So just to back track on things, for some reason I got it in my head that I wanted to go on a backpack trip to Havasupai. My dear sweet husband for some strange reason agreed to my crazy idea and back in August we called and booked our trip. If you know anything about Havasui then you'll know that you have to book it pretty far in advance, cause the permits go quickly. Of course when we called the only available time was in November but I wanted to go so bad I told Zac to book it!
After we booked our trip I went into research mode. I knew all the ins and outs of the entire trip that we would soon be taking. I read blogs, looked at photos and read everything on google that I could. I was ready. Now it was time to wait a few months and if the weather would allow it, we were going!
So everyday since we got our permits I was checking the weather. I had some good days where I got excited that everything was going to work then a week later there might be rain or snow….it was all just up in the air. I knew it was going to be cold no matter what so Zac and I started prepping by purchasing all our warm weather clothes. Finally about a week before our trip I checked the weather and the stars aligned. God answered my prayers and for that short 3 day period that we were going to be there it was going to be in the mid 60's! I know that doesn't sound THAT exciting but when you have been waiting for so long for a trip its the little things that matter….like having decent weather.
Saturday arrived and it was time to leave for our trip!! Our packs were all ready to go and we had a suitcase for after we left Arizona. We would be doing a lot of driving. Northern California to Arizona and then back to southern California and finally home to northern California. Zac got off work that morning and not long after he got home we were all packed up and hit the road. It probably took us about 11 hours to get to our hotel in Arizona. We decided to stay at Peach Springs which said it was about 2 hours from the trailhead however it ended up only being about an hour. If any of you are ever planning on making the trip I would NOT recommend staying at the hotel in Peach Springs. It is the only one and it is RIGHT next to the railroad tracks. Its never a good sign when you check in and they hand you ear plugs…..red flag. And that damn train goes by like every 15-20 minutes! It wouldn't be SO bad if they didn't honk that train horn every time they went by. So obviously our sleep wasn't the best.
The next morning we were up at about 7:00 and headed down to the lobby for our breakfast. It seemed strange that all the sudden we didn't hear the train…..but thats besides the point. I was so excited and nervous and just ready to get there that I wanted to just skip eating all together but doing a 10 mile hike requires having some fuel to work with. After breakfast we packed up our room and headed out for the trailhead. The road to Havasupai was very straight and flat so I think we drove a little faster then the speed limit. That two hour trip only took us an hour and before we knew it we were there! From all the research I had done I knew that the parking could be limited and we might have to park on the side of the road and walk to the trailhead. We were going during the "off season" so we found a spot fairly easily and got out into the probably 40 degree weather.
The view was just beautiful. I could just not believe that we were actually there. So I think by about 10:30 we were on the trail headed down into the canyon. I was a little nervous because although I had heard that the trail was fairly easy I knew that the first mile was switchbacks down into the canyon. We started off going pretty quickly and just like that we were at the bottom. The hike is easy but I will give a couple words or warning. 1) I think we went a little to quickly down hill and my poor ankles were struggling towards the end of the hike. 2) Although an easy hike the whole trail you are pretty much in a riverbed so you have to watch your steps with the soft dirt, sand and rocks. While we were hiking I kept thinking what perfect weather we had. You just couldn't ask for better weather. I couldn't imagine doing this hike in the summer it was probably sunny and 50 degrees and it felt perfect!
As we kept hiking we were running into quite a few people who were hiking out. Everyone was very friendly and greeted us as we walked by. We also ran into a few mules and some dogs. I know the mules seem like such an easy way to enjoy the trip. All you do is pay extra money and have them carry in your pack so all you have to do is hike….but these poor mules. I could not help but feel sorry for them. They didn't seem to be taken care of very well and I can't imagine it can be that good for them running up those rocky trails all day. If you do feel the want to go on this hike I suggest packing in all your own things or taking the helicopter in ( of course with an additional fee). You can stay at the lodge they have in the Supai village but with just walking through the village I wouldn't recommend it. The campgrounds and waterfalls are easy to enjoy but the village is pretty dirty, you almost feel like you are in a third world country.
Anyways, as you get further along on the hike the walls of the canyon get higher and higher and you start to see more greenery. Once you have reached the 8 mile marker you are just getting into the village. as mentioned earlier nothing to see there. As you walk through the houses and the "rodeo" area you finally reach the office where you can pick up your permit. Lets hope that you have one otherwise that is quite the hike for nothing. However with my research I have heard that you can show up and if you do NOT have a permit they will charge you DOUBLE the fee and let you in. I, however was not willing to test that out. By this time both Zac and my feet were hurting pretty bad I was wondering if I would be able to make it an additional two miles to our campsite. As we powered through and finished walking through the village we came to our first waterfall….Little Navajo Falls. It looked JUST like the pictures, that green blue water was amazing. It almost looks like someone had put food coloring in the water. It got our minds off our feet for a second but we had to keep going!
