Grand Canyon Adventure

Of all the people who visit the Grand Canyon, only 2% visit Havasupai.  

On Thursday May 31, we arrived at  Hualapai Hilltop at 11:30pm, it was a full moon, the canyon looked bright.  We were six hikers; Trish, Brad, and myself were first time Havasupai Hikers, while Rick, Athens, and Adam have been there many times and are experienced when it comes to hiking Havasupai.  We decided to sleep at the hilltop and begin our journey at 3:30am. From the Hilltop to the Village its about 8 miles, along the way we took some pictures. (pictured below left to right, Adam, Trish, & Brad)

At around 7:00 am you must be on a lookout for what they call the mule pack trains, or else your trip could end quickly.

(Will have to Upload video soon)

We arrived at the village around 7:30am, first thing we did was walk into a store and checked out the pricing on food. A box of cereal sells for $7.50, but what caught our attention was Tang, a small container of Tang in powder was $12.00, which immediatly made me say "God Tang". (pictured below is the whole group arriving at the village. Brad, Trish, Adam, Rick, & Athens). 

After checking in at the village we headed to the cafeteria. At the Cafeteria we ate big breakfast burritos, which were good and not greasy at all.  The burritos are priced between $5-$7.  Then off we were to the campgrounds, another 2 miles.  As you head to the campgrounds you see two of the waterfalls, Navajo Falls, and Havasu Falls.  Navajo Falls tumbles 75 feet into a refreshing pool, that is excellent for swimming.  Havasu Falls plunges 100 feet into a pool of blue-green waters, it is one of the most photographed waterfall in the world.  At the campgrounds we set up next to this swinging rope.

After setting up, and jumping into the year-round 70 degree water, we decide to get out and head over to Havasu Falls, about 1/4 mile away from where we were camping. 

Late that afternoon we decide to walk about a mile from campgrounds to see Mooney Falls.  Mooney Falls is roaring thunderous falls that drops about 200 feet. Access is only possible by climbing down a narrow ledge, this was just a sneak peak of what was ahead for us on day 2.  (Picture below is on top of Mooney Falls)

Saturday morning we are up early, our plan is to go to Mooney Falls, from there hike another 4 miles to Beaver Falls, which is a series of cascades at the conflux of beaver and Havasu canyons.  Rick, Athens, & Adam's plan was to make it to the Colorado River, another 4 miles from Beaver Falls.  We started early at 7:00am to beat the heat and to avoid a long wait going down Mooney. 

off we were to Beaver Falls for about 4 miles and along the way we saw, small cascades, a field of grapevines, and lots, and lots of lizards.

About 3.5 miles into the hike, we had to rock climb about 15-20 feet.

After the rock climb, we continued another 10 minutes, all that was needed was to continue the trail heading down and to turn the corner of the canyon and we would have been at Beaver Falls (like 5 more minutes), but we came across a Desert Big Horn Sheep.  At that point we decided to see if it would leave, we waited for about 30 minutes, but it continued to eat, we choose not to disturb the animal. 

So we were on our way back to Mooney Falls, we did not reach Beaver Falls, but we were lucky to see a desert big horn sheep.

Rick, Athens, & Adam did manage to make it to the Colorado River, the furthest they had gone, and in the afternoon we all shared our stories and laughed like we did throughout the trip.  In the afternoon we packed, and Sunday at 1:00 am, Trish, Brad, and I began our hike to the top.  For 10 miles Trish lead the way, and 5 hours later we were on top of the hilltop for our last photos. 

We calculated that in 51 hours we hiked 37 miles, hiking uphill my pack weighed 32 lbs. Hiking downhill it must have weighed 35-40 lbs.  Next time I must pack lighter.  Had Adam not showed us how to adjust our packs, I would be hurting.  Had Rick, Athens, & Adam, not hiked with us I don't think we would have not covered what we covered.  We are definitely going back late July – Mid August, with a larger group, so if you're interested in going contact me at saul@moja2run.com.  There are many options to get to the village, you can ride a helicopter for about $90 one way trip. 

For more info visit http://www.havasupaitribe.com/waterfalls.html