Havasupai 2010

For lack of a more clever title, I guess it's time for the long-awaited post about my Havasupai adventure! I've been harassed plenty of times for paying to put my backpack on a mule, but this decision is what made the rest of the week so enjoyable! Last year, I carried my own pack and my hip couldn't take it. It was super hard to play for the rest of the week and nearly impossible to hike back out after it was all over.

The hike is about 12 miles down into the Grand Canyon, through the Havasupai Indian Reservation and into the very back of the campground. Then, our day hikes average around 5-7 miles round trip from our campsite, (the varience depends on where we end up and how many detours we take along the way.) We shoot for the best campsite, back from the trail and right above Mooney Falls. The hike from the rim is all desert and mostly out in the open. We left Idaho Falls at 5:30 am on Tuesday, drove through Las Vegas to Kingman, AZ and then on to the trailhead.

Day 1: Tuesday--the drive from Idaho Falls to the North Rim trailhead.

 

(chilling at a gas station in Kingman--the last civilization)

stopped for our "last meal" at Cracker Barrel and lingered in the rocking chairs

and then drove another 2 hours on windy, dirt roads to the parking lot at the trail head. We had a WINDY night's sleep in the car and in the dirt before we started hiking around 4 am. 

Day 2: Wednesday--hike down into the canyon, set up camp, and play at Havasu Falls.

We needed to get down into the canyon before the sun started glaring.

Keri, Jill and Bridget ready to start hiking in the dark.

the Brookes doing the same thing.

hiking along with my walking stick

as we neared the reservation, we started to see signs of civilization--and water!

Brooke, Kristine, Keri and Jami entering the village. It's funny to be in the middle of nowhere for so long with only rocks and cacti around you ... and then you come across fences and houses!

most of the yards look like this--clothes lines, horses, random refrigerators ...

they have a fun little community with lots of events. Too bad we hiked down on a Wednesday!

Des and I found a holy tree as we passed through the village.

after our LONG hike down to our campsite, we spent the day playing at Havasu Falls. It's just above all the campgrounds and is usually pretty crowded. The first day we were there was super windy! 

Bridget, Jill, Keri and Des playing at Havasu Falls

Des and me at Havasu Falls

Day 3--Thursday: Hike from the campsite, down the chain of death at Mooney Falls, hike to Beaver Falls and play along the way.

shot of Mooney Falls from downstream. Our campsite is just 30 feet upstream from the drop off!

David and Brooke towards the beginning of our hike, just downstream from Mooney Falls.

So much of our "trail" was through the water. Lots of climbing and lots of getting wet!

Keri "balancing" or swan diving at Beaver Falls.

Chelsie and Shayna hanging out at Beaver

I don't swan dive.

this looks like it'd hurt, but I'm pretty sure Skyler finished this rotation before he landed that time. It was the next day at Navajo Falls where he over-rotated and broke a rib. Oy!

shot of Beaver Falls from downstream. We'd been playing and jumping off from the top shelf in this picture.

Skyler flipping off by the rope swing.

hiking back to our campsite up the chain of death at Mooney Falls.

looking upstream at our campsite. See the hammocks?

Keri, Brooke and I hung our hammocks alongside the creek. It's awesome to sleep to the sound of rushing water. 

Day 4--Friday: for me it was more of the same stuff we did on day 3. Others went to the Colorado River or stuck around camp. There were 19 of us in all, but we seemed to be pretty split most of the time. We had a sort of Lost or Survivor thing going on. Us and The Others, or just two tribes. We're all good friends. Sad that we were split up!

Jill climbing down the chain of death at Mooney Falls. Here, the trail was so steep that you have to hang on to the chain and spikes they've driven into the rock as you descend. Parts of the trail cut tunnels through the rock as well. This was my favorite part!

Jill, Keri and Justin climbing down. See how steep that is?

Des and me. halfway along the chain of death, you emerge from a tunnel to see Mooney Falls.

parts of the trail weren't totally obvious, so we found ourselves making our own way around obstacles.

we jumped for awhile off Beaver Falls and then decided to continue down to a lower cliff. We jumped one-by-one off the 15 foot cliff to get to the lower trail, and David tossed all our day packs down to Skyler and Justin so they stayed dry.

view from above: Skyler jumping off the 40 foot cliff. 

view from below: me jumping off the same 40 cliff. I'm that splash you see there. I did it just fine the day before, but this time, I'm pretty sure I punched myself in the face. I came up and blacked out a few times. Good thing the current pushed me right to the sandbar!

me and Brooke eating lunch in the sunshine.

Des, Keri, Bridget, Skyler, Brooke, me, Jill, Justin and David after lunch below Beaver Falls. What'd we call that place with the cliff jumping?

the view from the trail on the way back up. About half of our group continued downstream to visit the Colorado River. 

David, Des and me. this was the part of the trail that reminded me we were in Arizona. Yucky hot desert!

this trail has obstacles! Brooke, Keri and Jill getting ready to descend the rope.

Brooke and Skyler climbing down the ropes. Stuff like this just adds to the adventure!

Several hours after my 40 foot cliff crash, Des pointed out that I had a shiner! No mirrors, so the camera was the only way I could see it. My face didn't even hurt! No wonder I blacked out ...

The rest of our group hiked on to Navajo Falls where Skyler did more flippies and his famous rib-breaking crash. Des, David and I took our time and found more fun places to play!

Des was climbing up this waterfall. I tried to talk her out of it because it looked too dangerous. 30 seconds later, I was up there with her. Don't tell mom I left my helmet at home.

David and Jami climbing back up the chain of death

Day 5--Saturday: taking down the camp--hiking out and driving home.

Duct tape prevents blisters. It works even better when it's purple. 

Almost to the top, looking down. I ended up hiking slower than the group ahead of me and faster than the group behind me, so I did 10 out of the 12 miles all alone. It was lonely, but I finished #7 out of #19 of us! Much better than last year, where I was DEAD last, and slowed others WAY down because I needed help!

Joe and Shayna were among the first to the top. They had to sit and wait for the rest of us. Man, we're tired, but what a GREAT week!!