Ethics professor and President of the Seminary of the Southwest, Dr. Scott Bader-Saye, loves to ask, “What is a thing’s telos? To what end was it created?” These questions help cut through the secondary functions of everything from sporks to the United Nations, and get to their essence. In the case of trails, their telos is connection.
Therefore, it is especially fitting to name a trail something like Limestone Link, the newest trail in San Marcos. Dedicated back in April, this one-mileish stretch of converted ranch land connects the River Recharge trail system to the Ringtail Ridge trail system. But it connects more than landscapes; it connects cultures and generations.
My family recently hiked the Death Canyon Trail to Phelps Lake in Grand Teton National Park, where I noticed a vast diversity of hiking companions: the French family with the special needs teenager, the dirtbag trail runners lean like living jerky, the Wyoming locals in jeans and hoodies and a myriad of families from Ohio, North Carolina, British Columbia, Beijing and San Marcos. We talked to them all, and we connected with them all on the trail.
While the Tetons brought together world cultures, Limestone Link connects San Marcos cultures: the college communities at The Edge Apartments to the Cottages at San Marcos; the suburbanites of Bishop’s Crossing to the ruralites of Country Estates; the mountain bikers of River Recharge riding hard with the Red Shoulder Hawks to the naturalists of Ringtail Ridge chatting freely with the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. Limestone Link serves as a miniature social ecotone, creating interactions between groups normally siloed off by Old Ranch Road 12 and preconceived notions. Trails are one of the few remaining places in our society where we can connect to the other. Not just across cultures or microcultures, but across generations, too.
As our family hiked the Fairy Falls Trail in Yellowstone National Park, a sweet moment emerged as my 13-year-old nephew gave my 3-year-old son a piggyback ride while my 38-year-old wife helped my 72-year-old mother down a rocky descent from Grand Prismatic Overlook. Generations separated by Paw Patrol, Snapchat, NPR and Fox News walked arm-in-arm, talking excitedly about the grandeur of nature.
I have witnessed that same sweetness emerge on Limestone Link. Teenagers and retirees watching in fascination as a skunk and coyote pup have a standoff, or the Kissing Tree hiking group swapping Painted Bunting sightings with a young parent and child. Trails connect us.
In his book, “On Trails: An Exploration,” Robert Moor says, “I now see the earth as the collaborative artwork of trillions of sculptors, large and small. Sheep, humans, elephants, ants: each of us alters the world in our passage.” Trails connect us, and in that connection, we have the power to better understand each other and our place in this world. Trails connect us, and once connected across cultures, generations, species, and landscapes, we can help sculpt a better path forward. So go hike Limestone Link, and see who you connect with on the trail.
