[pct-l] Sauntering vs hiking

[briandid at telusplanet.net (Brian)]

Heh all 

I was feeling pretty good about a ten day "sprint" version of  the JMT I just finished until I read the following excerpt from Albert Palme'rs book, The Mountain Trail and Its Message  published in 1911.  Palmer describes a lesson he llearned from John Muir on a Sierra Club outing:

    One day as I was resting in the shade Mr. Muir overtook me on the trail and began to chat in that friendly way in which he delights to talk with everyone he meets. I said to him: "Mr. Muir, someone told me you did not approve of the word 'hike.' Is that so?" His blue eyes flashed, and with his Scotch accent he replied: "I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not hike!

Muir would likely not be terribly impressed by the speed records that are being set by us hikers... then again he spent the summers rambling in the sierras when some of us are lucky to pry ourselves from the office for a week or two.

Saunter on!

Brian