They say Provo is boring. Straight-laced students can’t possibly have any fun. Have these critics ever heard of the great outdoors?
When I was a Scout Leader I rediscovered some great adventures in my own proverbial backyard. We had been planning a trip to Jackson Hole or maybe The Narrows. Canoeing the Green River was awesome but who wants to do the same thing again and again from year to year.
The biggest challenge is scheduling 15 and 16 year old boys for an outing together. Hanging out with other guys is not always high on the priority list. Cars, girls, and making money for cars and girls probably ranks higher. No, that’s oversimplifying it. A good outdoor adventure is enticing but they wanted it to be close and convenient. Provo delivered.
We camped up the canyon at Hope Campground. It was just enough out of the way to be roughing it for a night. We flew through the trees on zip-lines, rode horseback around a trail with a myriad of scenery and varying landscape near Sundance Resort, tubed down Provo River, albeit in the ice cold run-off, and found plenty of picnic areas for lunch before the day was through. It cost less and didn’t leave out any of the frills for the outdoor adventurist in all of us that was just waiting to be coaxed out.
I’m already planning on a future family vacation as an outdoor staycation in the Provo area.
