Hiking Havasupai

Hiking Havasupai has always been on Marci's bucket list. So when Shayla mentioned that she was going with Bob, and 3 of her brother in laws, I immediately asked if they had any extra permits. She said they had 1... so I considered going but I really didn't want to go without Adam.  So about a week before they were scheduled to leave, one of her bro-in-laws hurt his back and wasn't going to be able to go. So we jumped on the chance to go.  We did some last minute shopping for some backpacking stuff.... Marci needed a pack, sleeping bad, sleeping bag, and some decent pants and water sandals to hike in.  Adam got work off and we committed to go! Marci was so excited.  We left Sunday afternoon and drove the ~6 hours to get there- through Vegas and down through Kingman, Az.  Once we got to the top of the trailhead it was getting late so we headed to bed. Because we were the ones that drove Nana and Pops Yukon, we were the lucky ones that got to sleep in the car. It was windy and chilly.  The others put up there tents right there next to the parking lot and tried to get the best sleep they could. Let's just say that none of us got that great of sleep.  We woke up around 8 (at least it seems like) and then go our packs ready to begin our hike down on Monday March 14th.  It was awesome. I loved how diverse the scenery was. It started out dry and looking down in the canyon and we worked our way down in until we got down into the Supai village and then the campground/waterfalls.  I was expecting the hike to be pretty hard but going down hill it wasn't too bad.  It ended up being about 11 miles to get to our camp site. Once we got down there and picked our site, I think we were all more than ready to get those heavy packs off and set up camp.  On the way to the camp you went past a couple of the falls and they were amazing. The contrasting colors of the water were unbelievable.  Pictures def. don't do it justice. 

This was the first view of the water... the upper falls. 

This is still on the way down.... looking down on Havasu falls. 

Once we got a little bit settled we decided to check out another of the falls. (The biggest and most powerful) Mooney Falls. To get down to the base of it you had to climb through a little cave in the rock and then scale down the slippery slope holding on to chains. It was a bit terrifying at first but once you got the hang of it and made sure to have a good grip on things it wasn't too bad and actually fun in a thrilling way.  Getting to the bottom was awesome.  Well worth it for sure.  We made sure to get some fun pics here before heading back up the ladder and chains.   We ended up doing about 14 miles total on Day 1.  I think we were going to sleep well in our little 2 man backpacking tent all squished.

 The next morning we headed out to check out the remaining falls- BEAVER Falls.  To get there you get to go back down through Mooney Falls which is awesome in itself.  You then go about 3 more miles to get to Beaver falls. It is a fun hike where you cross the water and just enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

After exploring around there for awhile we headed back to camp, relaxed and just hung out for awhile and then went back up to Havasu Falls to wade in it.  We didn't do a whole lot of swimming because the water was Cold and it wasn't super hot out side the water to help you stay warm.  It was perfect hiking weather but not perfect swimming weather.  After that, some of us headed up back up the trail to Navajo Falls.  We were watching others cliff jump off a waterfall so after a little bit of coaxing we decided to go for it. Adam did it twice but I only did it once. It was freezing but refreshing... plus there was someone down below washing their hair and they were kind enough to let me have some shampoo.  So it was like a nice bath and I felt clean for the night---   We had another good night sleep and then woke up early to hike out of the canyon. Let's just saying going out was a bit harder than hiking in.  I would say 75% or so of the hikers have their packs packed out by the donkeys.  I am glad that I brought my own pack out but if I do this hike again I would def. consider having the donkeys help me out on the way out. haha.  We made it to the top by around 1130 am..... we then headed straight to Five Guys Burgers and got a fat juicy burger and fries.  This whole trip was awesome and so fun to be able to spend some time with Adam and the others. (Shayla, Bob, Spencer Wells, and Josh Fife).  It was a much needed break from the kids and from regular Mom life, as well as a break from electronics.  It is nice to not even be able to have access or service on occasion.  We would love to go back one day and have our kids see how amazing and beautiful this place was!