Taming the Untamable

Michael Rossiytsev
6/6/16

There is not just one way to experience nature. Even opening a window invites the wind

to expand throughout our homes, or we can live out in a forest for two years next to Walden

Pond. Either way, that same wind that blows through Walden may be the same wind that you

allowed into your household. This wild characteristic of the wind is untamable and representative

of all aspects of nature. I personally decided to go out into the natural environment with a hike of

one of the more “challenging” trails, Mailbox Peak and view whether this wild environment can

truly be domesticated. Throughout most of the experience I couldn't help but think about

Cronon's text, The Trouble With Wilderness because of his description on the society's definition

of wildness. Though multiple authors had come to mind, Cronon was most relevant throughout

majority of the experience I had which consisted mostly of the trail path, discomforts, and the

wind because these are what stood out to me the most.

Travelling to the beginning of the trail was a journey in and of itself because of the

confusion of where the trail entrance was. The trail was recreated because the older path had

eroded and become dangerous. This immediately reminded me of Tempest Williams “Flora and

Fauna of Las Vegas” where humans get rid of the “pesky discomforts” (807) of nature for our

own comfort. I understand that hiking an eroded trail can cause injuries to visitors, however

what’ll happen when this new trail becomes old and dangerous? According to the writings of

Dillard, the natural environment carries a quality of danger, we can’t just merely remove that

quality and continue to call it a natural environment. It then becomes, like Cronon states in “The

Trouble with Wilderness,’ a “human creation” (1).

 Eventually someone had pointed me to the right direction and I was able to experience

this challenging expedition. The entire trip I was mesmerized by the trail itself. I had lost track of

the distance I've travelled until I reached the end. It was as if I was a lone driver on a long,

endless highway; traveling a constant speed and not taking time to appreciate my surroundings as

much as I would have liked. As I entered the trail, my immediate observation was the contrast

between the trail and its edges. It reminded me of the red carpet that they roll under celebrities,

except this one was a darker shade of brown. There were plants on the side of this carpet as if

they were the paparazzi, mesmerizing and taking mental pictures of everyone that walks on this

trail. That scenario aligned with the anthropocentric view of nature, where humans are separate

from nature and ought to be prioritized over the natural environment. Another thought crossed

my mind, this trail was created by humans for humans, so what I’m seeing on this trail was

created with a strategic plan in how the trail would look like. Recall Cronon’s statement that

“[wilderness] is quite profoundly a human creation” (1). The entire time I am walking on a trial

that’s been manifested by humans and further carved by a large number of hikers. We are

attempting to domesticate this wild mountain for the benefit of humans, so that they may feel

transcendental walking through a part of the natural world however this path was dedicated for

humans, so what else is there, not on the path, that I am missing out on? This connects to

Dillard’s chapter titled “Seeing,” where she uses her story from her childhood about pennies and

relates that to the extravagance of finding a natural phenomena such as red-winged blackbirds

feeding on a tree. What pennies am I not sensing? This forest must have thousands of animals

residing in it but I can’t sense a single one. Maybe that is what the path is diverting away from, it

may be designed to protect us from more, as Ellen Meloy would define it as, discomforts. Maybe

it is the opposite and the trail was constructed to protect the animals from humans. Though this
trail is not a perfectly constructed, symmetrical sidewalk, it is clearly a human creation, different

from the rest of the forest around it. In fact, why not just domesticate the entire mountain and

create the trail as a sidewalk? It’d be much easier on my knees and the quality of danger would

deplete drastically because people will not slip as often.

I personally experienced many discomforts: wet socks, headache, rain, aching knees, sore

muscles, mud everywhere and in the end, the view was covered by a layer of mist over the peak.

It’s as if the mountain purposely set up these obstacles against me so I can not reach the top and

“conquer” this trail. The malicious mud present throughout most of the trail had been intended to

get me to slide back down the trail, and it succeeded for a while; I slipped and fell on multiple

occasions. The elevated incline of the trail was set at a level to really test my endurance to the

point where I considered going back because I was exhausted. Finally the mist topped it off by

covering the entire view, as if I did not deserve such a scene, that no matter how much I think I

conquered this mountain, there is no way in beating this beast. There was nothing I can do to

ease my experience, I must endure this all-mighty and powerful creature and enjoy whatever it is

the she does supply me. Similar with the wind that cannot be tamed, this mountain, no matter

how high I hike, cannot be domesticated by me or anyone that hikes it. Even the trail the was

created for humans to ease their way into nature did not help me as much as it was designed to. I

am convinced that there's nothing we can build to protect us from the environments true nature.

Similar to a flower growing out of a crack of concrete, the natural world has its way to retaliate

against human innovation. No matter how far humans advance in industrialization - an

environment based on control - nature will forever be an uncontrollable part of our lives.

After I saw the mailbox about 20 feet ahead of me, knowing my legs have already

exhausted their strength, I use the last of the energy to reach the top. I took breaks along the
steep rise in front of me but I would not easily sit down for a break until I reached the top. The

final half mile was away from any trees, so the wind now hits me directly without any other

obstructions. However, no matter what this mountain’s methods of attack were, I finally reached

the topped but I didn’t even look inside the mailbox, I thought that I should just sit down because

of the trails toll on my legs. As I sat on this wet/hard/tough rock, all the discomforts I had

vanished. I am now sitting on the most luxurious living room chair that has its own fan to cool

me. The wind became less threatening and more gentle. The purity of the wind had no specific

type of aroma, more of just, air. Although the view was jeopardized by the mist, quoting Muir

“[the] winds are advertisements of all they touch” (98), so though I am not visually perceiving

any sort of spectacular view, I am feeling the other mountains in the snoqualmie region “into my

pulses” (94).

My hiking experience was nothing like the one I wanted it to be. I understand that what I

expected was unrealistic, I had created an image of what the wilderness was in my head and it

did not include the mud or pain of sore muscles. If we wanted to build a trail that had removed

the discomforts then nature will find a way to take it back, it will not change so easily for human

comfort. Though my experience was nothing like the one I had wanted it to be, after reaching the

top looking at the blank slate of the mist over the mountain, staring at nothing but gray all around

me, I knew that I could not overpower the natural world. Nature is immortal in the grand scheme,

it has learned the tricks to survive as long as possible and enjoy its presence on the land. Humans

on the other hand are a brief second in the earth’s timeline. Cronon was correct that wilderness is

a human concept, to further add to his insight, we cannot truly find a definition for our natural

environment but I don’t think that we have to. If nature wants to remove its misty cover to reveal
something to us it would, but we cannot force it because we do not have that influence to tame

this wild beast.