In 1819, the renowned Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray walked from Aberdeen, Scotland to London, England in order to visit the natural history collection at the British Museum. If the modern M6 had been available to him, this would be a distance of 548 miles – one way. However because Mr. MacGillivray took a more scenic route that included Ben Nevis, the distance he walked totaled 837 miles; a distance he covered in approximately eight weeks.
If you’re like me, you have recently found yourself doing much more walking. I took it up in earnest last year in an effort to loose weight, better manage my stress level, and improve my overall health. However as a result of spending a portion of each morning putting one foot in front of another along the rural roads running near our northwest Oregon home, I’ve found that my awareness of the local terrain, wildlife, and even people of our area has very much increased.
As often as possible, I like to get away from the hustle and bustle of my life as a natural history writer and book reviewer (oh who am I kidding – I just like to get away from the computer and out of the house once in a while)…