Havasupai Adventure

Havasupai... Arizona's paradise! When my Dad said he was going down and offered to take Brittney and I, I was so excited. As the days were approaching we started making a list of supplies and food we would need down there. It was decided that I would carry the big backpack (weighing it at 45 lbs.) and Brittney would just carry her camelbak (10lbs if that) with water and snacks. We left Memorial day in the afternoon and got up to the rim later that evening. This was my third time going and memories started coming back and I told stories of my previous trips. We camped up on the rim and early Tuesday morning we began the decent into the canyon.

When we got to the Indian village, one of the girls was struggling with her pack so I had Brittney carry our pack while I carried hers. It was another 2 miles from the village. Brittney wasn't sore yet from the 10 mile hike we had just completed from the rim to village, but after those two miles, she became pretty sore, but she was a tough girl.

** note from brittney: i would like to clarify some things here. my camelbak was about 20 lbs with all my water, food, and other necessities - not 10 lbs like kyle says. plus our shared backpack was atleast 50 - 60 lbs not 45. so i was carrying 70 -80 lbs down a 3.2 mile hike (yeah the havasupai website will back me up on the mileage) again not like the two miles kyles stated. no big deal you think? well, when you got up at four am and started hiking ten miles for several hours, your already tired when 55 lbs gets added on your back. not to mention, kyle and i did nothing to prepare for hiking the grand canyon ( i assumed i would be fine since i was only carrying 20 lbs - or so i thought.) so the only reason that i pulled my groin, rotated my ankle, and basically did the havasupai shuffle every time i stopped moving for ten minutes was because of that dang backpack i had to carry 3.2 miles. thank you.**

We got to camp about mid morning and we rested, ate, and then got ready to go to Havasu falls. After the flood in 2008, the fall now only flows to the one side, but it still is as beautiful as ever. After hanging out there we went back to camp, rested, ate dinner, played cards, and got cleaned up in the river flowing next to us.

The next morning our muscles had stiffen up, so getting up was a real "pain." We ate breakfast and then got ready to go down to Mooney Falls (my absolute favorite). Mooney stands around 200 feet high (higher than Niagara). To get down you literally have to climb down a the cliff face with chains, latters, and stakes driven into the rock for hand grips. Being terrified of heights didn't work out in Brittney's favor, but she did a good job going down.

"DESCEND AT OWN RISK"

Exercise Extreme Caution!

Brittney descending down the cliff to Mooney FallsMooney Falls

About five miles down from Mooney Falls, is another fall called Beaver. We hiked through the river, jumping and sliding down from little water falls.

Mooney Falls in the Background

Fall hopping our way down to Beaver Falls

I think I'll name this "Garden of Eden" or
"Heard it through the Grape Vine"

Just Chillin'

Hanging Out

One of the best parts of the trip is that we didn't have to hike the whole way out. Dad paid for all of us to fly the helicopter out from the Indian village. It was a flipping awesome experience! The best part was when the we flew out and above the canyon. The pilot was heading right toward a canyon wall then the helicopter went straight up and over. It was intense. It was good to be in a car on the drive home, but I was already starting to miss our great adventure. Needless to say, we were both missing our baby very much and it was so much fun to see her.