There is only one location in the United States where the U.S. post office still uses pack mules to deliver mail. This secluded little town is called Supai, AZ, home of the Havsuw’ Baaja (Blue Water People) or Havasupai Native American Tribe. The only way visitors can go to this Reservation is either by an 8 mile (13 km) trek on foot or via helicopter, which runs daily. The location of this hidden paradise is right inside of the Grand Canyon. Millions of tourist visit the rim of the Grand Canyon and are seldom aware of the incredible sights from within.
Planning for this trip was very interesting. Colin’s birthday falls short of Memorial Day weekend so we decided it would be fun to take advantage of the long weekend to celebrate. We finally decided on this paradise in the Grand Canyon. After about 75 re-dials on February 1st (reservations open for the year on this day), I got through the busy phone lines and was able to reserve 4 spots for Memorial Day Weekend! No deposit required while booking, which is nice since you are usually booking the site months in advance. There surprisingly is not much information on preparing for a trip to Havasupai. After a lot of research and running into some travel blogs, I was able to get a good idea of what we should pack and how we should plan this.
The night before our Friday departure, we packed our multi-day backpacks with everything to survive a weekend in the canyon with no access to electricity or running water. Our packs during weigh-in came in around 30lbs (mine) and 42lbs (Colin). For a moment I thought we may have bit off more than we could chew, but it just added to the excitement!
We packed up my 2006 Jeep Liberty, once again (just two packs!), and went to work on Friday morning. Our GP was for everyone to meet at my work in Rancho Bernardo, CA and head out to Arizona around 3PM. I thought I would save everyone some time on the road and decided to fill up the Liberty at the gas station. To my horror, after I filled my tank, the ol’ Jeep wouldn’t start. In a panic, I called Colin and then my dad, naturally. Luckily, it was just my battery and I was able to jump start my car but I knew this was a major problem. I wouldn’t be able to drive 926 miles round trip on mostly deserted areas with a battery that was on it’s way out. In damage control mode, I went and bought a new battery for my car. Colin, Cole, and Stevie all made it to my work without the stress of my day and we hit the road to go on a major adventure none of us were quite prepared for.
We arrived at Hualapai Hilltop Hwy Trailhead around 1AM after almost hitting a deer, some cows, and a bunny. Be forewarned if you ever make this trip, make sure you have a map or printed directions. The road that you need to turn down was not clearly marked and none of us had cell reception. We finally found a parking spot, set up our tents for the night, and were excited to head out into the Grand Canyon bright and early! I believe we all woke up around 3AM from 30+ mph winds with our tent walls barreling into us. I tried to sleep as long as possible and keep warm in these high speed winds and surprisingly cold weather conditions, but the noise and tent jabs kept us awake. I honestly had no idea how we would pack up our tents and descend the Canyon with this weather. I was a little worried until Colin and I decided to get up and give it a go. We actually packed up our tent quite easily and quickly and jumped into my car to warm up. Cole and Stevie followed and we all took a deep breath and decided to hit the trail.
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| Hualapai Hilltop Hwy Trailhead - High Speed Winds and Cold Air - May 2012 |
I think we were all pretty relieved when we started to descend the windy conditions immediately went away. This made the hike a lot more enjoyable! So there we went, 8 miles to the village and another 2 miles to the campground. The trail was nothing but breathtakingly gorgeous and rigorous. Our initial 3,000 vertical foot descent filled our eyes up with beautiful views and filled our heads with the thought of these switchbacks on a hot desert afternoon on our hike out. We’ll just keep the future worries in the future.
The hike was very challenging but mostly fun and beautiful. We took our time, taking pictures, walking slow, stopping for snacks, and dodging donkeys on a mission. We finally made it to the village stopping at the general store to rest at the picnic table outside and to have some cold Gatorade! I read on the Tripadvisor reviews that the people in this village weren’t very friendly, but I’m not sure why some would state this in their reviews. Maybe it’s because I’m from the east coast but I wouldn’t go out of my way to say hello to someone, especially when you have 12,000 tourists walking through. It’s silly to think someone walking through a city would stop and say hello to everyone, so I’m not sure why people expected this down in a 200 person village. Anyway, the woman working the office was very nice and we got out wristbands for the weekend and made the 2 mile hike to the campground. Towards the end, I was struggling and Colin carried the top of my backpack for me. On our way we spotted the first waterfall which kept our momentum. We landed on this really great campsite next to the river but up on a little hill for some privacy. We were so proud of ourselves for making it!
After setting up our camp, we decided to head to the gorgeous Havasu Falls that plunges 100 feet into a pool of this beautiful blue-green water, which is what the tribe is named after. Calcium carbonate and magnesium occur naturally in these waters, which give it it’s unusual color. We played here for a while. Swimming, taking pictures, and just resting our swollen ankles in the cool water.
The next morning was the day for another long trek. We packed up our first aid kit, water, snacks, put on our sneakers and went on our way down to Mooney Falls which are a roaring 190ft high! Getting down to the bottom isn’t quite so easy. You have duck through a tunnel which emerges onto a ledge where you’re 120 ft from the bottom where you have to descend by holding chains to scale down to a very sketchy ladder. We spent the day walking in and along the river enjoying the hike and the beautiful sites. Surprisingly, there is a lot of green on this walk which was really stunning when you’re in between the tall canyon walls. There was a ranger who kept tabs of everyone on the trail and he actually helped us cross the river. It was entertaining to see him make his way through the river because it was clear he had been jumping around these trails his entire life. The river eventually meets the Colorado River but we decided to turn around before we made it that far.
We enjoyed our last night before making our way out of the canyon the next morning. We did pretty well hiking out of the canyon. Our pace was a lot faster than on the way in and we suddenly found ourselves not remembering the slight incline on the way in. The last mile and a half was very gruesome with the switchbacks, but we all made it out to be rewarded with a $5 cold Gatorade at the trailhead. We hopped in my car and headed to Havasupai Lodge Hotel 60 miles away. We wanted a night to rest so we wouldn’t have to hike 10 miles and drive 9 hours in one day. We ate an exorbitant amount of fried food at dinner having only been eating non-perishables the past two days. The boys grabbed us some of the finest Grand Canyon beer and we had a great night sleep at the hotel. The next morning we took the drive home to San Diego all with a new sense of our bodies capabilities.
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