Havasupai 2008

This past weekend I spent down in the Native American tribal land known as Havasupai. The Havasupai are a group of indigenous people located in a small little village, known as Supai, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Although not a part of Grand Canyon Nation Park, Havasu Canyon is part of the Grand Canyon complex. The village lies about 17 miles south of the Colorado River and relies on its water from the beautiful blue-green waters of Havasu Creek which flows through Havasu Canyon and merges with the Colorado.

These blue-green waters are what give the land its beauty. This land has some of the most amazing, beautiful scenery that I have ever scene. It’s a stark contrast from the rest of the Grand Canyon. Those of you familiar with the Colorado know that when it passes through the Grand Canyon it is a muddy body of water in most places. There is life at the bottom of the canyon but it is scarce.

Once you get to Havasu Canyon though things changes completely. Through Havasu Canyon runs Havasu Creek. Havasu Creeks starts at least 80-90 miles southeast of Supai on the plains. It is created from the runoff of snow and rain an flows northwest about 50 miles until it drops into Cataract Canyon, which then feeds into Havasu. There the stream is fed from an underground river that flows upward through an artesian well. The river flows the entire distance of the canyon until it finally feeds into the Colorado. The river is what brings in the tourist though due to its distinction from the Colorado. First of all its blue-green color is a thing of beauty at the bottom of the desert. The color is due to an enormous concentration of lime (CaCO3) contained in the streambed. This lime also gives the creek its other amazing distinction, its travertine formations. Sediment trapped in the river gets mineralized very quickly and thus the stream bed is ever changing with new pools and rapids being formed yearly. The entire distance of the stream can be described as a series of “step downs” from pool to pool. These “step downs” are the travertine formations. They are not very big drops with the average being about a foot.The water remains at a cool, refreshing 70 degrees F yearly and is a great place to cool off from the mid-day sun. However, Havasupai isn’t known for it’s blue-green water and travertine formations alone, it’s most famous distinction are a series of four waterfalls in between the village and the Colorado. This is what brings in the tourist from all around the world.

There is a primitive campground located just north of the first two falls and can accommodate around 200 campers or so. Because the ground is located on an Indian reservation each group is required to make reservations and accommodations through the local Havasupai tribe. This is not a government national park. The funding brought in by tourism helps keep the local village of Havasupai alive. The village is home to around 400 tribe members and is only accessible through helicopter or hike. It gets its supplies through a contracted helicopter service (known as AirWest) and a mule train.

In fact, it is the only place in the world where the mail is still delivered by mule (yes, there is a post office there).

It’s not a primitive village by any means; there is a K-8 school, courthouse, jailhouse, store, clinic (small), community center, churches (LDS and Christian), café, and homes. Many of the residents have satellite dishes, electricity, and phones (landlines). Don’t get me wrong, it’s not completely modernized, but it’s not primitive either. Many of the residents work with the tourism part of the community packing down tourists gear on the pack mules, working security, and other things. Some are farmers and grow corn. The kids run around barefoot in the dirt through thorny weeds and rocks as if pain didn’t exist.

The following is a brief description of the four major falls.

Havasu Falls

Havasu falls is actually downstream from Navajo falls but it’s the first one you will run into if you stay on the main trail. It’s an amazing fall to run into because you come at it from behind. In fact, if someone didn’t tell you it was there you wouldn’t know to expect it. So you’re hiking along the west side of the river and come to a steep down slope ans you start your descent you can hear the falls and as it makes its first turn to your right you see this amazing 120 foot, pure kinetic energy wall of water that spans 50 feet. It drops into this pool of turquoise blue made by the travertine deposits forming natural dams. Because of the sheer force of the falls the pool gets extremely deep (I really can’t give a good estimate of w

hat it would be). Along the west bank of this pool is an outlet for an underground stream that also feeds the pool. At the north end is another wall that encloses the area and makes it seem like you’re in a private resort. The walls by the falls are these stalactite-like projections that look like clay falling off piece by piece and just waiting for the potter to come and shape them.

