Michael Yellowlees is our guest on the latest edition of Today in BC with Peter McCully.

In 2021, the musician left Tofino, B.C., walking to Cape Spear in Newfoundland with his Alaskan Husky dog, Luna.

Yellowlees, from Scotland, raised $80,000 for a 'Trees for Life' charity in Scotland and raised attention to the effects of climate change in his home country.

The journey wore through five pairs of boots and two kilts and Yellowlees says they faced all types of weather conditions during the nine-month trip.

“We were caught in snowstorms as we crossed the Rockies, walking over the Paulson pass and the snow is coming in sideways," he said. "When you are actually in that situation and the wind's blowing, the rain's falling down, the snow's coming sideways, it actually becomes exhilarating.”
The musician is retracing his steps from the 2021 journey this summer in part, as a musical project.

“It’s a way for us to relive the journey of last year and reconnect with all the friends that we've made throughout Canada," he said. "This is very much a musical project, so we're going try and collaborate with as many musicians throughout Canada as we can and raise awareness around what's going on in Canada, around climate change.”

Funds raised on Yellowlee’s 2022 journey will be donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Yellowlees has been working on an album of songs and invites musicians across the country to be involved.

“We can either collaborate together, get together and play a song together," he said. "There's a whole mix of songs. But really the message for the album is to join the fight, is to stand up. One of the songs we're writing is ‘We've gotta wake up and start a Revolution’. I think that's really the message we have to do. This is such an important cause.”

Listeners are invited to contact Michael Yellowlees through his Facebook page, 'Michael and Lena, a Rewilding Journey.'

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