Aravaipa Canyon April 2001

Aravaipa Canyon Backpack Trip - April 2001

We arrived at Aravaipa Canyon's east entrance early on Saturday morning for our Wilderness Survival adventure - a weekend to test the skills we had been practicing for the last month...

It was a beautiful day as we started our hike down the creek. The Scouts' packs were light, as they had left their tents in the truck and planned to build shelters to spend the night in...We got to camp early and had lunch. Some Scouts began working on their shelters and practicing their firemaking skills while others explored the canyon.

Late in the afternoon we were surprised by the sudden blackening of the sky and an approaching storm. Hurriedly the Scouts moved their shelters (one of which had been built in a dry wash...) and worked together to build shelters on high ground. They used tarps, space blankets, duct tape, and lots of imagination and teamwork and finished just as the storm hit.

It was a long night for the Scouts, but they stayed (pretty) dry, spending the night singing and dodging raindrops. The leaders were all very happy to be warm and dry in the tents they had brought! Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day and a much needed warm campfire!

After breakfast we packed up and hiked back to the trailhead, Austin and Ryan leading the way with hiking songs....("Redneck Mother" is a hiking song???)