Havasupai

*Prepare yourself for a long post*
I heard of Havasupai for the first time when my brother went for scouts YEARS ago. I saw his video of the trip and ever since then I have wanted to go. Through the years, I have known many people who have gone and told me how amazing it was. I kept waiting to be invited with a group of people so that I could go... but it wasn't happening. A couple of years ago, I tried to get my own group together and reserved a camp site 6 months before. A week before the trip just about everyone bailed. I felt like Havasupai was just not meant to be for me... which made me so sad.

My dear friend Allyson was one of the people that was supposed to come with me to Havasupai that year and pretty much the only person that didn't bail out. We both really wanted to go. WELL... this month Allyson turned 30. You know what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday? Go to Havasupai. She reserved months in advance and I told her I was in no matter what. I was so excited.

Because of my past experience, up until a few days before I was supposed to leave, I was expecting the trip to fall through. A lot of people that said they were going to come didn't end up coming, but there are fun, adventurous, spontaneous people out there (I love those people) like Dusty who did end up coming and the trip all worked out. Those who came were not disappointed.

Our journey began Thursday night. John, Jonathan, Anna and I drove down to Vegas. This is when I met Anna. I actually only knew 3 people on this trip (Allyson, John and Jonathan) the rest I didn't know, but that is the great thing about taking trips like this with people you don't know. You leave with lots of friends. I love that. We got a good nights rest in Vegas at my BFF Lolly's house. We got up early the next morning and drove to the Grand Canyon to wait for the rest of our group at the trail head before we started hiking. When I saw Allyson, I gave her the biggest hug ever. I have missed her a lot since she moved to Texas. Once we were all there, we began our hike with our heavy backpacks on with all of our camping gear.

And we hiked for 10 miles. It was beautiful.... and long. My feet really hurt at the end of the day. My heel was bleeding and I think I might lose a toenail... but I was SO happy to be there. :) So worth it.

We found the rest of our friends that we were meeting there and set up our tents right as it was getting dark.

We ate dinner and then everyone was so tired that we all went to bed at 8:30 (this is unheard of for me) and we slept... until 8:30 the next morning. Yep... hiking 10 miles with our packs made us tired. We got up, had breakfast and then got ready for more hiking. My feet were so tender from the day before. I couldn't bring myself to put my shoes back on, so I decided to hike in flip flops. Turns out that wasn't the best idea. Not that I can't hike in flip flops, I can. It was the going through rivers and rock climbing part of the trail that made it a little more difficult. However, John and I both did it. In the end, I think my feet were happier because of that decision. It was another 8 miles of hiking the next day... but what beautiful scenery we had! First stop in the hike was Mooney Falls.

It was beautiful from the top, but then we had to climb down to continue the trail on to Beaver Falls. That was scary. I also am a little scared of heights, especially if I don't feel secure. Well... I wasn't feeling so secure climbing down backwards on slippery rock with just some chains to hold on to. Thankfully John was there to help me and keep me safe every step of the way.

You feel pretty awesome when you get to the bottom. Then... you go on with the hike!

I was AMAZED with how green it was there... and how pretty the water is. Allyson's brother, Nate, said it perfectly when he said it was like a scene from Avatar... you would expect to come back at night and see everything glowing. During the hike we would have to cross the river, climb ladders, cross sketchy wood bridges and so on and so forth. What a fun adventure!

Then we finally reached Beaver Falls. SO beautiful. Some went swimming and we ate our lunch there before making the hike back.

On the hike back, it was the same beautiful scenery. Had to go back the way we came. Made a lot better time on the way back though. Allyson and I even took a dip in the water and we found this waterfall.

Then it was back to camp to eat dinner and go back to bed. The next morning we got up early to take down camp and hike two miles to the village. On your way in and out of camp, you pass by Navajo Falls.. which is also beautiful. We wished we had another day just to hang out there.

Because it is such a long hike, many people ride horses or mules in... or just have them carry their luggage as they hike in.

In the village, we waited several hours to take a Helicopter out. We were all pretty tired after hiking 20 miles in a couple of days. We wanted the easiest way out. Plus I had never been in a helicopter before. We did have to wait 5 hours to get on... that was frustrating since we had a 9 hour drive to start after that. I don't regret that decision though.

We had a VERY long trip home with a series of unfortunate events, but all in all, the trip was amazing! I'm so glad that Allyson organized it and I was able to go and that the weather was so perfect and it was just the weekend adventure that I needed. Most people should know by now that lately I like to put videos together of my adventures. Well, Havasupai is no exception. Here is the video I put together of the trip.



What a great group. What a great weekend. What a great place. Everyone should put Havasupai on their Bucket List.