Zypy Kirubi, Tim Luttermoser, Nate Straffon and Brenna Taylor
In Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann, the chapter “The Mountain” contained one of the most difficult challenges for Aime Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt. Their climb of Mount Chimborazo in South America was cold, grueling, and oxygen depriving. Similarly, one of the most severe challenges for the four of us who are publishing this blog was our hike through Hawaii's Mount Haleakala. Haleakala is not as tall as Chimborazo, but was still a taxing hike both bodily and mentally. Even though the climates of each mountain greatly differ - Chimborazo being covered in snow, while Haleakala is hot and dry - both mountains tested the limits of their climbers.
The first and most obvious difficulties of either mountain are the abiotic factors. Our hike through Haleakala began at 10,000 feet, where the air is thin. As we traveled, the heat of the sun and the elevation took a toll on our stamina. Though it wasn't humid, the harsh rays were unrelenting. No one passed out or got sick, but a good number of headaches reigned and we all ran out of water. One of our tasks was noting any evidence that explained the relationship between climate and the biome. Not unlike Bonpland and von Humboldt, we were bombarded by external and internal sensations while attempting to observe our environment. Bonpland and von Humboldt persevered through far more extreme conditions than we experienced, but both our journeys were made for the sake of scientific discovery. Our own journey requires a sustainable balance between observing the many locations we visit and keeping ourselves rested, fed, and fit to travel. With heads aching and dehydrated bodies, we found it difficult to focus on the biology of Haleakala as we scaled switchback after switchback of a four mile mountain. However, our hardships were useful in understanding the harsh environment's effects on its inhabitants.
On top of the physical demands of both Haleakala and our greater journey around the world, we have to psychologically adapt to perpetually changing surroundings. While hiking in Haleakala, not only were we constantly noting our environment, but we were silently reminiscing on past experiences, urging ourselves onward, and contemplating our futures in an ongoing stream of consciousness. Such a process is a great metaphor for the demands of our 12-week trip. In addition to keeping ourselves healthy in unfamiliar locations, we have to mentally prepare ourselves for the cultural sights and situations into which we are thrown. At times psychological needs have to take precedence over physical demands. While enduring hardships, our internal dialogue provides a chance to study ourselves. In the novel, Bonpland notes that “a man who traveled far... learned many things. Some of them about himself” (Kehlmann 153). In our case, after each difficult journey, we experienced situations that put our personal convictions and our bodies to tests, thus baring the roots of our personalities and perhaps forcing us to transform and think differently. For Bonpland, von Humboldt, and ourselves, a great deal was learned about our perceived and actual limits.
In “The Mountain,” Bonpland, after some time, begins to hallucinate, believing he is three people instead of one: “one who was walking, one who was watching the first one walking, and one who kept up a running commentary in a totally incomprehensible language.” The three Bonplands represent three facets of our human selves: the physical (walking), the sensing (watching the walking), and that abstract, crazy voice that pushes random thoughts out of your subconscious at the strangest times (running commentary). We are forced to balance these characters daily: we must observe, we must process what we observe and we must oil the machine that observes. In addition, sometimes these periods of mental exhaustion, even on the brink of delirium, bring us to our most unusual revelations. In the midst of our intense travel we're confronted with sensations that push us out of our comfort zone and force us to see the world differently. We may realize we can do something we had never dreamed of; we may work and cooperate with people we had never felt we'd understand.
We started our journey with an optimistic intellect that could render everything possible. Our extraordinary minds allowed us to concentrate on our observations and dispel all melancholy notations of a journey been boring, exhausting and painful. We hadn't fathomed the changes we were about to go through, but each moment we spent on the hike reformed us both physically and mentally. Von Humboldt and Bonpland did not make it to the top of the mountain. “With or without the summit, it was a world record” (Kehlmann 151). They figured that no one would know the difference if they didn't reach the summit, but climbing to the top was one decision that they could have made using their wills.
On our hike in Haleakala, we had a similar moment where we had to decide if we wanted to extend our trail by going around an extra volcanic cinder cone. Our bodies were fatigued, but we strove to push our minds and bodies to the limit. We felt a need to attain something we had never accomplished before, and as a result we learned to deal with an array of challenging and stressful situations. Through this experience, we can more optimistically approach a potential hardship. We now appreciate the beauty of the challenge, not only because it brings us ego satisfaction, but because it will enrich our knowledge of the world around us. Such knowledge could change our attitudes towards both nature and people who do things differently from us.
We hope our experiences on this journey will help us to understand larger issues. Bonpland and von Humboldt returned from their expedition with a bounty of knowledge that benefited global society and reconfigured how people think about the world. Kehlmann wrote this novel almost two centuries after the events fictionalized within, showing that he considered the achievements of Bonpland and von Humboldt important. Even today, as the world faces new threats unknown to their era, their methods of viewing the world and working within it are valuable. We face the similar challenges of traveling, learning all we can, and returning to use that knowledge to better the world around us. Our experience is unique and full of breathtaking, unimaginably beautiful moments, but whether we decide to take responsibility using the knowledge we obtain will ultimately measure the worth of our experience.
Tim Luttermoser
luttermosertj at my.hiram.edu