Discovering Insights at Black Canyon of the Gunnison
It's not often that an experience leaves me breathless, but yesterday, my visit to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park did just that.
The South entrance is closed due to fire damage so we took off from Gunnison, Colorado on Hwy 50, and drove to the North entrance to the park via Hwy 92, which takes you through some breathtaking scenery.
Getting to Hwy 92 was a scenic treat, as we passed through Curecanti National Recreation Area.
The road is not heavily traveled, and there are plenty of stops along the way to get a prelude of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
It took us a couple of hours to travel this route to the park, but the scenery is stunning and worth the extra time.
Once we navigated to the North rim, we went to the campground and took the short hike, Chasm View Trail, that puts you at the edge of the canyon.
I mean...at the edge.
This was my approach to the first viewpoint. I was stunned. That little trickle of water down this canyon wall is the river.
It's hard to convey the sheer size of this canyon. You really have to see it to take in the scale.
I was overcome with emotion, thinking about how it took 15 million years for that little river to carve this out of rock.
This, of course, led me to contemplate the power of incremental change.
I stood there, on a rock shaped by 15 million years of incremental water flow.
What I realized is that my own self-hood is shaped not by the dramatic, book-worthy awakening story, but by the small choices I make daily.
Like choosing what I eat, drink and deem worthy of supporting my body.
Or choosing the tone of voice I use with people that need further explanation on something they don't get.
And understanding that a kind word travels farther and impacts more people than being an asshole.
I realized that we all have our own drops of water against the rock moments daily, and how those may seem insignificant in the moment, but they cut the canyon of our soul, character and general presence in the world.
We then decided to head on over to Telluride, and we had a very nice dinner and a relaxing walk around the downtown.
I'm not a winter person, but summer in this place is definitely heavenly.
A wonderful day, full of exciting and sobering realizations or reminders, depending on my state of mind.
Random fact about me: I prefer a skort to shorts or a skirt when traveling.