AMONGST THE AVALANCHE debris, the rockslides and the fresh growth of spring, the mountains in the Glarus Valley don’t take long to reclaim the hiking trails. I’d had been cutting weeds and clearing rock since the first rays of sun tipped over the surrounding peaks that morning. By lunchtime, I and my companion were working without any shade.
I lowered my pick axe as an approaching backpacker passed us. He said he’d come from Belgium to hike the entire Via Alpina long distance trail. I recognised his tired but contented smile. A smile like that could only have been earned after many days spent hiking in the mountains. I’d often enjoyed the same feeling, but for once I wasn’t spending my summer walking a long-distance trail. I was helping to maintain one instead.
In 2022, I joined local hostel-owner Florian as a volunteer, helping him to carry out seasonal maintenance work on the marked footpaths above the tiny village of Matt, in the Swiss Alps. During my first stay in April, I watched the spring snow begin to melt, and the meadows beneath burst open with flowers. I’d watched as the same peaks succumb to rain, sun or more snow. By my second stay, in June, the mountains had come to feel like old friends, and the paths
