Geograph - photograph every grid square

(The path is shown as it was, pre-improvement, in April 2014.)

See NS3482 : End of forestry track. As noted there, two routes (the John Muir Way and the Three Lochs Way) continue beyond the far end of the clearing shown in that picture. At the time the picture was taken, there is no track here, so following the route here involved following the red and white tape that has been placed, at intervals, as markers on the trees. The part shown here leads obliquely across the slope; not far ahead, the route turns ESE, to lead directly downhill, following what was previously the line of a fence: NS3482 : Route through the woods.

A quarter of a century ago, I would take almost exactly this route to get to the forestry track (NS3482 : End of forestry track) that leads across the high ground near Ben Bowie. It was in much the same condition back then, though the forestry plantation was less mature.

The present picture was taken on an occasion when I walked the Helensburgh to Balloch section of the John Muir Way, a new long-distance footpath that would officially be opened one week later. One reason why I was keen to walk the route in advance of its opening was that I knew that this section of it (if it had not been improved in the meantime) would likely deteriorate very quickly if used by more than the very occasional walker: the ground is very soft and yielding, and the slope steep, so that, if heavily used, it would become a mudslide. In addition, over the course of two or three decades, the previous path here was gradually rendered impassable by the tall conifers that were brought down by storms over the years.

This section of the route was later greatly improved: NS3482 : Path through Goukhill Plantation.

See NS3482 : Route through the woods for the same section, viewed in the opposite direction.