John Muir on Hiking . . .
“Hiking – 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 la 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.”
~ John Muir, quoted by Albert Palmer in A Parable of Sauntering
Dr Bill Wooten 
I love it! Thank you for this interesting and enlightening post.
Russ
Thanks Russ
Reblogged this on Writing Out Loud and commented:
Now if we could just find a new word for parties.
Fascinating, Bill. It’s supposed to be a beautiful weekend here. Perhaps I should do a bit of sauntering in the White Mountains… 🙂
Sounds like a great plan Lori. Wish our weather was as accommodating.
Saunter, as evocative word as ‘moodling’…love it 🙂