This trip was basically one of the best experiences ever! I've always had a desire to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon because I knew there was so much I couldn't see from the North Rim. I finally had the chance! The whole time we were hiking down, I kept thinking about how I couldn't believe I was actually in the Grand Canyon doing something I've wanted to do for so long!
We left Cedar City Monday around 3 PM and arrived to Hualapai Hilltop (pronounced wallapai) between 11 PM and 12 AM. We got our packs ready and began our descent sometime around 12 AM. The first mile and a half was downhill switchbacks (I didn't get a picture because we hiked in and out during the night :( ). A couple times on our way down the switchbacks, we had to get to the side of the trail to make way for some horses and mules. The animals were not accompanied by any people at all. Very interesting.. Eight miles and four or five hours later, we arrived at the Supai Village where the Havasupai Tribe lives. That was a cultural experience for sure. They had their cows and horses at random places in the middle of all their homes. It's kinda weird to be walking next to a fence at 4:30 in the morning and see longhorn cows right next to you. And their horses were not always tied up. They pretty much roamed free with the dogs. There were SOOOO many dogs. We found some stone benches and slept there til the village opened up their shops at 7 AM. The people were friendly and the children as cute as can be. I did hear them speak their native language quite a bit which was pretty cool. Out of respect for the people, I didn't take any pictures of them. When we finally made it to the campground, we set up camp, relaxed, and ate. That day we hiked over to Mooney Falls (named for a man named Mooney who tried to climb up the cliff behind the falls and fell to his death). The falls were so beautiful. It's a good thing too because of what I had to climb down. It was a good 200 ft descent with tiny footholes and a few random chains to hold on to. We saw a kid fall the last 30 ft or so. Luckily he wasn't hurt too badly. I spent the most time at Havasu Falls. It was definitely my favorite place and was so amazing. The water was so blue. When we hiked out, we went through the village during the evening and so we were able to see so much more. They have an LDS branch down there and a little church building. Awesome! The hike out took us about 7 hours.. Ok not really because we spent a lot of time in the village. But we did stop an excessive amount. We were all exhausted after, but it was so fun. We met quite a few people including some men from Canada. I hung out with them at Havasu Falls while the rest of the group hiked an extra 6 miles to Beaver Falls. Here are a few pictures from my trip! Enjoy!
This was a random diner on the road where we stopped on the way home for breakfast. It looks kinda iffy, but it was definitely the best breakfast I've had in a while!
Here is the little LDS Church building! YAY!
These falls are called Rock Falls. They were formed just last year after their big flood. The Havasupai advise people to not go down to them because the ground is still unstable down there.
This is the monster I had to face to get to Mooney Falls! If you look close you can see a couple ladders and there are some people at the top to kind of give you perspective.
This is the amazing Havasu Falls. The water was super cold at first, but not too bad at certain times of day.
Mooney Falls. This is from just before we climbed down. So pretty!
The Havasu Creek. We were camped just to the right of this picture. I totally took a bath and washed my hair in this creek! That was one of the best parts of the trip... Gotta love clean hair!
It's just so pretty!
Shay pushed Aly down. They actually had to push me down many times at different points of the hike to get me to just go and not think about it. We all slid down this rock from the top. The spot is just out of the picture.
One of the swimming spots! So cool and so COLD!
Just before the descent. That climb down was pretty easy after Havasupai!
Candid moment! haha.
I'm so happy I live in Utah for reasons like this. It's so pretty and I don't have to drive hours to see things like this!
This was a random diner on the road where we stopped on the way home for breakfast. It looks kinda iffy, but it was definitely the best breakfast I've had in a while!
Here is the little LDS Church building! YAY!
These falls are called Rock Falls. They were formed just last year after their big flood. The Havasupai advise people to not go down to them because the ground is still unstable down there.
This is the monster I had to face to get to Mooney Falls! If you look close you can see a couple ladders and there are some people at the top to kind of give you perspective.
This is the amazing Havasu Falls. The water was super cold at first, but not too bad at certain times of day.
Mooney Falls. This is from just before we climbed down. So pretty!
The Havasu Creek. We were camped just to the right of this picture. I totally took a bath and washed my hair in this creek! That was one of the best parts of the trip... Gotta love clean hair!
This hike is so much fun!!! Aly and I randomly decided one Saturday to go for a hike. We started at about 1 and got back home at about 5. I still don't think the hike is that long, we just had lots of fun. Well at least I did for sure. The first time I ever did this hike, I wasn't about to stand under the water falls or go down the rock slide. I did it this time though and it was so fun. So cold but so fun. I think next time, I'll go up the second waterfall. The ladder in the picture above is awesome. Scary but awesome!
More July highlights:
This picture was taken in Vegas in between the Belagio fountain shows. Daniel looks so thrilled.
