# Everest: Just Don't Do It **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397 "2016-05-22T21:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 59
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1162 "2026-05-15T22:15:06Z")
šŸ˜² That canā€™t have been much of a finish line party. ā€œHereā€™s your medal, now get the hell out of the way!ā€ ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1163 "2026-05-16T00:50:36Z")
For the record, while I grudgingly admire the stamina etc. of the people who can pull off such feats (running from Whitney Portal to the Summit.e.g.) Iā€™m utterly opposed to such events. From 1970 to 1980 Mrs. Cretin and I did a LOT of extreme backpacking in the High(est) Sierra (the area between Bishop to the north and Lone Pine to the South), and buns-up athletic types running intrusive inappropriate marathons on the trails would have angered us beyond words. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1164 "2026-05-16T00:57:40Z")
> [@robby](#): > > The friend who originally forwarded it to me said something like, ā€œShe says you have to ā€˜negotiate boulders and, basically, hike rocky stream bedsā€™ on the trail? Yup, sounds like a typical trail in the Whites.ā€ A typical trail in the Whites? Heck, you could say ā€œa typical trail in New Englandā€. Freaking Middlesex Fells 10 miles from Boston has trails over boulders & rocky stream beds. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1165 "2026-05-16T01:16:56Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Freaking Middlesex Fells 10 miles from Boston has trails over boulders & rocky stream beds. If I got up from my home office right now I could be on some Fells singletrack in about 4 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1166 "2026-05-16T01:28:19Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Freaking Middlesex Fells 10 miles from Boston has trails over boulders & rocky stream beds. And the Fells are like a five-minute drive from a heavily traveled highway. More about the place, which is split by a highway and secondary roads and surrounded by heavily built-up suburbs: > **[Middlesex Fells Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlesex_Fells_Reservation)** > > Middlesex Fells Reservation, often referred to simply as the Fells, is a public recreation area covering more than 2,200 acres (890Ā ha) in Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, and Winchester, Massachusetts, United States. The state park surrounds two inactive reservoirs, Spot Pond and the Fells Reservoir, and the three active reservoirs (North, Middle, and South) that are part of the water supply system for the town of Winchester. Spot Pond and the Fells Reservoir are part of the Wachusett wate ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1167 "2026-05-16T04:33:54Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > ā€™d forgotten that. I knew that the original route, the Badwater 146, did go to the summit but it looks like the USFS made that too difficult to get permits. That route only lasted 2 years before they shortened it. Good! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1168 "2026-05-16T10:42:53Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I met Krakauer a few times, he was friends with our CEO and had an office in our building. My impression of him based on just a few interactions was that he was quiet and self-reflective. I can see him making those quotes. Iā€™ve read all his books except the last one (_Missoula_). Would be great to meet him. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1169 "2026-05-16T10:46:18Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > the High(est) Sierra (the area between Bishop to the north and Lone Pine to the South) Godā€™s Country. Beautiful country. The high Sierra. I always love it there. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1170 "2026-05-16T18:33:32Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > **Godā€™s Country. Beautiful country.** The high Sierra. I always love it there. Indeed. Marathon runners on the Whitney Portal to Summit trail would be like having demolition derbies in the Sistine Chapel. I hope this ends my hijack. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1171 "2026-05-16T18:56:03Z")
Glad to hear your hijack. I agree! ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1172 "2026-05-16T21:13:44Z")
Was not expecting to see so many Middlesex Fells posts in the Everest thread. Hi, neighbors! I can see them from my house (well, the roof as there are trees and houses in the way). Maybe Iā€™ll get up early tomorrow and do Long Pond. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1173 "2026-05-16T21:54:32Z")
I donā€™t get it. Why are backpackers allowed on trails but not runners? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1174 "2026-05-18T01:18:36Z")
Have you been to the Stoneham Zoo? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1175 "2026-05-18T04:11:20Z")
Itā€™s the Stone Zoo, which just happens to be in Stoneham. Itā€™s not named after the town, but of the former zoo director. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1176 "2026-05-18T19:53:49Z")
a million times. It used to have polar bears and gorillas and hippos in uhhhhhh not up to todayā€™s standards of zookeeping. It used to be free! And I know I couldnā€™t do Everest because after a day at the zoo, walking up where the rocks are, where the goats used to be and the yak and wolves and snow leopard currently are, Iā€™m totally winded. Could not climb a real mountain that kills people. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1177 "2026-05-19T14:28:00Z")
Iā€™m always amazed by the houses that literally back up to the Fells. As in you can look down from a trail almost vertically into their backyard. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1178 "2026-05-20T01:39:25Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Freaking Middlesex Fells 10 miles from Boston has trails over boulders & rocky stream beds. Rock Circuit trail for the win! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1179 "2026-05-20T02:01:35Z")
Iā€™m a Skyline fan myself ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1180 "2026-05-20T11:19:23Z")
Sounds like we need to start the ā€œEverest: Just Donā€™t Do Itā€ Middlesex Fells SDMB hiking club. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1181 "2026-05-20T15:11:55Z")
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