Young Men's Havasupai Trip

Well, we finally did it! After three grueling days of hiking (52.1 miles in total according to my GPS), braving the elements (which weren't actually that bad), and combating the wildlife (mainly fox, raccoon, and jumping field mice which all seemed to be hungry), everyone made it home in one piece. Although everyone had at least a blister, scrape, and/or some sort of muscle ache. Any hardship, however, was far outweighed by the spectacular views, fortified friendships, and opportunity to teach the boys the value of sticking with a goal and relying on prayer (A sincere prayer was actually needed on the way home, because I almost ran out of gas! Who could blame me at $3.19/gallon?). All in all, the trip was action packed and very rewarding. Below are a couple of the 375 photos and videos that I snapped along the way:


Day 1.5 (Wednesday; October 3, 2007 (Day 1 was actually the drive up (~280 miles) and setting up camp in the parking lot) )

• Hiked 11.5 miles to base camp along Havasu Creek (somehow I did not come away with a picture of our base camp?)

• A stop at Havasu Village to visit with Elder and Sister Smith at the meeting house for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

• Hiked ~1 miles (round trip) from base camp to Havasu Falls

• Hike 2 miles (round trip) to Navajo Falls. The boys (and leaders) especially got crazy here and several jumped off the waterfall into the shivering water below (you be the judge on how high it was)

Taylor jumping off Navajo Falls


Day 2 (Thursday; October 4, 2007)

• Hike 22.5 miles (roundtrip) from Havasu Falls Base Camp to Grand Canyon CO River Crossing. Mooney Falls stop was amazing (~300 foot waterfall; no one was jumping)

Day 3 (Friday; October 5, 2007)

• Hiked 15.3 miles from our Base Camp at Havasu Creek to the parking lot at Hualapai Hilltop parking lot

Along the way, we

• Assisted the boys on 3 seperate service projects (pulling weeds, yard trash pick-up, and giant tumbleweed removal)
• Ate lunch at the church with Elder and Sister Smith
• Drove back ~280 miles to Chandler, AZ (made it to the nearest gas station outside Seligman with 4 miles to spare on the tank)