HELP WANTED: Need "outdoorsy" quotes!

[ADKatie]

As you may have noticed in the mock-up of the calendar for 2010, I'm including quotes for this design.

Please send some of your favorite outdoorsy quotes! Be sure to include the author's name.

I'll select my favorite 12 that come in and put them in the calendar.

Thanks, everyone!

[muddlermike]

well, here's my favorites:

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings." John Muir

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." John Muir

"The mountains are calling and I must go." John Muir

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” Edward Abbey

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit” Edward abbey

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." Henry David Thoreau

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau

"Reaching the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory." Ed Viesturs

"Crap. Did I take the keys out of my pack when we stopped to filter water?" me

[ADK88]

I'll just email them to you.

[hillman1]

"this would be a bad place for a leg injury"--me
"you definitely don't need to filter that water..."--3 guys on the npt
"that new ranger chick is cute"--numerous hikers
"first time on snowshoes--Allen"Me to Jenn
"20 thru-hikes, never carried a canister"ADK guidebook authors for the NPT
"do you want some cheez-whiz?"Adam

[adkdremn]

It would be neat to get some quotes from Adirondack related authors. While I don't know of any, I'm sure others do....great help, huh?:rolleyes:

Here are two I like,
"Mountains speak, and wise men listen." John Muir
"Let someone else climb the corporate ladder." EMS t-shirt

[1ADAM12]

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."- Henry David Thoreau

I just saw that Mike beat me to it....DAMN

Thunder is good,
thunder is impressive,
but it is the lightning
that does the work.
-Mark Twain

I like trees
because
they seem more resigned
to the way they have to live
than other things do.
-Willa Cather, O Pioneers


It is unfair to blame man
too fiercely for being pugnacious;
he learned the habit from nature.
-Christopher Moreley, Inward Ho!

Never does nature say one thing
and wisdom another.
-Juvenal, Satires

Silently one by one,
in the infinite meadows of heaven,
blossomed the lovely stars,
the forget-me-nots of the angels.
-Longfellow, Evangeline

This is my favorite:

Do you know a cure for me? Why yes, he said, I know a cure for everything. Salt water. Salt water? I asked him. Yes, he said, in one form or another, sweat, tears or the salt sea.
- Isak Dinesen

HAHAHAHA so true!

[Skyclimber]

What Grace Hudowalski's father told her when she was 15 years old, quoted from one of her letters she sent to me in 1991.

"It doesn't make any difference whether you reach the top, the important thing is how you make the climb."

Of course, my signature line was always a favorite by Paul Jamieson.

[1ADAM12]

What Grace Hudowalski's father told her when she was 15 years old, quoted from one of her letters she sent to me in 1991.

"It doesn't make any difference whether you reach the top, the important thing is how you make the climb."

I love it Marta :tup:

[Dick]

One of my favorites has already been mentioned, but I like the complete version, which I use for my signature below:

[Rookie]

"Afflicted by hiking"

-Neil Luckhurst

[TFR]

Not exactly a quote, but my wife sometimes says she has the '3500 foot virus'. It's a virus that is susceptible to air pressure, and when the 'victim' reaches 3500 feet, the virus explodes, 'curing' the person. :D

[TFR]

These lines ran through my head when I was almost to the top of Katahdin recently:

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be."

Josh Gorban

[Zer0-G]

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

(THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND - words and music by Woody Guthrie)


gee- that sounds familiar...

[1ADAM12]

"do you want some cheez-whiz?"Adam

I like this one :D

[tcd]

"Speed is safety in the mountains." - unkown

"If you carry bivouac gear, you will bivouac." - Yvon Chouinard

"I have clinched and closed with the naked North,
I have learned to defy and defend;
Shoulder to shoulder we have fought it out -- yet the Wild must win in the end." - Robert Service

"Out here, it's gonna be a LONG time before someone just happens to come by with a thermos full of hot chocolate." - unknown

TCD

[canoejr]

a bad day in the park
is better than a good day at work

[PA Ridgerunner]

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"

Robert Frost

[adkdremn]

"The sun is shining and the powder's bitchin" The Grinch

[randomscooter]

"Where the *&^%$#@! are we???"