Mooney Falls

Monney is by far the largest of the four with a drop of over 200 ft! It’s not as wide as Havasu but just as impressive. It’s located about a mile downstream from Havasu and again you come up on the falls from behind and walk into a world of amazement! It truly is spectacular to witness the massive amount of energy being dropped so far dow

n. Like Havasu, Mooney drops into another deep pool of turquoise blue water perfect for swimming and playing around in. To get down the base of Mooney it’s a little more technical of a climb. In fact, that’s what you’re basically doing…climbing. There are steel stakes and chains down the “path” so you can hang on while you go down, down those 200 feet I was talking about. At one point you have to climb down through a cave. At the bottom is set up a standard aluminum ladder that you can buy at any hardware store to get you down that last 15 feet. Once at the bottom your look up and again are just bewildered at the sight. The mist coming off of the falls, along with the canyon breeze is refreshing for any hiker who has been tortured by the day’s sun.

Beaver Falls

Is no where near the height of the other two but none the less impressive. It is a series of three waterfalls and pools that step down to the next. The highest of the three would have to be around 25-30 feet and is perfect for the afternoon cliff jump. On one of the levels there is an underwater cave that is easily accessible and amazing. While in the cave you look up at the ceiling and it looks as if a ceiling of spikes is about to come down on you. Surrounding the pools at Beaver are plenty of trees to give shade for lunch. Beaver is located about 3 miles down Mooney and the trail is fairly easy. However, finding Beaver is not. At one point you have to scale up a rope/wood ladder and walk along the canyon wall. The canyon widens a little bit and for a while you can’t see the river but can still hear it. If while hiking you come to a sign that says “Now leaving Grand Canyon National Park and entering Havasupai tribal land” you’ve gone to far. Turn around, climb down the canyon wall an

d walk upstream and there you’ll be. It’s one of those places that if you don’t know what you’re looking for you’ll easily miss it.

Navajo Falls

This was the last of the falls that we visited and is actually the first of the series, but because it’s not along the main trail so you’ll miss it if you’re going straight to the campground. By the way this was my favorite of the four. It’s probably only 70 feet tall but the landscape is just amazing. The water looks like it cascades down a series of beehives. To the east of the falls is a little cavern with a pool and a mini waterfall coming out of a

hole in the wall about the size of volleyball, if not smaller. The lush vegetation around the pools and the falls gives it a secluded feeling. One can climb up along the back side of the falls and explore a little around the top, then scale down the middle of the falls using a rope that’s been tied to a tree up top and stand on a ledge about 50 feet up from the pool. From that ledge you have two choices, stay there looking down at the water from that height and question whether you should jump or not, or, close you eyes and throw yourself through the air and plummet towards the water. Really the later of the two is the most fun.

Now that you’re a little more informed I can recall my trip. Dad and I started driving from Ogden, Ut on Wed, Aug 13^th in the morning and reached the Hilltop parking lot around 8-9 pm (~12 hr drive). We got the tent out a slept in the parking lot that night. We woke up at 4 am and started hiking down the trail at 5. Around 5 am is when the canyon starts lighting up. Now, there’s a reason it’s called Hilltop parking lot, it’s on a hi

ll on a canyon ledge. The trail begins there and immediately descends about 1500 feet in about 1.5 miles through a series of switchbacks. Once down you hike along the river wash of the plateau. At this time in the morning the sun is just barely shining on the top of the canyon walls and is one of the more beautiful and breathtaking dawns that one can experience.

A quick side note, because of the hot Aug temperatures one has to start early in the morning because by 9:30 or 10 it’s already 100+ in the canyon. The sun beats off the red sandstone walls and you start to feel like a brick over pizza. Back to the story: With the dawn slowly rising we continued along the plateau until we came to another spot on the trail where we drop down another canyon (the Grand Canyon is one HUGE canyon with canyons in the canyon). The trail now follows the wash and you’re hiking in the bottom of this amazing sandstone creation with walls towering over 2000 feet above you. One cannot help a sit in awe at the mighty creation of this amazing place. Just taking it in with the human eye is overwhelming, let alone processing its formation. This little canyon you start in eventually takes you into Havasu Canyon where you will encounter the Havasupai village. The distance from the parking lot to the village is around 8 miles and took us around 3.5 hrs. This is a backpacking trip so you have to pack in your own tents, bags, food, everything; which means you’re packing around 35-40 lbs on your back the whole time.

