[Conversation on the trail.]

Authors

In Palmer, Albert W., The Mountain Trail and Its Message

Files

Kimes Entry Number

A22-a

Original Date

1-1-1911

William and Maymie Kimes Annotation

One day when Albert Palmer was resting along a Sierra trail, John Muir overtook him and began to chat. Palmer asked, "Mr. Muir, someone told me you did not approve of the word 'hike,' is that so?'' Muir replied, "I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains-not 'hike!' Do you know the origin of that word saunter? It's a beautiful word. Away back in the middle ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going they would reply, 'A Ia sainte terre,' 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them."

Publication

Boston, New York, Chicago: The Pilgrim Press

Page/Column

pp. 27-28

Location

WFK

Recommended Citation

In Palmer, Albert W., The Mountain Trail and Its Message, "[Conversation on the trail.]" (1911). John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes (Muir articles 1866-1986). 623.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/623