Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Havasupai - Day One


We just got home from an amazing trip to an amazing destination!!  I can't wait to go again!  I took SO many pictures, so I am going to break them down into three posts....one for each day.  Visiting Havasupai is something everyone should have on their bucket list :)

This post will actually start just before day one....the drive there :)  We planned on a 5 hour drive from our house to the trailhead.  We stopped in Flagstaff for fuel on the way....when I say fuel, I mean...Café Rio, Cold Stone, Duncan Donuts(for a quick breakfast before we hit the trail).  We had some friends tell us that we might want to get some hammocks to sleep in at Havasupai, so we also stopped at REI for a few last minute supplies.  While we were there picking up a couple of hammocks, REI was having their 'garage sale'.  They had some awesome sunglasses(normally ~$60) marked down to $2.83 because they were missing the screw that held one of the ear pieces on.  I have a handy husband and knew he could fix that for me, so we grabbed those too.

 
 My first ever attempt at a selfie :)  I know I need to work on my selfie skills...my son said it's all about the angle:) 
 
 
We knew we were close to the trailhead when we saw this....
 
We set-up our camp at the trailhead.  Ryan slept on a cot behind the van and the rest of us just slept inside the van....or we tried to sleep.  It was pretty loud with people coming and going, and we were just SO excited to hit the trail!
 
We talked to someone who was just hiking out and they recommended that we leave the trailhead between 2-2:30 in the morning(to beat the heat).  SO, we set our alarm for 2:00am.  By the time we actually got out of bed and got our stuff ready, we started down the trail around 3:30am.  It was dark, so we were hiking by the light of our headlamps.  Our boys were ahead of us on the trail, I stepped over a dark spot and turned around to see what it was.....this is what I saw....


Both of the boys had walked right over it and didn't see it.  We called them back to check it out.  By the time we got a picture, Jake had made him mad.
 
It was nice to start hiking early because it was cooler, but I was glad when the sun came up so I could see the view.  The following pictures are of the hike in.
 
 
 
 
 Just getting into the village....this guy was laying down, we stopped to get a picture and he hopped up and came over to get his picture taken too.  OR....maybe he just wanted a bite of Jake's nectarine :)
 
I know this picture is blurry too, but I still love it.  This is also just getting into the village.  This dog followed us for close to half a mile.  Hunter started getting nervous that it was going to follow us all the way to the campgrounds.
 

 This is Little Navajo Falls.  It is about 9 miles in from the trailhead, about halfway between the village and the campgrounds.
 
It took us about 4 hours to hike the 10 miles from the trailhead to the campgrounds, that includes the time it took us to stop in the village and check-in, pay our fees, sign all of the necessary paperwork, and get our wristbands.
 
We picked an awesome campsite.  The group that used it before us left their floating toys and we ended up putting them to good use!

While resting in the hammock, Jake zip-tied my shoelaces together.

The view from my hammock :)

Another view of camp.  Jake and Ryan are getting ready to start cooking dinner.

Helping cook dinner can really wear a guy out!
 
Ryan is getting ready to start making us some peach cobbler while a few of us nap in the hammocks...again:)  I love going backpacking with Ryan....he does all the cooking and cleaning :) 

Perfect camp peach cobbler!!

Ryan and I got to eat the second batch.
 
The first falls that we visited (besides hiking past Little Navajo) was Havasu Falls.  It was beautiful and I wish I would have gotten some better pictures of it.  We only went to Havasu Falls the first day.

I was hoping to get back to Havasu Falls a little later in the day so that we could get a picture with the sun shining on it, but it never happened so this is what we got.
 
Jake and Hunter swimming toward the falls.
 
Jake, me and Hunter
 
I think Mooney Falls was my favorite place while in Havasupai!!  Ryan wanted to stay at camp to get a little nap, so I told the boys that we could go check out Mooney.  When we got there and I saw the 'trail' to get to the base of Mooney, I told the boys I was NOT going down and they would have to go back with Ryan sometime.  Well.....they didn't like that answer and finally talked me into 'toughening' up and going down.
 
This is just before you enter the cave(see the arrow) and start the scary(for me) part down.
 
The hike in was worth it!!  I'm glad the boys talked me into doing it!!
 

Rope swing

Jake going on the rope swing.
 
These are the ladders you climb up to get out(and down to get in).  You can see one of the two caves towards the top right of the picture.
 
Jake and Hunter starting the climb out.  I can't believe Jake carried that tube in and out.
 
Jake and Hunter waiting for me to catch up with them during the climb out :)
 
Well....that concludes day one.  Hopefully I can get pictures from day 2 and 3 up soon:)  Day 2 and day 3 are linked below.
 
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