#12 - Girl's trip to Hanksville

​This was our second girl’s trip with Megan’s friends, and it was bigger, badder, better (according to some).  We spent an additional night, and did a few more things, including attending church in Hanksville.  The Ding/Dang canyon was crazy and the landscapes astonishing. 

Click below right to read more . . . 

Itinerary:

Saturday March 9th: We hopped in the car and drove the 3 hours down to Hanksville.  We had some car problems, which delayed us by about 3 hours, but we finally arrived at the airbnb in Hanksville.  We took a drive for about a 2 mile round-trip hike over to the Wild Horse Window, a cool canyon cave/arch structure.  We came back for dinner and took a walk to a community park, where the girls saw some very cute guys on dirt bikes to comment on from afar

Sunday March 10th: We walked to the local ward building, and attended the lovely Hanksville ward.  Our gaggle of 9 girls made the YW class a whole lot livelier.  After church and lunch, we drove out the the moonscape overlook (about a 40 minute drive) and on our way back, stopped by the Desert Mars Research Station site, which had an ongoing group at the facility conducting research.  That evening, we had everyone prepare presentations, and we shared them all.

Monday March 11th:  We drove to the Ding/Dang canyon trailhead (about 60 minute drive) and parked and began our hike up and back.  It was a CRAZY hike/scramble/parkour event to get through the canyon and past all the standing water.  We hiked the 6 mile route in about 5 hours.  On our way back, we stopped at Goblin valley for a late lunch, and had some fun running around the hoodoos in the valley.  Then we headed back to the airbnb for dinner.

Tuesday March 12th: We awoke and had breakfast and headed out to return home to Orem.

Highs and Lows: 

Everything we did was pretty cool.  The Ding/Dang canyon was especially thrilling.  The primary challenge was navigating the standing water, and scrambling up and around, or stemming the sides of the canyon, to get past the water.  It was seriously exhausting over and over.  And some of the drops were long, and the scrambles were sketchy, and everyone overcame their fears and pressed ahead, and supported each other, and offered hands up, and pulls and pushes and it was awesome.  It was more of a canyoneering exercise than a hike and exciting to do with this group. 

The car breaking down was a pretty substantial low, but it all worked out in the end.

I asked the girls to offer some insight on the trip, and give us a glimpse into their own highs and lows.  Here is what I received, in all the emoji glory that can be had.

Megan Schaumann: Woooo 😇💅🤪💃 I love my girlfriends! How many teenage girls would be down to go on a trip for four days where they had to cook, clean and hike all day? 😱😮‍💨 Well at least 9 of us that’s for sure. We had such a fun time giggling all night 🌌 and walking all day ☀️🙌 and I got so much closer to all of them ❣️❣️❣️My fav part was walking around the “town” (like 20 houses tops) and taking pictures at sunset 🌆☺️  

Annabelle Moore: Hanksville... what words can even express what impression this little town had on my heart?? Probably none ;)) my only complaint about hanksville/the whole trip in general was that it was too short!! How can you expect me to be satisfied with such a short time w my girlies 😫😭I could spend forever w them and the Schaumann's!! Anyways my favorite part of the trip was definitely Ding n Dang!! It felt like an outdoor gym and you know how much I love the gym 🤠💪 I would do that hike 10 more times if I could!! Abelle 

Penny Scribner: I LOVE CUTE-LITTLE-KINDA-HAUNTED-HANKSVILLE!!!!! 🥳😍🫠🤪 literally the entire trip was SO MUCH FUN !! 😜😜 my favorite part was def ding and dang 🤠. and spa night 💋💅💅. and our photoshoot at the park 📸😁😋. and the dance party on the side of the highway when the car broke down 🥳. and the picnic at the car shop 😋😋. and the DI 😉. and looking at the pretty hanksville stars 😍🤗🌟. and going to the VERY haunted playground 😏😎. yeah so emmmm 😜 kinda the whole trip 🤗😅🤭. there is no senior trip i would rather hijack !!!! 😍😍

Kayla Pratt: Tiny town.... BIG memories🥹🫶🫡
I can't even pick a favorite part because any time spent or adventure shared with all of my best friends becomes my favorite. I loved taking all the pictures and making all the inside jokes and purely just being there with my girls 🤭😌💅💕 we remembered how strong and capable we are, trekking through ding + dang😎💪😮‍💨🤚we were reminded that ALL OF US are drop dead gorgeous models with the photoshoot in the road and at the playground🥰🤩🥵🤤 we couldn't go without telling everyone else that "we're just girls!!" while swooning over random guys playing kickball😏😉😘 and we all love a good cuddle puddle🥳☺️🛏️
My only complaint would be that Abby left too soon and Kass + Hailey came too late😫
In conclusion Hanksville has my heart 🤍 I love my girls (+ the Schaumann's😭🫶) and I'm not ready to grow up without us all in the same place

Lydia Taggart: Never did I ever think that I would consider the teeny-tiny town of Hanksville, Utah, to be one of my favorite places on Earth. But how can I not, now that I've spent some of the greatest couple days of my life with some of my favorite people there? From the epic bumpy roads, to the late nights watching movies and chatting, to the incredibly gorgeous hikes, it was an all-around blast! Ding-and-Dang was so crazy fun, and I felt like Spider-Man as I maneuvered my way through the narrows 💪🕸️ If only I hadn't fallen in... 🙈😅

Until the next time with these girls on the road!