What is Desert Adventures?

In March of 1980, a group of people got together one night for dinner and found themselves discussing the need for an alternative and better way to meet people and socialize other than in the bars. From that meeting arose Desert Adventures, an organization designed primarily to provide camping, hiking and other outdoor activities for members of our community. Since then, Desert Adventures has expanded its activities to include other recreational activities as well such as tubing, cycling, pool parties, hot air ballooning, 4 wheeling, IMAX theater, plays, trips to zoos, museums, botanical gardens and many other activities.

Click Calendar of Events to see the list of upcoming adventures. Check the calendar frequently as we are continually adding events.

How do I join Desert Adventures?

We are open to all adults who are at least 21 years of age. Joining the club is easy! Simply go to our Membership page. Once you have read the Terms and Conditions of the club click the Agreement button at the bottom of the form to submit your application. The application process will be complete once we receive payment for the annual membership fee, $25. You can pay your membership fee online via the auto-generated e-mailed invoice or on your Member Profile page. You can also pay by mailing a check to our PO Box listed below or even bring it with you to the next event. You can also download a copy of our membership application and mail it in with payment.

What if I need to update my information?

Click your Membership Profile and use the same online form to update a change of address (or other changes).

How do I get information about the activities?

You can get all the information from our Calendar of Events page. If you have additional questions you can contact the activity leader for the event or you can e-mail us. You can automatically receive updates to our Calendar of Events through an RSS reader by clicking the RSS Icon on our Calendar of Events page. You also can subscribe to our weekly E-mail Blasts in your Profile.

What if I need to cancel an event I have registered and paid for?

Official policy on refunds for most events:

• Register/pay- don't show up to the event/don't contact event host = no refund

• Register/pay- cancel before event by contacting event host = refund/partial refund dependent on event*

  *Contact event host for event specific refund policy or e-mail us.

What if I need to contact you, join, or pay for an activity via mail?

A message will appear in the bottom right corner if you have any unpaid invoices or incomplete registrations, or if you are lapsed, overdue, or within a week of your renewal date. You can pay any unpaid invoices by selecting one or more invoices then clicking the Pay online button. If you wish to join via postal mail, just download our membership application, complete it and mail it along with a check for your dues. You can also pay for an event or pay any invoice by sending a check (with a note as to what and who you are paying for) to our mailing address at the bottom of the page.

Do you have to be a member of the club to participate in an "adventure"?

No, all our activities are open to the community who are at least 21 years of age. Guests pay the non-member fee.

Why would I want to become a member if it's not required?

Besides being able to attend activities at the reduced "members price," you also receive a weekly Email Blast which describes all the upcoming activities & free Members' parties. We have a rebate policy which allows you to "test drive us" completely risk free! If you join Desert Adventures within 30 days of attending an event that you paid a non-member fee, we will apply the difference between the non-member fee and member fee to the cost of your membership.

What is the annual membership cost?

Membership is only $25 a year, the same as when we started in 1980.

How do you decide on what type of "adventures" to include?

Each adventure is led by a volunteer from the group and they choose what the activity will be. All they have to do is submit their activity proposal (members only) to the club's activities chair and they will help them with the details of arranging the activity and promoting it on our website. This is a great way to share a favorite activity with the group or sometimes a member will lead an activity that they've always wanted to do but didn't want to do alone (a trip to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens, for example).

Are most events held on weekends?

Yes. While we do hold some activities during the week, the bulk of our activities are held on the weekends. Campouts are usually scheduled for Friday through Sunday (some campouts are extended to 4 or 5 days). You are not required to attend all three days of a campout. Some of our members join us late on Friday night (after work) or wait until Saturday morning to arrive. Some of our members occasionally work weekends but they still find that they "get their money's worth" even though they only attend a few activities a year. If our membership shows an interest in more mid-week activities we can certainly add them.

Is Desert Adventures a dating service?

Desert Adventures is a social club for people to meet and participate in activates. While many long term relationships can credit their beginnings to meeting at a Desert Adventures event, we are not a dating service. The club consists of both singles and couples. We all know how difficult it is to start up a conversation with someone at a bar and not have them think it's a pickup line. It's not like that when you're sitting around a campfire or on a hike, and that's the point of the club— to make new friends in a comfortable environment.

What kind of people join Desert Adventures?

As everyone has noticed, when the Desert Adventures members gather for an event, we are a varied group! We are all unique members of a family that we choose to belong to called Desert Adventures. Based on the question, “How did you find out about Desert Adventures” from our membership applications we've discovered that most new members found out about the club from other members. We do our own best advertising! We gather for fun and to explore the beauty of the great outdoors. That’s our main objective. We enjoy each other’s company, we welcome new members and we support each other in many ways.

How did we come to choose the "Father Sky Yei" for the Desert Adventures logo?

As told by Brian Evitch, Founder of Desert Adventures:

It all started when we decided to have some T-shirts made up to promote the club and the club had no logo. No one had any ideas, so I decided to go to the public library on Central Avenue. Since we wanted a logo with a Southwestern flavor, I went to the Arizona Room to look through all the books and magazines that had something to do with Arizona's culture. While going through some old magazines, I came upon an old photograph that showed a Navajo Shaman and a traditional sand painting that he had been working on. In the next picture, a Navajo woman was sitting in the middle of the sand painting, and the Shaman was reciting some sort of incantation. Apparently, by sitting on the sand painting and by saying the right words, a person could be protected from all diseases. I felt that this was so apropos to our community and lifestyle that I decided to find out just which "yei" the Shaman had painted in the sand. It turned out to be the "yei" called "Father Sky."

"Father Sky Yei" symbolizes health and protection from diseases. The black bars are called "The Bars of Happiness" and symbolize happiness and good times. Beige T-shirts were used to represent the down-to-earth color of the sand that the "Yei's" are normally painted on.

(The name "Desert Adventures, Inc." and the "Father Sky Yei" logo are copyright and trademark protected.)