| Local Youth Achieve A Wilderness Experience | |||
| By Cole Bennett Camp Helaman Participant Published April 1, 2009 Beautiful mountain landscape, a cool mountain breeze, and the grunts and groans of a group of teenage boys and their leaders hiking up that mountain; yes, it was Camp Helaman. Camp Helaman is an event that has become a spring tradition for young men, ages 16-18, of the LDS Logandale Stake. The boys of the 2009 Camp Helaman hiked in the Mormon Mountain range, north of Moapa Valley, to the top of Moapa Peak. This years Camp Helaman started on |
 Local youth and adult leaders carefully maneuver the dangerous climb over Razor Ridge on their way to the top of Moapa Peak on Saturday morning. The hike was part of the annual Camp Helaman outing put on by the LDS Logandale Stake. Photo by Brian Sheldon. |
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| Friday night, March 27. The group assembled in the evening at a campsite at the foot of the mountain. There they enjoyed a tinfoil dinner, a small church history movie clip, and a talk by LDS Logandale Stake President Asahel Robison.
As the night drew to a close and boys got in their sleeping bags, scripture study and nervous whispering was heard throughout the base camp. The next morning, final preparations were made for the hike. Snacks and water amounts were discussed in order to lighten loads and still to fill the stomach. Oranges and granola bars were given to the hikers as breakfast to prepare them for the coming “ordeal”. The hikers and leaders met early. Songs were sung, encouraging words were said, and echoes of the distinct sound of Logandale Stake Young Men’s President, Corey Dalley whooping subsided…temporarily. Then, they started up the mountain. |
 The boys and leaders of 2009 Camp Helaman climbed to the top of Moapa Peak on Saturday, March 28. Photo by Brian Sheldon. |
Some boys would not go up to the top of Moapa peak because it had been a long hike before that and it was extremely high, and difficult. Standing in front of a long, high, skinny ridge the average person, who probably wouldn’t have gotten there anyways would turn around and go back. But after crawling on all fours over the ridge, the group reached the peak.
Before a motivational speech was given by Dalley (who whooped all the way to the top of the peek “encouraging” the scouts to keep hiking) paper airplanes were thrown and circled the peek, eventually to fall to the earth. One such airplane flew and looked as if it could fly forever- if the birds that did reside on the mountain did not attack it. |
| After a few momentoes were put in the box at the peek, the hikers rested and enjoyed the speech by Dalley, and a small speech based on Bishop Delmar Leatham’s prepared speech given by Brother Ron Dalley.
After a long and relatively quick hike down the mountain, a portion of the group walked into camp singing the hymn, “Called to Serve”. They came back to camp to a hearty stew prepared by Penn Leavitt. Another speech by President Dalley was given. The members of the group each received a necktie to symbolize that they had hiked the mountain. Dalley stated that, “the purpose of Camp Helaman was to prepare scouts mentally, physically, and spiritually for a two year mission.” Dalley also commented that the weekend went very well. “The hikers were safe, and unified,” he said. Planning for next year’s Camp Helaman is already in the works to spiritually enrich the minds of young men in the valley and to prepare them for an LDS mission in the future. |
