Havasu Falls

Sit back and let me tell you a little story about the hike from Hell.

I am a person who is not in shape. I am not a person who should be hiking 20 miles in less than 24 hours. However, that is exactly what I just did.

Travis and I drove the 3 hours from Williams to Hualapai Hilltop and began our descent into Havasu Canyon. There were about 4 billion happy people gathering in the parking lot, waiting for their packs to be carried up by mules. You see, the Havasupai Indians own the area where the falls are, and they run a mule train through the canyon. You can pay $75 to have you and/or your bags hauled down (one way), pay $85 to ride the helicopter (one way) or you can hike straight in for free. Of course, the cost is in addition to a $35 admission fee plus $17 campground fee if you're staying overnight. All prices are per person. We decided to take the cheap route...

Picture this - the worst trail you've ever seen, covered in stinky mule poop, and it's 95 degrees outside. The entire first mile is a steep downhill slope of gravel, which means you're spending the entire time trying not to slip with every step (staying on your feet becomes more difficult when you're carrying a heavy backpack). After you get through the first mile, you walk through the oven-like canyon for about 3 1/2 hours until you reach the Supai village. People actually live in the bottom of this canyon. They ride horses in and out, and they rely on helicopter service to bring them the things they need. It's really neat to see. But anyway, back to my story. So at this point, you get pretty excited, thinking that you must be close to the waterfall, but oh no, my friend, you still have another 2 miles to hike in loose sand. By the time you reach the waterfall, which is beautiful, you don't really give a rat's behind about water falling because you feel like absolute garbage. So you explore the waterfall and set up camp WITHOUT A TENT, and you're starting to feel better when you realize that you have to do the exact same hike tomorrow, only this time the last mile and a half is UPHILL!!!

Yeah, so the camping wasn't so bad. Travis found a campsite with a picnic table that I could sleep on, and the stars were amazing. I saw 5 or 6 shooting stars - it was just incredible.

And then this morning we woke up and did the hike over again. The last mile and a half was a killer! It's basically like climbing lots and lots of stairs. I eventually let Travis go ahead of me while I kept repeating the tortoise mantra "Slow and steady wins the race..." over and over in my head. I had just turned around the next to last switchback when I saw Travis - he was coming back to carry my pack for me (how chivalrous :)). We made it out, and I will never do that again (unless I'm in much better shape).

Now we're both beat and ready to head to Las Vegas for some fun. What a trip this has been, but I'm ready to go home - I need a vacation from my vacation!

Check out the pictures