Sam Harris is moving on to Varsity Scouts

One of my Scouts is moving on to Varsity scouts. Sam's a good young man and I'll miss him. Last night we were working on the Cycling Merit Badge and it was the last night he will be with us as a Scout. He's turning fourteen so he will be joining the Varsity scouts. Sure I'll see him and say hello but I'll miss his frank, unfiltered comments. You never have to guess what Sam is thinking because he'll let you know without malice or bias.

Havasupai - Scout Camp - Day 1 - The Decent

Below is a map of the Havasupai trail.

A key to hiking in the desert is hiking when it's not hot. We got up early, I think it was four in the morning. We then drove for about an hour and a half to get to the trail head so we could get checked in and begin our hike. If you view the above map you can see that it's about 10 miles to reach the campgrounds. There were a lot of people at the campgrounds so we would have to travel about another 1/2 mile into the campgrounds to get our campsite that we used for this trip.


Above is a picture of the Havasupai Ranger's station. Repairs were being done on this morning as we began our hike. Also, in this picture are the Scouts who are anxious to begin the morning's trek. The hike will be about 10 1/2 miles this day.


While on the switchback's I took a picture of the trail that lay ahead. This is the trail before we drop down into the canyon's where it is cooler. It is important that we get into the canyon's before the sun breaks the mountain tops where we were at.

Here's a couple of pictures of the trail experience. On left are some of our group, Jim, Jim, Sam and Josh. On the right is a mule train. You must always be on the alert for a mule train. Because if you don't get out of the way you could get run over.

We took a break as the sun was just starting to get to us in the canyons, before the Supai village. Next was the most breathtaking view. We finally saw the first waterfall. This is a picture I took of Havasu Falls. It falls over 100 feet and is one of the most photographed falls in the world. I could see why, because we had just hiked over 10 miles and were in a desert and then all of a sudden is a waterfall that looks like it belongs in Hawai'i.

Here's the view we had in camp for our entire stay. Darren set himself up with his hammock. He was taking a rest after our long hike.

After setting up camp we went up to see the Havasu Falls again. On the right you can see Lane hamming it up. In front of his feet was a little chute you could go under the little falls and pop up in the pool below.

Havasupai - Scout Camp - Getting There

For our Scout activity this year we planned to go the Havasupai Reservation to behold the wonderful beauty of the Havasupai's land. We traveled from Lindon, UT to a camping ground that was not too far from the Havasupai trailhead. For those that don't know the Havasupai Reservation in in Northern Arizona and is quite a distance for us to travel. In order to get there we went down I-15 in Utah, through Las Vegas, Nevada and then across the Northern part of Arizona.

There are no camping facilities at the trailhead so we camped at a place called Grand Canyon Caverns & Inn. Which was about an hour's drive from the trailhead. Here's a map that shows where it is. Our camping party included 25 people. We took three SUV's and a small group traveled in a car with us.

The Grand Canyon Cavern's & Inn had all the amenities we required: dirt to sleep on, a restroom with running water, showers, a pool and lots of open space. The boys got into a great two-hand tag football game the first night, so Jim and I went to the camp pool. While we were swimming Nighthawks came within inches of us while they were hunting for their evening meal in the dark.

You could tell it was a Nighthawk because of the white marks on the tips of its wings. My bird nerd neighbor would have loved to have seen the pair we saw that night.

On the way to Havasupai we had to cross the Hoover dam. Above is a picture of the three amigos, Sam, Josh and Ethan. Then there's a picture of the Hoover dam. I'm sorry but my sense of humor hit me when we were at the Hoover dam, all I could think of was "Vegas Vacation" and the following lines...

Hoover Dam Guide: I am your dam guide, Arnie, please don't wander off the dam tour and please take all the dam pictures you want. Now are there any dam questions?
Cousin Eddie: Yeah, where can I get some dam bait?


In this first picture we have the camp brain trust of Jim, Lane and Ben we had stopped for some gas and they were discussing where we were going to spend the night. Side note - Doesn't Jim remind you of Charlton Heston?! In the second picture we have made camp at the Grand Canyon Cavern's & Inn and are eating refried bean tacos. This meal helped propel the scouts on their long hike the next day.