Book Review: LOCAL by Alistair Humphreys

benlcollins

March 5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The author begins by asking the question: is one map enough for a lifetime of exploration? Or to put it plainly, can his local area satisfy his wanderlust?

The author is renowned adventurer Alistair Humphreys¹ (National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year 2012 nonetheless!), whose wanderings have taken him around the world and across oceans.

But this is not a book about how the author finds dazzling adventures close to home. Instead, the author spends a year understanding and learning to love his local area, his "bog-standard corner of England".

Each week he chooses a different area — or "grid square" — to visit. Each chapter of the book represents one of these weekly outings to a new section of The Map.

What emerges from the pages is the author's childlike curiosity and excitement about his own backyard. Each chapter is brimming with details of hidden natural beauty, the minutiae of life and the people who live there. He sees the history of his backyard unfold with every step.

But much more important than those details, more important than those delightful surprises he finds behind each rock, are the bigger themes that emerge from this year-long project.

Questions of land access, land use, re-wilding, climate change, and ultimately, how much we care about the places we call home.

The books encourages you to ask yourself these big questions. It encourages you to cast fresh eyes on your own backyard. Why does it look the way it does? What forces are in play shaping the area? What will it look like for my children?

Reading Local in my local woods with a flask of tea. Life is good.

So much of the book resonated with me that it felt like it was written personally for me.

Like the author, I'm a middle-aged dad with a packed schedule. Throw in a pair of dodgy old knees and a dwindling appetite for risk, too. I notice my own metamorphosis has parallels to the authors'.

I tend to walk and bike instead of run and climb these days (although I have not given up entirely on those pursuits!). I'm as equally interested to learn about a new bird or wildflower as I am to try for a PR on the trails.

I was already headed in this direction, but this book gave me the encouragement to continue that path. It helped me embrace a more holistic experience of the outdoors.

And for that I am very glad.

Here are two practical ways this book has influenced my outdoor habits:

1. Learning About My Local Environment

After years of living here in blissful ignorance, I've started taking notice of the flora and fauna that also live here.

Each time I go out for a walk or bike ride, I aim to identify one new thing.

Luckily for us oblivious souls, there are fantastic apps (AI-assisted! All bow to our AI overlords!) to help with that:

From left to right:

I use the PictureThis app to identify plants.
I use the Merlin Bird app from Cornell University to identify birds by their songs. It's wonderful! (This was a tip from the book Local!)
I use an app called Rock Identifier to identify rocks on the trail.

Recently, I've enjoyed the songs of American Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, American Crows, Eastern Towhees, Northern Flickers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses, Eastern Bluebirds, and House Sparrows.

Another example: taking a new side trail in my neighborhood led me to this stunning thicket of bamboo that I had no idea existed in town.

2. Becoming Aware of Land Access Issues (an Obituary for Elk Ridge Trail)

At the top of my local mountain — the Stone Fort loop of Maryland Heights — is an old marker post for the Elk Ridge Trail. It's weathered but not that old. Notably though, there is no paint on the letters, so it's hard to read until you're up close.

Look closely and you can see an old trail name on the post as well as the old blue blaze on the tree.

The trail is still marked on hiking maps, like this one from Alltrails that I've annotated:

The Wikipedia page for Elk Ridge states: "An unmaintained trail leads along the ridge of Park Service land onto private property to Buggy Rocks and views east of Pleasant Valley."

It sounds lovely but there's a line of very clear "POSTED: NO TRESPASS" signs on the park boundary.

It's abundantly clear the owner does not want anyone on their land. And this being America, deliberate trespassing is a very silly idea.

I once met a runner who had traveled this path many years ago, but couldn't recall much other than it being boggy in places.

Who knows, maybe one day this trail will be open again, but I'm not holding onto much hope.

To balance this — because I don't want to close on a negative thought — the Trail & Town group here in Harpers Ferry has done tremendous work creating a system of new trails through Woodpecker Woods and the Ridge Street connector trail. We have miles of fantastic new trails to enjoy!

So yes, I recommend this book if you're at all interested in your local area. It'll encourage you to open your eyes more as you explore your own backyard.

And as you learn more, you start to care more. And that's the key message.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness is available wherever you buy books or on Amazon here (US site).

I once loaned the author my crampons and ice axe for a winter UK 3-peaks trip for a Sunday Times feature. About the closest my adventuring got to being featured in the broadsheets LOL!