Podcast: Cameron McNeish and the Emotional Value of Wilderness Hiking

I'm so happy to finally see ads.

It will be good for BPL and good for the members!

Many thanks to BPL for the interview with Cameron McNeish. I had heard of Mr. McNeish but didn't realize he has the soul of a Celtic poet. Though I'm as much of a gear freak as the next guy, it's good to be reminded of why we get out there in the first place. By the way, I'm also a big fan of the writers mentioned in the interview. Emerson, Thoreau, John Muir, Cactus Ed, and Colin Fletcher have all tapped into something timeless and universal. Here's something from another kindred spirit from a different time and place:

"The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains."

Li Po (701-762)

translated by Sam Hamill

Thanks for improving the sound quality. I have heard Cameron on other podcasts, and have enjoyed him there also. It's great that BPL has reached across the ocean to bring us more variety.

Hey, great discussion with Cameron! The "Ramblers" Association sounds like they have been very effective in Scotland. It's encouraging to know the political activism can fight the good fight and win occasionally. Yet, I think Cameron touched on a more valuable means of generating support for wilderness when he mentioned sacrificing a bit of our personal pleasure in order to "give back" to the wilderness. We should actively pursue bringing a "newbie" into a wild place at least once a year. You'd have to give up some personal solitude, but the long term payback (one more passionate lover of wilderness) would be the greatest return on investment I could imagine.