A Wester Ross tourism expert is to retrace one of Nepal’s most famous journeys.
Gavin Anderson will follow the same trail that inspired the book The Snow Leopard by US environmentalist Peter Matthiessen – and he is travelling with the late author’s biographer.
In 1973, Mr Matthiessen and naturalist George Schaller took on a 250-mile, two-month trek to the sacred Crystal Mountain in upper Dolpo and its monastery, Shey Gompa.
That spiritual search for the rare snow leopard inspired Matthiessen’s 1978 classic, still regarded as one of travel literature’s most important works.
Shortly after the trip, the area was closed to visitors for decades and remains largely undiscovered.
Now that journey is to be taken once more, nearly 50 years on, with Anderson, who lives in Ullapool, guiding the expedition.
For the past 18 months, Mr Anderson has been running trekking tours into the region with his north-based company Nomadic Skies Expeditions.
Mr Matthiessen’s official biographer, US-based Lance Richardson, was looking for someone to take him on the route.
And now, the pair have announced that they are to walk sections of the original route; a mission which will anchor Richardson’s forthcoming biography, True Nature: The Odyssey of Peter Matthiessen.
Mr Anderson, 51, said: “When Lance contacted me saying he wanted to retrace that famous spiritual journey to Shey Gompa, it was all completely out of the blue.
“I actually read The Snow Leopard in my twenties and, later, when working in Dolpo. I have often tried to understand Matthiessen and Schaller’s original route from Dunai. It doesn’t follow the path used today but the journey we will be taking is based exactly around the original. It will be fascinating to learn what Matthiessen and Schaller experienced, but through the eyes of the Dolpo people.”
Mr Matthiessen, a fleeing Cold War CIA agent and environmental activist- who ascended to become a Zen Buddhist master- won a double National Book Award for The Snow Leopard.
He died from leukaemia in 2014.
Mr Richardson said: “When researching the trip, I came across a reference to Gavin and I sent him an email, with no expectations. But his enthusiasm made it a no-brainer for me.
“For me, part of our journey will also be to see how the landscape and culture has changed.”
The journey: In the Footsteps of Matthiessen, will take place next September but the pair are seeking 8 fellow travellers now, as they hone preparations.