SPRING BREAK

OOVER

OVERVIEW

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Join us for a week long spring break road trip in Arizona! This experience will start with a flight to Phoenix, AZ, which is where we will officially kick off our adventure and finish outfitting our trip. After a night in Phoenix, we will travel north to Prescott, AZ, where we will camp for our first night outside. During the day in Prescott, a fun and historic college town in central Arizona, we will make the short trip over to hike near the Granite Dells and Watson Lake, which features unique granite rock formations, lakes, and miles of trails. Once we’ve had our fill in this area, we’ll keep making our way north to Sedona. This town and surrounding area features hundreds of miles of trails, scenic views in all directions, red sandstone towers and cliffs, historic nearby mining and ghost towns, and an improbable amount of biodiversity not expected to be found in such an arid climate. One could spend a lifetime exploring this region of Arizona. After two days of camping, hiking and sightseeing in this area, we will travel further north to what many may consider the grand finale of the trip– the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Once here, we will camp, experience our biggest day of hiking yet with a hike down to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon and back out the way we came, and do our very best to take in the overwhelming beauty of this iconic national park. After finishing our time at the Grand Canyon, we’ll make our way back to Phoenix for one final night before we fly back to PA.

 

Spring is a special time in the high elevation desert of central and northern Arizona. In the lower elevations the shrubs, cacti, grasses, cottonwood and juniper trees are blooming, while up higher over some of the mountain passes the red rocks give way to ponderosa pine forests that will likely still be covered with snow. Temperatures can range greatly during this time of the year between 30F and 80F, with relatively low precipitation and humidity. This trip will include 5 nights of tented camping, 2 nights of lodging in hotel/house-style accommodations, lots of hiking and exploration, and an unforgettable road trip through the heart of Arizona. Participants should prepare to come ready for adventure, challenge and the nourishment that tends to come from spending time in this open, wild desert country. All trip participants should come with prior experience hiking and the ability to hike on uneven, rugged established trails while carrying a backpack of up to 20lbs for up to 15 miles at a time with 2,000-3,000ft of vertical gain/descent.

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