1 As I woke up early, I jumped out of bed excited about my day with the scouts. It was going to be an experience of a lifetime—hiking down the trails of the Grand Canyon. I packed my backpack as lightly as I could because I didn't want to be strained by heavy equipment. As I met up with the other scouts, I could barely contain my excitement. Little did I know what a real adventure it would turn out to be.
2 We were all stuffed into the crowded van to begin our journey from San Diego across the high desert into Arizona. It seemed like forever before we arrived. We turned off the main highway onto a dirt road that took us 60 miles before we saw anything, including plants--just a whole lot of sand. I wondered whether we were headed in the right direction. What would happen if our van broke down in the middle of the desert? We stopped at a house that had a corral full of mules. I was wondering to myself why we were stopping here. What I did not know was that the Grand Canyon was on the other side of the little house.
3 We got out, grabbed our backpacks and headed toward the Canyon. Our Scoutmaster filled us in on all the safety measures that we would need to obey while hiking down the trails. He emphasized the dangers of a flash flood. He explained that it could be sunny in our location, yet flooding up the canyon from us. I made sure that I remembered his warning.