Before we knew it we could hear the rumble of water. It MUST be Havasu Falls! As you are hiking in you come right on top of the falls. We both stopped to look and again it met our expectations! It was beautiful. How were we in the middle of the desert and there is this beautiful oasis.
It was time to find our campsite for the next few days. Now again with all the research I had done I heard that you would want to find a campsite on the east side of the canyon because you would get a bit more sun. They were right. We crossed over a bridge and found a lovely waterfront campsite by the river. Our first morning there we got a bit of sun and it felt wonderful. But back to our first night. We didn't end up eating lunch but instead we made two dinners. After burning all those calories eating two dinners was easy! Plus we enjoyed one of the two bottles of wine I carried in (totally worth it). There are no campfire allowed so when the sun set it was off to bed but luckily we were tired from our long hike and ready to rest our poor feet! I didn't sleep very well the first night and was actually cold! What do you except when you are backpacking in November. Luckily the following night I fixed the problem and was nice and toasty.
The next morning we woke up excited to go explore but first came breakfast! We had packed all dehydrated meals and today for breakfast was juevos rancheros! It wasn't the best breakfast I had had but when you're hungry it does JUST fine. So after breakfast it was off to explore. At the end of our campsite was Mooney Falls and our goal was to make it to Beaver falls. Today was a little warmer, Zac actually wore shorts and I was in some leggings. We packed our daypack with some snacks and some sandals because I had read back a few river crossings on your way to Beaver Falls.
As we came to the end of the campgrounds we could again hear the rumble of water. We came right on top of our next waterfall, Mooney Falls. It was spectacular. I must say that this was my favorite waterfall out of all of them. I believe it is about 190 feet and the way down to the bottom is an adventure in itself! It starts off with a sign saying "Decend at your own risk" followed by a tunnel into the rocks with just spray painted arrows on either side. As you go through the darkness you come out to an opening where you get an amazing view of the waterfall….but your not done yet. The next part is a bit more tricky. There are large metal rods and chains stuck in the side of the mountain that you have to hold on to to get down until you reach a few ladders to crawl back to solid ground. All the time being covered in water from the mist of the huge waterfall!
The pictures just don't do it justice. Its one thing to see a picture but to actually be standing there in front of this massive rush of water just pouring over these almost brown/orange looking rocks. Stunning. After enjoying the view for a bit it was time to head forward to our next waterfall. On this hike we ended up having a total of three river crossings. I was thankful to have my Tevas to walk across with! Although I could of stayed in my Tevas the whole time my feet did get cold because the water was NOT warm, so I threw my shoes back on when I had the chance.
This blog post is probably going to end up being mostly pictures! But you know what they say, pictures are worth a thousand words. So after our three river crossings and a few more ladders and climbing up some rocks we made it to Beaver Falls. Beaver Falls isn't a very TALL waterfall but it has a lot all in one. The water is still beautiful (but cold) and still amazing to see. If we would of kept hiking past Beaver we could of ended up at the Colorado River but with all the hiking the day before and still having to hike back to really get to check out Havasu Falls we were fine with turning back to camp. I understand why people would love visiting this place when the weather is so hot, being able to play in that refreshing water would be amazing but I just don't think that I could make that hike in the heat. I feel like I still got to enjoy the views with an enjoyable hike AND less of a crowd.
We made it back through our river crossings, back up the slick rocks from Mooney and finally ended at Havasu Falls to finish our day. Since the sun never really hit the canyon this time of year it was time to head back to camp to warm up and cook our double dinners! Our day of exploring had come to an end and as soon as the sun set it would be time for bed and time to hike back out. We cooked our double dinners, enjoyed our last bottle of wine and tried to play a little cards before it got to dark!
Before we knew it, it was morning and time to hike out. As soon as we woke up we started packing up our things. We decided not to do a breakfast but instead eat some of our snacks that we had packed. On our way out we made sure to fill our water bottles at the natural spring towards the front of the campground. It was definitely chilly that morning but we warmed up in no time hiking out. Our feet felt much better then on the hike in. We were planning on it taking us about 5 hours to hike back out. We figured we would be moving a little more slowly then on the way in AND we had those switchbacks to go back up right at the very end which I was not looking forward to it. We made it to the start of the switchbacks and I told Zac that I wanted to take a break, eat a snack and then power through to the top and thats exactly what we did! We we finally made it to the top I think it was 12:00 on the dot. So in total we hiked out in 4 hours! Not to bad to do 10 miles in 4 hours. There was a lady selling drinks and snacks out of a trailer at the top so we bought a couple of waters and some gatorades for our drive to So Cal. We did it! I tell Zac it was a trip of a lifetime and I honestly believe it! So much fun and so many memories. I suggest anyone to add it to their bucket list!
Amazing...and so gorgeous!!! Awesome that it all worked out!!!
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