Upon arriving at the village everyone is required to sign in at the camp office to receive their permits and instructions. From there we went to the local café and caught a quick breakfast before continuing on.

The campground is another 2 miles down the trail, and it’s the worst part of the hike. Going down the canyon is not bad because for the majority your walking on sandstone and packed dirt. The trail from the village to the campground is different; it’s sand. Think of walking along the beach shores and then imagine doing that with 40 extra pounds on your back, in 100+ temperatures (by this time it’s around (9:00 am and the sun has already hit the village) for another two miles. It’s not that it’s a hard, technical trail…it just plain sucks. It’s like busy work in school that you have to do. Along the trail we passed Navajo and Havasu falls. We finally arrived at the campground and set up camp near a spring that supplies fresh water and about 50 yards from the river. Then we quickly changed and rushed to Havasu falls to cool off in the water. We swam around there for a couple of hours and then went back to camp to take a nap. I had brought my backpacking hammock and quickly lost consciousness as I laid in it. Dad got out his air pad and slept on the picnic table. We were both exhausted from the hike down and the hot sun. I’m pretty sure we both slept for a couple of hours. After awaking we explored the rest of the campground, and hiked to Mooney falls just about a mile outside of the camp. Explored around there for a little bit and then went back to camp, ate dinner, and just kind of watched the other campers. It’s interesting to see how prepared, or unprepared, other backpackers are. You can easily spot the ones who have the experience and those who don’t. There were many times we saw what people were packing and thought “Really? Why would you bring that?”

It gets dark in the canyon early because the sun starts to disappear behind the canyon wall around 5:30 or 6 pm. We took another quick hike to Havasu falls (0.3 miles from camp) to catch them in the different light. From there we went back to camp and went to bed.

Friday morning we woke up when it started to get light, had a freeze dried pack of scrambled eggs and ham for breakfast and then took a day hike down river to some falls called Beaver Falls. This is about a 3.5 mile one way hike. It’s not difficult at all but just takes some time. There are three different points that you have to cross the river, a forest of vines and thorns, couple of cliffs to climb, and weathering a hot sun to get to the falls. The falls are located right at the point where the tribal land merges with Grand Canyon national park.

There is a sign that marks this point, and if you get to that sign you have gone too far and missed the falls. We ate lunch there and played in the water for probably 3 hrs or so. You would think it would be hard to spend that much time in one spot but as beautiful as it was with so much to explore around, and as tired as we were and relaxing as it was, we didn’t find it that difficult to just lounge. Plus, what rush were we in. It’s not like we were on a time table at all. We planned this trip to give us plenty of time to do everything we wanted and spend as much time as we wanted. While at the falls we met up with a group that hiked up from the Colorado River (about another 3.5 miles). These people were on a 14 day river rafting trip and stopped off at the Havasu/Colorado junction to get a change in scenery. One of them said that as soon as they heard there was a place to go swimming in clean, fresh water they were all up for it. Their guide started showing them some places to go climbing and cliff jumping and also showed a couple of them where there was an underwater cave that had an air pocket in it to go exploring. I listened closely to him from a distance and watched where he went so I could go find it for myself. After he left I went looking for it and found it. The entrance wasn’t that far from the surface and I came up in this little 10 foot by 3 foot air pocket. The ceiling was full of stalactites formed from the water seeping through. I showed dad where it was at and tried to get him to go explore it but he didn’t want to. That didn’t matter though, because at that time I had taken him to a place where the only way down was a 25 foot jump off the falls into the pool below. I jumped and was just paddling in the water waiting for him to jump. He just looked at me from up top and gave me this look of “why did I follow you up here?” Eventually he jumped and it looked like he enjoyed it, of course I couldn’t get him to do it again. He’s not too comfortable with that height and prefers the 15 footers. We played in the pools a little more and then headed back. It only took us about an hour and a half to go back because we didn’t stop as much on the way down (I already took pictures on the way down). One of the parts in the trail requires you to climb a 15 foot ladder with rungs about 6 feet apart. There a ropes in-between the rungs to help you get up. On the way back we came across a rope swing that some teenagers were playing at. We joined the fun and flung ourselves out into the river. Dad was getting ready to go when one of the boys asked if he wanted them to grab his legs and pull him up higher so he can swing out farther. Surprisingly Dad said yes and they threw him out. After complaining about that 25 foot jump I was shocked that he let these kids do that to him. Oh well.

