Havasupai (have-a-soup-pie): 5-10 May 2014

Havasupai was everything I dreamed of and more. I was really lucky and got in with a group (friends of Anna) that had extra spots in their reservation. They planned the trip and I just got to join in on all the fun! It being my first backpacking trip, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was a little nervous, but mostly excited for our 5-day adventure. I never did weigh my pack, but I think it was probably around 35-40 pounds.

We drove from St. George to the hilltop of the canyon on Sunday and spent the night in the parking lot. We ate sausage and couscous, which we cooked using our camping stove and Jet Boil.

The hike is 8 miles to the campground. It wasn’t too bad hiking in, even with such a heavy pack. I’m amazed at how well a person’s body can carry the weight if it’s distributed properly. That waist strap saved me. We had a group of about 14, but Anna, Lars, Sam and I were often on our own, behind the others. Every hour or so there was a long line of donkeys or horses that would come up the trail and we’d have to quickly get out of their way. Nobody in our group paid for a helicopter or mule to carry them or their packs cause we are all too legit to quit!

The campgrounds were SOoo nice. I loved being right on the edge of the river. We had quite a few trees around us, too. The sand was super soft and clean (can sand be clean?). I slept in a hammock the first two nights, but slept on the ground the other 3 nights because I just could not get comfortable in my little hammock. It was too small.

I planned meals out with Anna and her brother Lars and we ended up cooking some interesting things, many of which were surprisingly nutritious. This is the last few bites of my mac ‘n cheese, tuna and couscous mixture we had for lunch. We had oatmeal almost every morning and also cooked us some lentil soup with onions, carrots and broccoli, just to name a few of our meals.

This is called Supai falls. It wasn’t too far from our campground. This was the only waterfall I was brave enough to jump from. The pools of water were fun to play in, too. The water was…cold. But we had warm weather for most the trip, so we didn’t mind getting wet.

Moony falls was also really close to our camp. It is the tallest of all the falls in Havasupai (I think). You have to climb down the cliff side to get down to the base but we weren’t scared. It kind of reminded me of Angel’s Landing though, with all the chains and stuff.

Marcus Steed insisted on carrying me across the river so that I wouldn’t have to get my shoes wet, but we had to cross the river so many times that I finally gave it up and removed my shoes. I did most of the 3.5 mile hike to Beaver falls in my bare feet, which turned out to be really fun, although probably somewhat dangerous.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the trail to Beaver falls. I’m not sure what this green stuff is, but there was a TON of it. It was really exciting to run through it on the little tiny footpath. We thought it would never end. I kept telling Anna how much mom would love this place.

Behold, Beaver falls. Yeah, those are real. 

Super LOVED Navajo falls. Gorgeous. The rock formations around the falls just made it so unique and beautiful in its own way. We went to Navajo falls twice. The first day there was a small flash flood so the water was really murky and brown. We felt like we were swimming in Willy Wonka’s chocolate river. The second day the water had cleared up and it was that beautiful turquoise again.

The hike out of Havasupai was not as bad as I anticipated. Of course, my pack was a bit lighter because I didn’t have to pack any food out, but I was still amazed at how quickly we climbed out. We found a good pace and we were some of the first ones to the top. This is all of us at the top (minus 3 people that didn’t stay the full 5 days). I loved the group we went with. They were a lot of fun.

I’m already planning my return trip with Mom in 2016. J