Bogley

[James_B_Wads2000]

A group of my sister’s friends from her ward were kind enough to invite me along on their trip to Havasupai Canyon. It was a total blast! I am already planning on going back next year with my friends. My sister (Wendy), niece (Kati) and nephew (Eric) road down with me in my car. We spent the first night in Snow Canyon just outside of St. George. The next day we drove to Hoover Dam and took the dam tour. From there we went to Peach Springs, AZ and stayed at the Hualiupai Lodge. Wile checking in at the lodge the clerk told us that a fire had knocked out the power to Supai (the little village in Havasupai Canyon) and the canyon was closed to tourist. After much debate we decided to spend the night at the lodge and drive out to the trailhead the next morning and see if in fact the canyon was closed.

The other people in our group though that we were just going to drive out to where you leave Highway 66 and then come back (we had been told that there was a road block). Well there was no road block and we continued the 60 miles down the road to the trailhead and after another 30 mins talking to the people there we determined that the canyon was open to campers even though the power was out in the town below. Wendy, Kati and Eric hiked down wile me and the Bishop, who we’d picked up in Peach Springs, flew down in the helicopter. After waiting nearly three hours for the hikers we continued on to the camp where we met up with the rest of our original group. We spent the next four days and three nights in the canyon and just did little day hikes to the nearby falls. On the last day most of the group got up early and hiked out before the heat came. Wile I took my sweet ass time hiking back to town and flew the helicopter out.

Enough of my yakin’ here are the pictures:

James

[James_B_Wads2000]

More pictures. :cool2:

[moabfool]

Great TR. Thanks for sharing. It makes me want to go back. Maybe next summer. I think summer is the best time to be down there since you spend so much time in the water.

I wish the water had been that clear when I was there last summer. How was the air temperature? Was Navajo falls flowing full, or was the piece in the middle dry? How hard was it to get a helicopter ride out (I ask purely for reference purposes)?

Bummer about your pack. You can't say we didn't warn you. I may put a wrist rocket on my equipment list for the next time I head down there. Then again that may put me on their hit list. Freaking squirrel mafia.

It's pretty much unanimous among my friends; we will never pay to have the horses haul our packs out again (I was too proud/cheap and hauled out my own pack). Even though it's not that expensive, it just takes too long for them to catch up. After leaving the campground at 4AM and getting to the hilltop around 9AM we ended up sitting in the hot sun 'till noon waiting for our gear. Then they lost one girl's tent poles and somebody's pad. Still, it was kinda fun to mail some letters and know they went out in a pack train.

[Sombeech]

So, they tried to get you to turn around, from fire damage? I would have gone back to that place and told them to shove it.

Anyways, I'm glad you made it down there. It's gorgeous. Did Karl tell you about any hidden "secrets" in the waterfall pools?

I see some good candidates for the image bar here.









and finally...:2thumbs:

[James_B_Wads2000]

moabfool wrote: Great TR. Thanks for sharing. It makes me want to go back. Maybe next summer. I think summer is the best time to be down there since you spend so much time in the water.

I wish the water had been that clear when I was there last summer. How was the air temperature? Was Navajo falls flowing full, or was the piece in the middle dry? How hard was it to get a helicopter ride out (I ask purely for reference purposes)?

Bummer about your pack. You can't say we didn't warn you. I may put a wrist rocket on my equipment list for the next time I head down there. Then again that may put me on their hit list. Freaking squirrel mafia.

It's pretty much unanimous among my friends; we will never pay to have the horses haul our packs out again (I was too proud/cheap and hauled out my own pack). Even though it's not that expensive, it just takes too long for them to catch up. After leaving the campground at 4AM and getting to the hilltop around 9AM we ended up sitting in the hot sun 'till noon waiting for our gear. Then they lost one girl's tent poles and somebody's pad. Still, it was kinda fun to mail some letters and know they went out in a pack train.


Yeah I think I am pretty much sold on going in the summer time. It makes that water soooo inviting plus you can’t beat sleeping on the tarp under the stars. In fact two of the nights I sleep on top of the pad and never go in my sleeping bag. The trade off was the crowds. I was talking to the helicopter guy who had spend the week in the canyon camping, he said the natives did a permit check on Tuesday and there were 500 people in the campground. The campground is considered full after 200 people. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of the tent city down there. Tuesday was the day we went down to Mooney Falls and there was a line of people from the first cave all the way down to the water. I waited about 45mins of for all the people to get down before I got to the water.

Water was clear and refreshing. The air temps got up near 100 maybe a little over (we didn’t have thermometers). I didn’t think it was that bad, but then again I didn’t hike in and I love the heat. The ride in was no problem, hardly any body on the list. The way out was a lot worse. The bishop and I arrived in town at 10 am when they started flying people out. There were already 90 tourists on the list; luckily someone in our group had already put us on the list at 60 and 61. By the time I got to the top it was 2 pm. I talked to the helicopter guy and he said that they typically get 30 to 40 tourists flying out in the summer, so the 110 on the day I flew out was above normal. But they say as long as your name is on the list by 1 pm they will continue flying people out until the list is done, weather permitting.

