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I had the chance to go to the Havasupai Indian Reservation Oct 1 to the 3rd. If you are familiar with this place, there are pools of water so blue it almost looks fake. You can day hike it but that would be a 20 mile round trip and you couldn't enjoy the scenery. To camp there, you need a reservation, no pun intended, as the tribe only allows a limited number of people a day to camp.
So, after a some planning and backpack gear finding, my brother-in-law, his co-worker, both from Las Vegas, and I arrived at the Hualapai Hilltop which is located 60 miles north of Peach Springs, AZ off of Route 66.
You will have to leave your vehicle in the parking lot as there are only 3 ways to see the falls. Helicopter, horseback, or a 10 mile hike. The last way being the cheapest.
We chose to hike. We wanted to leave right at dawn as to avoid the heat of the day. Since no tent camping is allowed in the parking lot we slept in our cars. That is an overrated experience. I was going to sleep in the bed of my truck but the wind was blowing pretty strong that night and the temps were getting a bit chilly.
The next morning we woke to this view
Started down the canyon and after 1.5 miles, I looked back from were we started
We found a direction sign pointing us to the indian village of Supai.
After 8 long miles with we came to the village.
A mile and a quarter past the villiage we found our first waterfall.
A little futher and we hit the 2nd waterfall and what a site this is. This is called Havasu Falls.
We found the perfect campsite that was right on the creek,
The two main falls that people come to see is Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls, named for an old prospector that fell to his death trying to save his friend that had fallen. The only way to get to the base of Mooney Falls is through a couple of tunnels, some chain ropes, and ladders.
first of 2 tunnels
Chains bolted to the side to help your climb down.
Ladders, note the broken rung
This is what the whole thing looks like.
At the bottom of that climb, you get this. A 200' tall waterfall dropping 1100 gallons of water per minute.
This thing was loud.
Note the My Jeep Rocks shirt on that guy. Got to represent.
There is another set of falls 4 miles past Mooney Falls called Beaver Falls. But after the flash flood back in 2008 that stranded a bunch of people in the canyon, the trail past Mooney was washed out. We were advised against atempting the hike. If another flash flood came, we could possibly get cut off. We did have some thunder storms and rain the night before so we didn't go. Just means I have to go back during the spring time months.
A trip well worth the hike. We paid for a mule pack to take our backpacks out the next day as I still had a 7 hour drive home ahead of me and after all the hiking and climbing, I was pooped.
So, after a some planning and backpack gear finding, my brother-in-law, his co-worker, both from Las Vegas, and I arrived at the Hualapai Hilltop which is located 60 miles north of Peach Springs, AZ off of Route 66.
You will have to leave your vehicle in the parking lot as there are only 3 ways to see the falls. Helicopter, horseback, or a 10 mile hike. The last way being the cheapest.
We chose to hike. We wanted to leave right at dawn as to avoid the heat of the day. Since no tent camping is allowed in the parking lot we slept in our cars. That is an overrated experience. I was going to sleep in the bed of my truck but the wind was blowing pretty strong that night and the temps were getting a bit chilly.The next morning we woke to this view
Started down the canyon and after 1.5 miles, I looked back from were we started
We found a direction sign pointing us to the indian village of Supai.
After 8 long miles with we came to the village.
A mile and a quarter past the villiage we found our first waterfall.
A little futher and we hit the 2nd waterfall and what a site this is. This is called Havasu Falls.
We found the perfect campsite that was right on the creek,
The two main falls that people come to see is Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls, named for an old prospector that fell to his death trying to save his friend that had fallen. The only way to get to the base of Mooney Falls is through a couple of tunnels, some chain ropes, and ladders.
first of 2 tunnels
Chains bolted to the side to help your climb down.
Ladders, note the broken rung
This is what the whole thing looks like.
At the bottom of that climb, you get this. A 200' tall waterfall dropping 1100 gallons of water per minute.
This thing was loud.
Note the My Jeep Rocks shirt on that guy. Got to represent.
There is another set of falls 4 miles past Mooney Falls called Beaver Falls. But after the flash flood back in 2008 that stranded a bunch of people in the canyon, the trail past Mooney was washed out. We were advised against atempting the hike. If another flash flood came, we could possibly get cut off. We did have some thunder storms and rain the night before so we didn't go. Just means I have to go back during the spring time months.
A trip well worth the hike. We paid for a mule pack to take our backpacks out the next day as I still had a 7 hour drive home ahead of me and after all the hiking and climbing, I was pooped.
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