It was a cold Sunday morning at the start of Spring Break. Gathering in the Outdoor Adventures lobby at 5:00am with sleepy eyes, we loaded into Rafiki and the Peruna truck looking forward to a change of scenery when we woke up from naps in the vehicles (except for our fearless drivers, of course!). Embarking on the long drive out of Texas, the city skyline slowly morphed into ranches with cattle and eventually became long, seemingly never-ending plains of grass. After 10 hours, mountains emerged from the distance to reveal the base of the Rockies as we entered New Mexico. Snow-covered peaks atop imposing mountains surrounded us as we arrived at our first campground of the trip at Bandelier National Monument.

Participants immediately disembarked the vehicles after arriving, eager to finally stretch their legs, breathe the crisp mountain air, and take in the scenery. The leaders gave a quick demonstration on Setting Up a Tent 101, and participants caught on quickly, building their tents in record time. The leaders (Levi, Dr. Mitugo-Tuggs, and I) whipped up some rice and lentils for the group and utilized all containers of the spice kit per the request of the participants. The result was the finest instant rice and lentils in all the land! Eager to stay warm, participants constructed a fire. Levi and I proposed making s’mores to accompany the fire – a proposition which initially piqued the interest of only two people… Once the s’mores materials were out, however, participants flocked to try making their own – many of whom it was their first time ever making them. It was clearly a success, as participants fought over possession of the marshmallow bag and skewers and were left in awe at the joy of making s’mores. Preserving our heat from the fire, we headed to our sleeping bags and spent our first night out in nature.

The next day, participants woke up to build-your-own bagels that rivaled Shug’s. After refueling ourselves, we broke down camp and headed to the Grand Canyon South Rim. The drive on this day was a journey: starting off in the quaint mountains of New Mexico, we traversed across more flat plains, entered into awe-inspiring mesa deserts, and finally made it to the park after dark where the Grand Canyon had disappeared into the night. However, the next morning, we led participants to see the sunrise from Mather Point in hopes of a majestic reveal of the illusive canyon. Errant clouds impaired our view of the full sunrise, but we nonetheless saw rays of orange and purple sun cast upon the deep walls of the canyon, which made for quite a picturesque moment!

Once back at camp, the group made pancakes and brewed some Chai to fully awaken ourselves for the day ahead. With our bellies full of food, we packed back in the vehicles to drive along the rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping at various points of interest. After seeing the Navajo Point and Watchtower, we headed to a parking lot nestled in the forest to hike ~2 miles to Shoshone Point, a less popular destination for tourists but arguably the best vantage point of the entire South Rim. As we set out, the dense forest seemed as if it would never end, almost like we were heading away from the canyon! However, the canyon eventually emerged from the trees, and a cliff that offered 360-degree, panoramic views of the canyon came into sight. Hiking over to the jaunting cliff, we took in the unobstructed, breathtaking views of the canyon while eating some gourmet sandwiches we had packed for lunch. For the rest of the day, we individually explored the Grand Canyon South Rim Village. Some participants chose to get in a much-needed shower; I personally took the opportunity to do a 10-k run on the South Rim trail, which was the best run of my life!

The next day, we headed up to Zion National Park while stopping at some great waypoints conveniently on the highway, including Horseshoe Bend Canyon, which offered perhaps the most picturesque view of the Colorado River imaginable. We then stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam, one of America’s most important feats of engineering. We walked on the bridge hundreds of feet above Glen Canyon while internalizing the impressive strength of the dam in holding back all of Lake Powell. Before reaching our campsite for the night, we took participants through Zion National Park to catch the sun setting upon the Zion canyon from the Overlook Trail.

Waking up before the crack of dawn, we headed to Zion the next day early in the morning to secure a parking spot in the visitor center. Once we had found parking, we set up a build-your-own bagel station in the tailgate of the Peruna truck, which gave us fuel for the day of hikes to come. We then loaded on the bus, which took us first to The Narrows hike, where we walked along the Virgin River until the path dissolved into the water. Our next hiking endeavor was the Emerald Pools hike, which gave us all a challenging uphill ascent into the cliffs of Zion. We were generously rewarded by our ascent of the mountain, which enabled us to see the entire Zion Valley in the sun and waterfalls tumbling from hundreds of feet above us. The long morning of hikes fatigued the group, however, and we came back to the Peruna truck to renew our tailgate food assembly line, but this time with sandwiches. After refueling ourselves, we headed back to the campsite in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, where participants enjoyed some scorching hot showers at the campground (somehow way hotter than the ones back home) and a burger cookout. Participants even added their own touch to our meal, making a delicious type of chaat named Bhel Puri, which includes puffed rice, sev, potatoes, onions, chaat masala, and chutney. It was an absolutely delicious addition to the meal that reminded us all of the amenities of being back in the front country – especially tasty food! Participants then worked diligently to start a fire for the group and keep us warm for the cold night ahead.

The next day was a similarly early wake up, this time with the added novelty of a snowfall! I distinctly remember unzipping the rainfly to my tent in the morning to be greeted by an inch of snow falling on my curious head peeping out of the tent! We persevered nevertheless and quickly packed our gear into the vehicles to embark on a journey to the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. The day of driving was truly something special. We saw the unique desert landscape of Colorado, recrossed the Glen Canyon Dam, and entered Colorado to be greeted by the aftermath of a blizzard in the preceding days. As we drove into the mountains of Durango, the snowpack increased substantially, even to the point where there was still some on the road that had yet to be cleared! Rafiki and the Peruna truck saw this terrain as no challenge, however, and we effortlessly continued on, stopping in Durango for some Nepalese-Indian food to replenish ourselves from the drive. We then continued on to the Great Sand Dunes, arriving just as the sun was setting, which provided an impressive backdrop to the towering dunes. After the group had taken pictures, we headed to the intended campsite for the night, Zapata Falls.

Upon reaching the campsite, however, we realized it was completely overrun with snow and ice, rendering our camping plans useless! The leaders deliberated on alternatives and settled on camping on Bureau of Land Management land conveniently at the foothills of the mountain we were on. Participants got the full primitive camping experience this night as we had no running water or bathrooms. We were all nonetheless grateful for a place to camp for the night and tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags for one last time before the end of the trip.

Waking up at 4:30am, participants were surprisingly awake and eager to hit the road. The long ride back to SMU was filled with laughter, stories from the trip, and music from the various participants as we passed the AUX around the van. Most of all, we reminisced on the amazing trip that had so quicky come to an end. Arriving back at Dedman Rec Center, we had a group hug before parting our separate ways in search of a warm shower.

An enormous thank you to Levi and Dr. Tuggs for helping lead my most memorable trip during my tenure in the OA, as well as the wonderful participants for helping create lifelong memories from our time together!

-Alex Parachini, SMU Outdoor Adventures Trip Manager