Havasupai… An Oasis Where You Would Least Expect It
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If you’ve only seen the Grand Canyon from above the rim…. You haven’t seen the Grand Canyon. Once, I had a friend from Australia visit me. On the top of her agenda was a visit to the Grand Canyon, so we drove for 6 hours just to check one more thing off her bucket list. After an hour… Two at the most… My friend exclaimed, “Let’s go. Once you’ve seen one rock, you’ve seen them all!” That could not be farther from the truth, but you wouldn’t know that unless you’ve made a visit below the rim of the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon trail head begins at Havasupai Hilltop. We arrived at the trail head around 5 in the morning and was on the trail by 6. You begin your trek traversing down the switchbacks which are easy going down, but a completely different story for those headed up, but I’ll mention that towards the end. For those of you who rather not huff most of the way to the Grand Canyon Havasupai Falls, there are many other options for getting there. You can take a helicopter most of the way (for a fee) and only have to huff about 3 miles, or you can take a donkey (for a fee). The best service offered is the ability to transport your gear to the camp via helicopter. Doing this allow for you to bring many other amenities to make your stay more comfortable. I saw someone had a grill flown in!
What good is an exploration without a signature pose.
Be sure to stay out of the way of the donkeys. They tend to freak out if you get caught in front of them.
Did someone say “Flash Flood” or is that me just being paranoid.
After 6 hours hiking thru the desert, the water was quite alluring.
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A short time later, we arrived at camp. Now the challenge was to pick a good spot to camp. From my own experience, my recommendation would be to find some place close to a stream. It’s far more convenient to do things such as take a bath or do dishes when you have a stream in close proximity. Also, they do have a water hole at the camp site and it’s perfectly find to drink the water untreated so you do not need to bring a ton of water, but certainly enough to make the trek from the trail head to the campsite.
After about 8 miles of hiking, we finally got to the village. It’s here where you’ll check in and get your band authorizing you to camp on the reservation. They also have a cafe where they offer some snacks and refreshments to revive you after an 8 mile hike. After checking in at the village, the rest of the way was a piece of cake. It’s only about 3 miles to Havasupai Falls from there. As you hike down to Havasupai Falls, you begin to see the dry and dusty landscape make a transformation. All the dust begins to give way to an oasis where you wouldn’t expect to find one. In Las Vegas, where I used to live, we had a water park called Wet-N-Wild. That’s what immediately came to mind when I first saw Grand Canyon Havasupai Falls. My initial thought was that this was the world’s natural water park. After 5 hours of hiking in the hot desert sun, the falls with it lushes pools were really starting to look attractive. Rather than stop for a swim, we decided to press on and get to camp.
The porta potty facilities are amazingly clean and stocked with toilet paper. I expected the worse when it came to doing my business there but came away pleasantly surprised. My recommendation is to do your business early in the morning and you probably won’t have to wait for an available porta potty.
The hike to the Havasupai Falls offers some tremendous views. You’ll be in awe as you descend into the Grand Canyon. The blue sky in contrast with the amazing orange and red rock formations will leave you speechless. It took us forever to get to the Havasupai Falls because we couldn’t stop taking pictures. It took us roughly about 6 hours to hike 11 miles to the Havasupai Falls, but that was only because we made many stops. If you’re fit, you can make the hike in far less time.
Nothing like taking a dip after a long hard day of hiking.
After setting up camp, the first stop was without a doubt, Havasupai Falls. Havasupai Falls is so powerful that you can feel the mist drenching your clothes as it sprays everywhere. Also, after a long hike, a dip in the pond was long overdue. For the more adventurous, there are rocks you can climb and jump off if you so choose; although, I should mention that technically it’s not allowed at Havasupai Falls. Of course this isn’t recommended, but is still a blast to do. The scene is rather festive at the falls as people gather around and have a good time. If you are looking to have Havasupai Falls to yourself, I highly recommend that you get up early in the morning and there won’t be a sole there.
Once you get to the Havasupai Falls, there are plenty of activities to do. Besides Havasupai falls, you can visit Navajo Falls, Mooney Falls, or Beaver Falls. One of my highlights was a visit to Mooney falls. Visiting this falls is definitely about the journey. It requires the use of ladders and chains to ascend/descend. It’s nothing too difficult, but a blast to experience.
After a two day stay there, it was time to trek out. Hiking to Havasupai Falls, we started around 6 in the morning. Needless to say, it got very hot while hiking to the falls. On our way out, we opted for a different approach. We all had L.E.D. lights so we decided to head out around 3 in the morning. It was a very cool experience. I had never been hiking in the wee hours of the morning, but it was surprisingly easy to follow the trail. About 4 hours later we came to the switch backs that we encountered on the way down. This time we would be going up. When we got to the switch backs, the sun was up and it was starting to heat up. This was definitely the biggest challenge of the trek.
Navajo Falls was my favorite and the least crowded.
I recommend that everyone make this journey go Grand Canyon Havasupai Falls. You will not be disappointed. Before I let you go, I have a few recommendation I would like to make to you.
1. Start your journey early in the morning so you don’t have to contend with the blistering sun.
2. I know it’s a no-brainer, but make sure you pack enough water for the journey. You don’t have to bring all your water, but definitely enough to get to camp. There is a place to fill up at camp for the trek out and you don’t need to filter the water.
3. As far as sleeping arrangements , I suggest you bring a hammock. Aside from being lighter than a tent, it’s much more comfortable to sleep in.
4. When I do this trek again, next time I will pack much lighter and have the non essentials transported in by donkey or helicopter. The price to do that is relatively reasonable.
5. If you do opted to have your gear transported in, make sure you coordinate with its arrival, on the hike out we arrived about 3 hours before our gear did and couldn’t go anywhere until it arrived.
This picture really gives you a sense just how massive Navajo Falls really is.
Hiking down to Mooney Falls is an interesting experience. It involves chains and ladders.
The hike down to Mooney Falls is an easy one, provided you aren’t afraid of heights.
The hardest part about Mooney Falls is leaving. There’s only one way up and down, so it can prove to be challenging to get back up when everyone is trying to come down.
It’s amazing how beautiful this place is.
Havasupai Falls at midnight.