Amy and I weren’t prepared for the imposing rock walls of Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. The immense limestone walls rise straight up around 1500 feet at almost perfect 90 degree angles. There is no transition, no gradual slope. The Rio Grande flows through the canyon and forms the border between Texas and Mexico.
Hiking the Santa Elena trail is an easy 1.7 mile trek, but getting to the trailhead definitely takes some time. Big Bend is vast. Amy and I wound our way through the park on Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive for more than 30 miles from Panther Junction Visitor Center to Santa Elena. That drive is a great way to see the lower portion of the park.
The super ancient limestone of Santa Elena rose up through tectonic forces and shaped the Mesa de Anguila. The river then carved it’s way through the limestone over eons of time. It’s like a mountain that’s been sliced apart. The size of Santa Elena and these great limestone walls is such that you can’t comprehend it from photos. To grasp the scale of this place, you need to experience it. You need to feel it.
The Takeaway
The strategic pursuit of meaningful experience is how we earn perspective and wisdom.
The Reflection
Experience drives home what we have been taught and reinforces what we believe. Having a full appreciation for the scale and depth of life demands that we learn from the experience of others and that we pursue our own experiences with strategic intent.
Field Question
What experience reinforced some larger truths and important lessons for you that had been mostly academic?