfectly at a bargain price. We will maybe rough it a bit more another time but that was just fine for starters.....