[Mavs00]

"To countless people the wilderness provides the ultimate delight because it combines the thrills of jeopardy and beauty" Bob Marshall.

"The forest is a poor man's overcoat" Old northeast proverb

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.” Dr, Suess




"Beer is proof that there is a god, and that he loves us, and wants us to be happy" Ben Franklin (okay not outdoorsy, but my all time favorite)

[PA Ridgerunner]

"Where the *&^%$#@! are we???"

You reminded me of one from Patrick McManus:

"Jumpin' goshamighty, where in heck is we?"

[Skyclimber]

"heaven up-h'istedness" Old Mountain Phelps

A verse from the "Forty Sixer Song" by Reverend R. Ryder 1937

" Where old Seward spreads his shadow
O'ver Ouluska's den
With its dark and hidden caverns
Far from haunts of men,

There let me tramp 'til early nightfall
bids me stop and rest;
There with pals and God and Nature,
Will my soul be blest.

A verse from "Tahawus" by Orra A. Phelps 1940

Great Tahawus we salute thee
Mighty cleaver of the skies.
Of the summits of the forests
Thine the crown that towers most high.

[pete_hickey]

"There are two ways to ensure good weather for a hike in the Adirondacks, but only the third one works."

[Mark Schaefer]

These lines ran through my head when I was almost to the top of Katahdin recently:

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be."

Josh Gorban Although Josh Groban performed the most popular cover of the Secret Garden hit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Raise_Me_Up), the words were written by the Irish novelist and lyricist Brendan Graham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Graham).

[teejay]

"The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains."

Li Po

[Neil]

The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

-Either Scott Fischer or anonymous. I'll find out.

[bridgeman]

My own quote while ascending the herd path to Seward and getting a stick in the eye.

"That's gonna leave a mark"

[muddybottom]

Not a quote, per se, but since folks were sharing poetry/lyrics, I thought you might all enjoy this fun limerick...I believe I heard it originally on the annual Joke Show of Prairie Home Companion:

There once was a woman named Gert,
who liked to scale cliffs in a skirt.
She said, "It feels nice
on the rocks and the ice,
and it keeps those below more alert!" :eek:


Enjoy! :D

[XCTiger]

My favorite from "Adirondack Country" by William Chapman White

"As a man tramps the woods to the lake...he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1854, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

[ADKJack]

see quote below

[WinterWarlock]

"A man does not climb a mountain without bringing some of it away with him and leaving something of himself upon it." — Martin Conway

"Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out — it's the grain of sand in your shoe." —Robert Service

[Skyclimber]

"A man does not climb a mountain without bringing some of it away with him and leaving something of himself upon it." — Martin Conway


Scott I absolutely love this phrase! :)

Now here's another one Grace sent to me. Now please don't ask me who Kipling was because I have no idea.
She wrote: Kipling said it all when he penned:

"Something hidden, go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you...Go!

[Dick]

Scott I absolutely love this phrase! :)

Now here's another one Grace sent to me. Now please don't ask me who Kipling was because I have no idea.
She wrote: Kipling said it all when he penned:

"Something hidden, go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you...Go!

It is from Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The Explorer". Here is the entire poem:
http://pages.prodigy.net/krtq73aa/explore.htm

If you want to know more about Kipling:
http://www.online-literature.com/kipling/

Dick

[WinterWarlock]

Thanks Marta! and thanks Dick for pointing to Kipling's poem.

I carry a dog-eared copy of Robert Service's work with me on many trips...this is a good addition!

[Skyclimber]

It is from Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The Explorer". Here is the entire poem:
http://pages.prodigy.net/krtq73aa/explore.htm

If you want to know more about Kipling:
http://www.online-literature.com/kipling/

Dick

Thank You. It only took 17 years to find who he was. :)

[daxs]

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower Albert Camus

winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all stanley horowitz

[Naturlvr73]

Now I know the making of the best persons: to live in the open air, to eat and sleep with the earth.


