The Mountains are Calling and I Must Go...

John_Muir_by_Carelton_Watkins_c1875 - the mountains are calling
John Muir by Carelton Watkins – 1873

John Muir, author of the popular quote “…the mountains are calling and I must go…” was born in 1838 and was one of America’s most famous and influential “Outdoor Enthusiasts.” He remains one of California’s most important historical personalities and is still known today as one of the Father’s of our National Parks. He once described himself as, a “poetico-trampo-geologist-botanist and ornithologist-naturalist etc. etc.!!!!

Famed documentary film maker Ken Burns recently said, “As we got to know him… he [John Muir] ascended to the pantheon of the highest individuals in our country; I’m talking about the level of Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, and Thomas Jefferson, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jackie Robinson — people who have had a transformational effect on who we are.”

One of the best ways to gauge the gravity of both him and his inspirational quote are by its’ prevalence on social media sites like Pinterest.com, Instagram. There you will find vast catalogs of beautiful photographs with his quote splashed many of them.

Origin of “The Mountains are Calling” Quote

So where did his “…the mountains are calling…” quote actually come from? Well, as you might expect, John was a prolific writer. Whether he was writing poetry for his own spiritual sustenance, or simply letters to his family back east – John Muir was always putting pen to paper. And in this case, his quote came from within one of his many letters written to his sister, Sarah Muir Galloway. In it he writes:

Yosemite Valley – September 3rd, 1873

Dear Sister Sarah:
I have just returned from the longest and hardest trip I have ever made in the mountains, having been gone over five weeks. I am weary, but resting fast; sleepy, but sleeping deep and fast; hungry, but eating much. For two weeks I explored the glaciers of the summits east of here, sleeping among the snowy mountains without blankets and with but little to eat on account of its being so inaccessible. After my icy experiences it seems strange to be down here in so warm and flowery a climate.

I will soon be off again, determined to use all the season in prosecuting my researches–will go next to Kings River a hundred miles south, then to Lake Tahoe and adjacent mountains, and in winter work in Oakland with my pen.

The Scotch are slow, but some day I will have the results of my mount mountain studies in a form in which you all will be able to read and judge of them. In the mean time I write occasionally for the Overland Monthly, but neither these magazine articles nor my first book will form any finished part of the scientific contribution that I hope to make. . . . The mountains are calling and I must go, and I will work on while I can, studying incessantly.

My love to you all, David and the children and Mrs. Galloway who though shut out from sunshine yet dwells in Light. I will write again when I return from Kings River Canyon. The leaf sent me from China is for Cecelia.

Farewell, with love everlasting

[John Muir]

Lake Tenaka
Lake Tenaka and the Mountains that called him: the Sierra Nevada – photo: wikipedia

Understanding the “The Mountains are Calling” Quote

Taken in its original context, it is easy to see an ambitious, disciplined, and wildly goal oriented young man; committed not only to the outdoors (as we commonly see him) but also to his work. Yes, the Mountains of California’s Sierra Nevada and Yosemite Valley were calling to him as they do many of us. But the full quote truly speaks to his work in those high places. Turns out, Muir wasn’t just talking about hiking for the sake of pure casual enjoyment, nor about lazy summer days that so easily come to mind when one reads that quote. Muir, however, was talking about the work he felt compelled to do in those beautiful places. He was determined to make a significant “scientific contribution” as a naturalist. John Muir was working in Yosemite, and working very hard. So while our popular use of his quote today may more closely tied to recreational time in the mountains, there is deep inspiration to find in it still.

For John Muir, his love for nature was only rivaled by his commitment to understanding and preserving it.

Daily he rose at 4:30 o’clock, and after a simple cup of coffee <he would write> incessantly…

Zologist and Muir contemporary, Henry Osborn

Discover more about John Muir at Basin & Range Magazine