A man from Scotland has embarked on a walking journey across Canada to raise funds for a forest in his home country.
Michael Yellowlees of Dunkeld and Birnham, Scotland, left Tofino last week and will spend the next seven months walking a marathon a day until he reaches Newfoundland and Labrador.
Yellowlees and his Husky dog Luna arrived in Port Alberni the morning of Friday, March 5 in a deluge of rain. They had already been on the road for four days.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e been walking from Tofino to Port Alberni for the last few days and taking snaps as I go. People back home are very much commenting, itsa国际传媒檚 so similar (to Scotland), in your landscape and also your weather right now,sa国际传媒� he said.
Yellowlees is recognizablesa国际传媒攚hen hesa国际传媒檚 not covered head to toe in a rain ponchosa国际传媒攂y his distinctive red beard and his kilt.
Yellowlees is a veteran of long walks, having trekked across India on a personal journey in 2017. He has been in Canada for eight months, and admits that he has romanticized what it will be like to walk from coast to coast.
sa国际传媒淚t was almost a romantic notion; Tofino is known as the end of the road. I liked the sound of that,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淎lso with what Isa国际传媒檓 doing, it has a bit of a metaphor to it, because wesa国际传媒檙e talking about the end of the road in regard to the environment. We need to do stuff about this now.sa国际传媒�
While he admits theresa国际传媒檚 a sa国际传媒渢ouch of madnesssa国际传媒� to attempting such a trek during a pandemic and in a foreign country, he is doing it for a cause: to help Trees for Life, which is trying to restore the Caledonian Forest that once stretched from coast to coast across Scotland. The ancient pinewood forest was formed at the end of the last ice age, and its unique ecosystem is almost eradicated.
Yellowlees is raising money online and writing about his journey on social media. He is travelling with a guitar, and often starts or ends his days with a song he posts on Facebook.
sa国际传媒淎lthough Isa国际传媒檓 doing this for my own corner of the world in Scotland, itsa国际传媒檚 very apt across the board here, especially in Canada that wesa国际传媒檝e got to be looking after what wesa国际传媒檝e got. Isa国际传媒檓 trying to experience what you have here in regards to your wilderness.
sa国际传媒淧lease look after what yousa国际传媒檝e got here. Thatsa国际传媒檚 what wesa国际传媒檙e striving for in Scotland.sa国际传媒�
The distance from Tofino to Newfoundland is approximately 5,000 kilometres. Yellowlees thinks it will take him seven months to walk across the country, based on walking a marathon a day (42 kms or 26.2 miles).
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 going to take me a goodly while. Isa国际传媒檓 hoping Isa国际传媒檓 going to manage it before winter comes next year.sa国际传媒�
Yellowlees is pushing a small hand truck with his guitar and some supplies. Luna will be his constant companion while on the road. He acquired Luna after working for a few months with a sleddog operation in Banff before coming to Tofino, where he spent four months.
He was working at the Tofino Botanical Gardens before he left.
Yellowlees had raised $4,000 by the time he and Luna made it to Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal as of Monday morning, March 8, to continue their journey east.
Follow Yellowleessa国际传媒� journey across Canada on Facebook at . Anyone wishing to contribute to Yellowleessa国际传媒� journey can do so at .
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