I'm not sure if its Thoreau or Walt Whitman :oops:

[Naturlvr73]

I was remembver it worng it goes like this :

Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,
It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth


and its Walt Whitman

[geogymn]

" All the sounds of this valley run together into one great echo, a song that is sung by all the spirits of this valley. Only a hunter {hiker} hears it." Chaim Potok

Brackets and contents are mine.

[Neil]

It doesn't have to be fun to be fun.

When you think there's nothing left to burn there's still brain matter.

If no bones are sticking out keep moving.

Push til you puke, then push harder.

[Prino]

"It's only 5 more minutes to the top" ....Pete Hickey about a mile from the summit of Nye.

[looncry]

Snow: Snowman falling from heaven unassembled. Anonymous Looncry

[Jim C]

I always liked the closing line from a River Runs Through It, by Norman MacLean:

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

[geolobo]

"Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf" - Aldo Leopold

[The Poopsmith]

"Going to the woods is going home" - John Muir

[looncry]

"Going to the woods is going home" - John Muir

ah-nice..
''If only,if only,the moon speaks no reply;
Reflecting the sun and all that's gone by.
Be strong my weary wolf,turn around boldly.
Fly high,my baby bird,
my angel,my only.'' from an 88 year old woman:) Looncry

[chip]

“Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river.” (Lao Tzu)

[Winterberry25]

“Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no final pinnacle. We looked round in wonder. To our immense satisfaction we realized we had reached the top of the world.” - Sir Edmund Hillary

great quote for a big blue sky mountain shot.

[Neil]

Rik's reach shall always exceed his grasp, or what's a Mt. Jo for.

The reach of Looncry's posts shall always exceed my grasp, or what's a universe of spacially derived functions for. (ie. space is curved and time, like an ancient river, is always bending, bending)

[NumNum]

"If it's in front of you, climb it."

by me. :D

OR

"Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."

Robert Frost.

[neighbor]

is that a human skull???:eek:

[paul ron]

One of our favorites when winter backpacking....

Easier to stay warm that to get warm.

Another when snowshoing...
Who the hell is postholing the crap out of this trail?

[t46psk]

"Going to the woods is going home" - John Muir

I like that one.

also some of my personal favorites from my own ADK experiences:

"Yay Mud!"

"I just rolled my ankle, and it hurt less than an actual step"

"Nothing feels nicer than a Krumholtz massage"

[Magua]

true


Eighteen year old kid gets out of his CAR on whiteface and says to his friends

'Lets MAN UP and take the stairs the rest of the way'

[Raymond]

‘‘I guess it's like a mountain side,
You've got to climb it to the top,
Floating in a sea of dreams,
The only thing that you can see,
Is the view above the clouds.’’
Jeff Lynne, Electric Light Orchestra, ‘‘Above the Clouds’’
From A New World Record

[looncry]

My own quote while ascending the herd path to Seward and getting a stick in the eye.

"That's gonna leave a mark"

Happy Bday,bridgeman! Hiking Seward your most recent hike? Looncry

[Prino]

I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.
I get up, I get down.

Jon Anderson from Close to the edge!

[El Loco]

"When the morning's freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles quiver under the strain, the climb seems endless, and, suddenly, nothing will go quite as you wish - it is then that must not hesitate." Dag Hammarskjold

[gregoriousd]

"Secret Smile"
Sometimes when the evening's young
The wind dies down, the setting sun
Crochets the clouds with yarn so fine
And fills the oceans with red wine
The trees, the sky, the forest fair
Bring a flavor to the air
I raise my glass and in a while
You answer with a secret smile
An airborne leaf that landed near
Has carried Dionysus here
He'll slip away but only when
He sees our glasses filled again
- Anastasio/Marshall

[Nessmuk]

In the adventure known as life there are those that live it vicariously
and enjoy the ride from the safety of their armchair, and that’s good.
There are those who have a few chances to
realize the incredible life changing experience and though
they don’t repeat them, they carry a growth and
personal philosophy for the rest of their lives.
And then there are those whom for a taste is never enough,
for whom the lust of adventure is nearly insatiable.
And if you add to that the overwhelming
desire to create and share, then you get where I was,
at the end of one adventure it
only signifies the beginning of another.

- Les Stroud, Survivorman 02.22.09