Havasupai

After months of planning, preparation, and purchasing, we finally got to Havasupai. There were 19 of us total that made the journey down: Tawny, Daunetta, Jordan, Talley, Alan, Scott, Sarah, Kally, Heather, Jory, Brian, Tyson, Jon-o, Cabe, Johnny, Brecca, Ryan, Dallas, and Cameron.

Here's how it all went down.

Day 1 (July 31): All of the different cars made their way to the trailhead to start the 12 mile descent into the Grand Canyon. My car (Daunetta, Jordan, Talley, Alan, Scott, and Sarah) got to the trailhead around 6 AM that morning. The hike down was started by about a mile or so of steep switchbacks. Once we reached the bottom of The Canyon, we hiked along a dried up river bottom. Our journey that morning was mostly shaded - otherwise we would have died of heat exhaustion. After about ten miles, we reached the town of Supai. This town is occupied by the Havasupai Indians. It's a pretty interesting place. Like out of an old western film, complete with the dirt roads. By the time we reached Supai, the sun was out and we were HOT. We stopped in a makeshift grocery store and cooled down by a giant fan. After paying our fees to the office, we put our heavier-than-ever packs back on and continued hiking to the final two miles to the campgrounds. Those final two miles were sheer torture. We were exhausted and the sun was beating down on us. But, alas, we finally made it to the shaded campgrounds. I was utterly spent at that point. But the shade helped and we set up our hammocks along the river and relaxed for a bit. We soon threw on our swimsuits and headed for the nearest attraction: Havasu Falls. This place was amazing. The water was the color of light-blue Koolaid. At the bottom of the falls, there are travertine pools that allowed for much exploration. We chilled here for a good part of the day before returning back to our campsite to heat up some dehydrated food. Yum.


Day 2 (August 1): You'd think since we hiked 12+ miles the day before that we would have wanted to relax the next day, but no, that's not our style. We started toward a place called Beaver Falls. We heard it was about four miles upstream. We first encountered Mooney Falls. As you hike along, you come to the top of this Falls and you must make the steep and slighty insane descent to the bottom to continue along. You basically had to go down a sheer cliff by hanging on to some rusty chains. It was a little nerve-racking. But we made it to the bottom of this beautiful spectacle. We continued along the river and came to this very quaint pool amid the river. There was this awesome rope swing set up in a tree. So we decided to stop for an hour or so and frolic there. This was one of my favorite spots. When we had enough, we kept going. And going. And going. Yeah, it seemed much longer than four miles. Most in our group were not equipped for an eight mile round-trip hike. Food and water was scarce. But soon the group reached Beaver Falls - which was nearly by the Grand Canyon National Park. Yikes. After our lengthy hike, you'd think, once again, that we'd want to rest a bit. Nope. Jordan, Talley, Alan, Scott, and I decided to hike to the Village (about four miles round-trip) to partake of their delicious Supai Tacos. This "restaurant" wasn't your normal eatery. You ordered from an Indian's family room window and sat on picnic tables in their backyard. This yard had a makeshift stage built where the contestants from "Miss Supai" were practicing. Classic.


Day 3 (August 2): We woke up early and ate some delicious blueberry pancakes. That's right folks, we made a poor mule carry in our camp stove. Don't tell PETA. But I can't say I'm sorry. I needed the carbs. Anyway, we went to possibly the coolest waterfall that day: Navajo Falls. This place was truly a magical place. There were so many nookes and crannies to explore. So many places under waterfalls to see. We didn't have as much time here as we would have liked, but it was amazing. When I come back, I will definitely spend at least a day there. We were going to hike out around 4 PM when the weather started to cool down, but it was cloudy out so we thought we would get a head start out. So we started to long journey to the Village two miles away. About 20 minutes into our hike out, the sun decided to show itself for the first time in two days. Great. It was so hot. I mean, I really hate the heat (and actually cold too, but whatevs). My body wasn't built for extreme temperatures. We started at a good pace and would rest when we hit shade. It was our only chance of survival against heat exhaustion. When we finally hit the mile or so of steep switchbacks up to the car, I wanted to give up. I mean, I try not to be too dramatic, but I couldn't help myself at this point. By the time we got to the switchbacks my foot, KNEE, and hip (all on the right leg) were aching. Most of our group was at the car, and my Mom and Talley were about a half mile behind Scott and I. I begged Scott to leave me to die about seven times during these switchbacks. And I was dead serious. I really wanted to be left behind. I as SO tired and my whole leg just hurt so bad. Praise the heavens for Scott talking me through this end part. I wouldn't have made it. Well, I would have...about three days later. So, after what seemed like nine days of hiking, we reached the car and headed back to Kingman, Arizona. We ate a delicious Denny's meal (bet you don't hear delicious and Denny's in the same sentence often) that was served by a fantastic waitress Gayle. Back at the hotel, I've never slept so well.

Day 4 (August 3): Not much happened this day except many hours of travel. I mainly wanted to mention that after months of searches and disappointing gift shop hours, I finally was able to purchase my highly coveted Hoover Dam pin. It made my trip.

All in all this was a pretty amazing trip. We were very glad that we made it there two weeks before the whole dang place completely flooded over. It has taken over a month for my knee to finally heal, but it was well worth the heat, injuries, and near-death experiences we encountered.