By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Have you ever wondered how long it would take you to walk to Vegas from Moapa Valley? A group of Boy Scouts and their leaders have the answer for you.
Over 100 individuals, plus support staff, took off from the Logandale Trails main trailhead area on Friday at 4:00 pm in an effort to hike 50 miles, through the back country, to arrive in Las Vegas within 24 hours.
Their carefully researched route headed up and over the old gypsum mine to the Ute clearing and onto the Old Spanish Trail. The group then followed historic trail for about 25 miles to where it met Pabco Road. They then took Pabco road to where it intersects Lake Mead Blvd in Las Vegas, behind the LDS temple. Finally, they arrived at the temple, where their all-night journey concluded.
The event was organized by the LDS Logandale Stake under the direction of Stake Young Men’s President, Darren Leavitt and other stake leaders.
“The purpose of an event like this is to prove to the young men that they can persevere through difficult circumstances to achieve a goal,” Leavitt said. “Learning to overcome physical and mental challenges can translate to other parts of their lives.”
Careful thought and advanced planning went into preparing for the event. The first stop for the boys and adults that were hiking was about five miles into the trek, where they were fed a dinner prepared by Oscar Henderson, Jack Johnson, and Clifford Peterson.
Rest stations were set up approximately every 5 miles along the trail where both boys and adults were restocked with water, snacks, fruit, granola bars, and other items throughout the night.
Support vehicles followed the group out on the trail. Although the hikers were encouraged to do the best they could, any that needed to take a break for a few miles in a truck were allowed to join the support vehicle group until they were ready to rejoin the hikers. Hikers were all allowed to move at their own pace throughout the night.
“Originally I thought we would all stick together as a group,” Leavitt said. “But then I realized that was really not feasible and was not the best way.”
Everyone that began the hike finished, although there were only about 40 of the original 100 that walked the entire distance without assistance.
The original goal was to finish the hike in under 24 hours, but the fastest group arrived at the temple shortly before 9:00 am. The last group came in by noon, meaning that the hikers had made the long trip in only 17-20 hours.
“It was a great success!” Leavitt said. “It was a massive team effort on so many levels. Many people came together to make it work from the planners to the support staff, cooks, hikers, and others. We were so worried and nervous about how it would go, but so many stepped up and turned it into a remarkable event.”
The event was called “March to the Temple.” It involved boys ages 16 and up.
Boys that participated said the hike was tough and that it truly challenged them.
“It was a blast for the first 20 miles or so,” said Gavin Henrie. “But then it got really hard. The rest stations seemed a lot farther apart than 5 miles. The hardest part was the last 3 miles.”
Henrie was one of those who finished the entire hike without assistance. He made it in about 19 hours.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I did it,” he said. “I learned that 50 miles is a long ways to walk. I would do it again if I had the opportunity, but not until I got a lot of rest!”
Fellow hiker Zach Anderson agreed. He also finished the entire hike unaided. “It was definitely a trial,” he said. “That’s a word I heard being used to describe it a lot out on the trail and it was true. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done up to this point in my life.”
Anderson said he spent a lot of time on the trail trying to get it into his head that it wasn’t impossible to finish. He said the best part of the hike was when he did finished and was reflecting back on what he had accomplished.
“I keep thinking that I hiked 50 miles in under 24 hours; that’s not something a lot of people can say,” Anderson said. “It’s a great feeling!”
