Cameron McNeish at the Cunard Suite, Clydebank College
A Wilderness Walk with John Muir
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Those people who attended Cameron McNeish’s presentation on A Wilderness Walk with John Muir in Clydebank College’s Cunard Suite were treated to a wonderful fusion of stunning images and fascinating words. The vista from the Cunard Suite is magnificent; you look down the length of the Clyde towards the Erskine Bridge, a view encompassing Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. It was all enhanced by the serene evening light. It was a very suitable setting for a talk which celebrated natural beauty and John Muir’s ‘Range of Light’.
Cameron explored the life and legacy of John Muir, the Scottish-born American conservationist. John Muir is one of the great pioneers of the conservation and the environmental movement. Muir realised that wild places had an intrinsic value and he spent his life campaigning to preserve various wilderness areas and ensure that they were largely free from human interference. His name is inextricably linked with the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and particularly with Yosemite National Park (his direct activism helped to save this area). Cameron told us how in his writings Muir expressed an almost religious reverence for these landscapes. Muir also produced scientific studies of nature but these writings never achieved the power of his better known books such as My First Summer in the High Sierra.
Cameron’s talk also explored his own experiences on the John Muir Trail through the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. This was a 220-mile backpacking trek through a wilderness area in which his party encountered bears and were a very long way from assistance should they run into problems. Cameron’s photos depicted the sublime scenery and he told us about the fascinating characters he met on the trail, their encounters with bears and the landscapes John Muir knew and loved. The photographs inspired a yearning to actually visit these places for ourselves although Cameron’s talk left us with no illusions about how physically challenging the John Muir Trail is.
The audience asked a wide array of questions, including one which provoked much discussion of the nature of the emotional response people often experience in wild landscapes. John Muir experienced something akin to the presence of the divine in mountainous landscapes and Cameron tried to convey the spiritual impact mountains have had on him. He also explained how urgently wild parts of the Earth need to be protected and he finally challenged the audience to “Do something for wilderness and make the mountains glad.” We were promised “philosophic contemplation, naturalistic descriptions, environmental pleas, idealistic speculations and feisty argument” and all of this was delivered in abundance.
Cameron explored the life and legacy of John Muir, the Scottish-born American conservationist. John Muir is one of the great pioneers of the conservation and the environmental movement. Muir realised that wild places had an intrinsic value and he spent his life campaigning to preserve various wilderness areas and ensure that they were largely free from human interference. His name is inextricably linked with the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and particularly with Yosemite National Park (his direct activism helped to save this area). Cameron told us how in his writings Muir expressed an almost religious reverence for these landscapes. Muir also produced scientific studies of nature but these writings never achieved the power of his better known books such as My First Summer in the High Sierra.
Cameron’s talk also explored his own experiences on the John Muir Trail through the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. This was a 220-mile backpacking trek through a wilderness area in which his party encountered bears and were a very long way from assistance should they run into problems. Cameron’s photos depicted the sublime scenery and he told us about the fascinating characters he met on the trail, their encounters with bears and the landscapes John Muir knew and loved. The photographs inspired a yearning to actually visit these places for ourselves although Cameron’s talk left us with no illusions about how physically challenging the John Muir Trail is.
The audience asked a wide array of questions, including one which provoked much discussion of the nature of the emotional response people often experience in wild landscapes. John Muir experienced something akin to the presence of the divine in mountainous landscapes and Cameron tried to convey the spiritual impact mountains have had on him. He also explained how urgently wild parts of the Earth need to be protected and he finally challenged the audience to “Do something for wilderness and make the mountains glad.” We were promised “philosophic contemplation, naturalistic descriptions, environmental pleas, idealistic speculations and feisty argument” and all of this was delivered in abundance.