Long distance walker and photographer, Chris Townsend, will be launching his new book on Thursday 21 June in Grantown on Spey.
Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams tells the story of Chris's walk along the 1200 mile Pacific Northwest Trail, which runs for 1200 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean through the states of Montana, Idaho and Washington. This is a wilderness route which much challenging terrain and remote country inhabited by bears and wolves.
The trail is in its infancy; a mix of signed footpaths, abandoned old trails, dirt roads, animal tracks and cross-country hikes that made route finding and hiking often quite difficult and sometimes potentially hazardous. Most nights were spent camped alone in the forests and mountains and the author often met no other hikers for many days at a time.
With three national parks – Glacier, North Cascades and Olympic – along the way plus many designated wilderness areas the trail passes through some of the most magnificent landscapes in the USA, many of which are pictured in the book in the author’s photographs, all taken during the walk.
Chris will be giving a presentation about the walk, accompanied with his quality photography and a discussion at the Grant Arms Hotel in the centre of Grantown on Spey at 7:30pm on 21 June. Admission is free, drinks will be available from the bar, and copies of the book will be available to buy.