Funny thing about my Heaps canyoneering pack is that I have tried so hard to keep from putting holes in it going down canyons. When I finally get a hole it is caused by a squirrel and not sandstone, go figure huh. :ne_nau:

I ain’t too proud to have the horses haul out my stuff. In fact next time I am going to have them haul more creature comforts stuff instead of just my backpacking gear. :five:


James

[James_B_Wads2000]

Sombeech wrote: So, they tried to get you to turn around, from fire damage? I would have gone back to that place and told them to shove it.

Anyways, I'm glad you made it down there. It's gorgeous. Did Karl tell you about any hidden "secrets" in the waterfall pools?

The people at the Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs told us that the fire had knocked out the power to the village in Havasupai Canyon. Then they called the tribal police and said that the road was blocked. Truth was that nobody really knew because the phones were out in the canyon until Sunday. The Havasupai tribe decided to let the campers come down since they don’t require power and ways. I think the people at the lodge, a different tribe, were hoping that all the tourist would stay on their reservation and give them money instead of going to Havasupai. :frustrated:

Karl just told funny stories about how weird white people are. And he sang us a song about it.


Sombeech wrote: I see some good candidates for the image bar here.
and finally...:2thumbs:



Yeah this chick was standing in front of me when she was taking off her shorts, she pulled her swim bottoms down and mooned me on accident. I didn’t complain. :five:

James

[Sombeech]

And if you got any nude sunbathers, my email is jeepjustinjeep@yahoo.com. :lol8:

[accadacca]

James_B_Wads2000 wrote: Yeah this chick was standing in front of me when she was taking off her shorts, she pulled her swim bottoms down and mooned me on accident. I didn’t complain. :five:
:lol8: :lol8: :lol8:

[Alex]

How long is the backpacking trip into the falls? And also how far of a drive is it down there from SLC?

[James_B_Wads2000]

Kazak wrote: How long is the backpacking trip into the falls? And also how far of a drive is it down there from SLC?

http://www.havasupaitribe.com/index.htm

10 to 11 hours drive from SLC to trailhead (Hilltop)


Trail Mileage

Hilltop to Village 8 miles

Village to Campgrounds 2 miles

Campgrounds to Beaver Falls 3 miles

Beaver Falls to Colorado River 5 miles

Navajo Falls halfway between village and campground. Havasu Falls at the entrance to the campground and Mooney Falls right were the campground ends.

moabfool wrote: Was Navajo falls flowing full, or was the piece in the middle dry?

No part of it was dry, I guess it was flowing full. :ne_nau:

James

[Alex]

Sheesh quite a drive, wonder if an airplane ride to St George would be faster?

PS: Thanks for digging it up for me, should have googled it myself

[moabfool]

James_B_Wads2000 wrote: Navajo Falls halfway between village and campground. Havasu Falls at the entrance to the campground and Mooney Falls right were the campground ends.

I don't think it's that far up from Havasu Falls. I'd guess it's a half mile up maybe, but I'm terrible at judging distance when I'm hiking.

For those of you following along at home, Navajo Falls is kinda tucked away on the west side of the trail down in some trees. What keeps people away is the fallen tree you have to walk over to get across the creek. IMHO it's the prettiest of the three major falls, and it's not nearly as busy as Havasu and Mooney.

James_B_Wads2000 wrote: moabfool wrote: Was Navajo falls flowing full, or was the piece in the middle dry?

No part of it was dry, I guess it was flowing full. :ne_nau:

James

Well, it was flowing full for normal conditions. From what I'm told it usually has a dry patch in the middle, but when I went the flow was heavier due to a storm. The falls were flowing along the entire wall.

[moabfool]

Kazak wrote: Sheesh quite a drive, wonder if an airplane ride to St George would be faster?

PS: Thanks for digging it up for me, should have googled it myself

If you're coming from SLC an airplane ride to Vegas or Kingman would be faster since you go through both of those cities. I'd suggest Vegas since flights and car rentals would probably be cheaper. The drive is brutal, but after Vegas the scenery keeps changing so the driving is more engaging (no more freeway except a short stretch in Kingman).

[James_B_Wads2000]

moabfool wrote: I don't think it's that far up from Havasu Falls. I'd guess it's a half mile up maybe, but I'm terrible at judging distance when I'm hiking.

For those of you following along at home, Navajo Falls is kinda tucked away on the west side of the trail down in some trees. What keeps people away is the fallen tree you have to walk over to get across the creek. IMHO it's the prettiest of the three major falls, and it's not nearly as busy as Havasu and Mooney.

Yeah a half mile above Havasu sounds right. There is now a bridge to cross the creek to get to Navajo. It is made of two large trees that have boards nailed to them. It was very stable (sorry no pictures). I was told it was built just this year. Navajo was my favorite because it had less people (although in a smaller area) and it was the first place I got into the water. And all of the caves and the fact that it is this giant wall blocking the canyon that has water flowing down it a multiple spots, beautiful.


James