Here's your chance to post quotes about Whitney or about hiking or mountaineering in general. The following are some of the ones I've come across:
"This trail is good for maximizing my pictures per mile, not my miles per picture." - me
"Boys go to Baldy. Men go to Whitney." - a response I got after talking to an LA local about getting to the top of Mt. Baldy (Mt. San Antonio) in the San Gabriel Mountains
"Hike more. Worry less." - unknown, saw this on someone's T-shirt
"The mountains are calling" - John Muir, saw this on the entrance to Mammoth Lakes
"Going to the mountains is going home" - John Muir, saw this on the exit from Mammoth Lakes
"Mile 6.0 - The Poop Pool at Trail Camp. MUST FILTER / TREAT" - Doug Thompson, Mt Whitney guide book, "water sources on trail" section
"Nothing about climbing Whitney made sense. First, I probably wouldn't even get a permit. Second, even if I did get one, there was no guarantee that the weather would cooperate, and continuing to push on would potentially result in a helicopter rescue or worse. Third, I could barely run a mile without stopping and did not believe for a moment that going on a 22 mile hike at altitude was anywhere near my capability. Fourth, the logistics of obtaining the vacation time and scheduling the campground/car/hotel rental was in itself a challenge. And so on and so on. Any man in his right mind would have stayed home. But I couldn't stay home. For in my heart I needed to go, and the pull of Whitney's summit was stronger than that of any other force on Earth." - paraphrase of Tenzing Norgay
