Havasupai Falls - WOW!

Confession:  Now that it's been 6+ months since this trip,  I've calmed down, and things are (mostly) back to normal this post in NOT going to do this trip justice.  I am kicking myself for not journaling earlier about this..... dang!

But.... I'll do my best.  I'll try and re-create the experience start to finish.  Just know that it was beyond anything I can put into words - both positively and negatively.

Nate and I, along with 20 others embarked on a very physical trip to Havasupai Falls, AZ in early June, 2016.  The timeline went like this; leave at 3am, drive 15 hours from Castle Rock to Havasupai, arrive sometime before dark.  Set up a camp (this term is used lightly here) at the top of the canyon (a fork of the Grand Canyon) and wait until the weeeee hours of the morning to begin the 11 mile hike, downhill, into the campground near the river and the Falls.  Hike in, set up camp, explore the area, sleep in a tent for 2 nights, hike the 11 miles uphill out and drive home.  

Here are the minor details that made this trip unlike any other I've been on; it was 100+ degrees the ENTIRE time.  We were surrounded by water so cooling off was a option, if you wanted to get wet.  We slept in a 2 person tent, on the ground, and ate bagged and hydrated food.  It was dirty, hot, buggy, and totally rugged.  The type of trip I knew I was getting myself into but had NO idea what it would entail.  But.  I made it.  Whew!

The cool parts were being with my best friend for 5 days.  Uninterrupted, quality, unplugged time.  We had to rely on each other to survive and also have fun doing it.  We had to work together to eat, sleep, cool off, not get sun burned and have fun.  We walked a LOT.  We sweated a LOT.  It was a physically exhausting trip and one we'll never forget.  I'm glad I did it, but I'll NEVER do it again.  

We had really cool guide, and friend of ours, showing us the ropes.  He has done this trip many times and knows what's up.  He told us just what to pack, how to do it right, what to wear, how long everything is, etc.  I'm pretty confident we wouldn't have made it out alive if not for him.  

We also decided a day in to rent horses to ride out of the canyon, instead of hiking out.  As a horse lover, this was amazing.  Really fun, completely spontaneous, and much better than hiking 11+ miles uphill after the long trip.  We also made the decision to drive most of the way home (to Albuquerque 6 hours away) after coming out of the canyon that day.  While I was <pissed> for lack of a better word about it (we were originally supposed to drive just 2 hours to a town and sleep in a hotel) it ended up being an amazing part of the trip.  There were 6 of us in a big Suburban, all slightly delusional, laughing and giggling for 6 hours.  Some really great bonding happened that trip and I'm thankful for that!

Below are some pictures of what we saw.  Again, they don't do it justice but if the picture looks that good, imagine real life!  The experience was humbling and awesome.  I'm so thankful for the chance to do it!  

Our 'camp' the first night - it was HOT!

Clear blue/green water running in the canyon.  Breathtaking!

One of the many 100+ foot water falls you could explore

Part of the hike - this had a fire some years back, so vegetation was just starting to fill in again

We walked/hiked in and our of this river from one fall to the next - you could jump off the rocks into the next pool of water!

Green/blue clear water flowed everywhere - it lead into the CO river in the main Grand Canyon

Mini falls during our hike/exploration day

This fall you could 'attempt' to swim behind - you had to be an extremely strong swimmer.  Most people just bathed in the water and hung out around this strong current

I'm pretty sure this is the street modeled after the movie 'Cars' - off Route 66, in the desert, one street town - so cute!