The hike down and back to Beaver, and all the playing in between took about the whole day so when we were done we went back and ate some dinner. For lunch we packed down some tortillas, tuna, and cheese and brought down much more than we should have so that night for dinner we had tuna quesadillas and a freeze dried peaches and cream pie. Before the trip I bought a 2 lb bag of tortillas and put them in the food sack, which eventually ended up in Dad’s pack. When he pulled that out at first he just started laughing and said “I can’t believe you made me pack that!” (For those of you not familiar with backpacking you have to pack light things so that you can actually carry your pack down the trail. Every little ounce matters and you really only take what you need)

That night it started raining a little. The tent we took down didn’t have the rain fly and so we had to improvise with a couple of ponchos. Ours was the only redneck tent in the campground!

It’s now Saturday morning and we have one more day left before we pack out. We decided to hike upstream to Navajo Falls about a quarter of a mile away. There I found some places to go climbing and cliff jumping. Dad cliff jumped as well, just not off the same ones. I found a place that was probably about a 50 footer. To get there I had to climb up to the top of the falls, then, climb down in the middle of them using a rope that had been tied to a tree up at the top. I also saw a couple of kids climb up a semi-cave and jump out from in the middle of the falls. Of course, I had to go find this cave and experience it for myself. That was a little more difficult than expected. It was right under the falls and so initially it was hard to see where to get some good holds to pull myself up. I had to actually climb up and in between a couple of walls to get to where I could jump. It was a fun jump though. We were the first group up there in the morning and more showed up later. A large group of guys came up and I showed them where to jump from. These guys we doing back flips and twists of the cliff into the pools. A couple of them even did a little “synchronized jumping” which gave everyone some good laughs. After a couple of hours there were headed back to camp for some more tuna quesadillas and a nap. This time Dad took the hammock and I got the picnic table.

After another couple hour nap we woke up to some thunderclouds rolling over and some rain. It didn’t rain hard and it quickly passed but that storm that passed over would change the course of our trip, and Havasupai forever. See my next posting on the flash floods.

All and all the trip was amazing! I would love to go back in the future to see the effects of the flood and those changes it brought. I was already surprised at the changes that happened over night. After everything we went through I would still go back. That country down there is the landscape of the Great Creator and it was truly a spiritual experience as well to enjoy of His beauty, created for our enjoyment.

I took plenty of amazing pictures of this place! Overall I have about 1.4 GB of pictures and video, that’s over 300 pics and vids. For those of you familiar with my blog I love to take pictures of the outdoors and backcountry. That being said, I don’t take a lot of pictures with people in them and I also take a lot of the same area trying to get different angles and lighting patterns. People say that a personless picture is a boring picture but I disagree. The most beautiful pictures I have ever seen have been nature in its own element, without mankind mucking it up or ruining it with a cheesy smile. Now I still am one to get in a cheese it up for everyone to see but there is always the pure shot that I get. When I do get people in my shots I like to get them with their natural looks and not a pose so you’ll see a lot of pictures of people hiking with their backs to me, etc. That way it looks more real. Because of the sheer quantity of pictures I have created another site apart from my other picture page with my Idaho backcountry pictures so that I can fit most of them in. This site is located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/havasupaitrip08

Feel free to go perusing if you wish.

For those of you who are familiar and enjoy playing with Google Earth I also took my handheld GPS and mapped out the trails that I went on, the waterfalls, and some other interesting points. I have created a Google Earth .kmz file and so if you would like that please leave your email and I’ll send them your way.