A path that remains usable after rain respects ordinary weather instead of ideal conditions.

Designing for the good day is a quiet way of excluding people on the bad one. Rain is not an exception in most places; it is ordinary, and a route that turns to mud whenever it arrives was planned for a photograph rather than for a Tuesday in November. The people who suffer first are those with sticks, buggies, wheels and poor footing. Everyone else simply gets wet.

Wherever you plan anything, ask what it looks like on the worst ordinary day rather than the best. That question tends to change materials, timings and budgets in useful directions.