The Best of Times, The Worst of Times....

Sorry for the long post, I guess this counts as my trip review more than a blog post....


This past weekend we went on a "little hike".  We have been planning on hiking down to Havasupai  for awhile now.  We tried to get a big group together to go down with us but we were only able to convince one lucky couple, the Goffs.  Melanie and I have been going on hikes every weekend to prepare ourselves for what lay ahead, but.... I don't think it worked.  Well, maybe a little.

We stayed the night in Seligman, AZ (1 hour from the hilltop parking area) the night before the hike hoping to wake up early and make it down to Supai village before the sun came down into the canyon.  But we didn't sleep very well so we started about 2 hours later than we wanted.

 Ready to start the hike

The hike is 8 miles to Supai village, which is where you check in and pay for your campsites.  You have 3 options on how to get you and your stuff down there.  

#1 - Hike down and pack all your stuff with you 

#2 - Hike down and let a mule/horse carry your stuff

#3 - Take a helicopter ride down

We wanted to try and be real backpackers so we chose option #1.  The first 1.5 miles is all switchbacks since you are going from the canyon rim to the floor.  Surprisingly neither of us thought it was too difficult.  

Melanie on the switchbacks

The next 6.5 miles is on the canyon floor following a dry river bed.  There is little to no shade once the sun is up, which is why we wanted the early start.  The hiking wasn't too difficult it just became long and tedious with the sun always on you.  Melanie felt bad for the mule train every time they passed us coming up the hill. They don't seem to get fed very well.  There are stories that when a mule dies on the trail they just burn the body right then and there.

Part of a mule train

Did I mention it was HOT???

There were a couple deceitful signs that pointed the way to the village and said "You're almost there", but we were still 2 miles away....  Plus another 2 to the campground.  We made it to the village in about 4 hours.  We checked in and took a break for about 30 min.  I was feeling really dehydrated so I tried to drink a lot and eat a snack.  We then started towards the campground.  That's when it got really hard.  We were super tired, dehydrated, and sore.  I had two huge blisters on my heels and my knees were shot from the downhill. Melanie's pack was hurting her but she was still pushing ahead.  There was no shade at all on the trail down to the campsite so that didn't help anything.  

 Beaver Falls - We were too tired to even enjoy seeing this one

After what seemed like forever, we came down a hill and saw Havasupai Falls, which also signaled the entrance to the campground.  We took a break and enjoyed the view before making our way down the rest of the hill into the campground.  We then hiked another 1/2-3/4 of a mile looking for a campsite.  We unrolled our tarp, put down the air mats and PASSED OUT....  we were done.

Havasupai Falls

Finally able to get some rest

We took it easy for awhile and then went to go get some water and look for the Goffs.  Unfortunately we found that they had already setup camp, and since we all had to camp together, they had to move their tent over to where we were (Sorry Jeff and Cali).  The rest of the day we just made dinner, played some games, and went to bed exhausted.  

The next day we hiked down to Mooney Falls.  It was less than a 1/2 mile from the campsite and proved to be an exhilarating climb.  You had to go down through two caves, a couple ladders, and climb down foot and hand hold carved into the rock.  There were 'safety' chains and spikes drilled into the rock that you needed to hold onto cause it was very steep.  Towards the bottom of the climb the rocks were wet from the waterfall spray, and worn smooth from everyone touching them.  The potential for imminent death always means that you are having a good time. 

Mooney Falls

Cave Entrance

About 80 feet above the ground - just came out of the 2nd cave

We headed back up the cliff side trail just before the morning rush of people started coming down, so we were able to get out of there without having to wait in line.  We went back to camp and had a snack, got some sunscreen, then headed for Havasupai Falls.  The cold water from the river was the only thing that made our stiff and sore muscles feel good.  We played in the falls and pools around it for a few hours and finally got to use the underwater cameras that we got for free.  Thank you Old Navy black Friday giveaways!

Havasupai Falls

Playing in the River next to our camp site

The next day we woke up early and hiked to the village to book our seats for the helicopter ride out.  No more backpacking for us.  The Goffs rented a mule to carry their bags and decided to show us up by hiking all the way out.... but that's OK.  I'm not scared to admit that if I ever go there again I'm not even going to hike in, it's going to be nothing but helicopter rides for me in the future!!

No Sex in the Cave!!!!

Last weekend Melanie and i decided we needed to check off the last of the National Parks in Arizona so we made a day trip down to Tucson.  Our destination was the "famed" Saguaro National Park.  If you are unfamiliar with this park, it is the home of the Saguaro cactus..... and that's pretty much it.  One of the reasons we chose last weekend to go was because it was National Park week so they waived all the entrance fees at the parks.  I'm glad they did because I'm not sure Saguro would have been worth the $10 entrance fee.  The highlight of the trip happened in the first 50 feet of us driving into the park.  We saw a Gila Monster!  It was pretty awesome.  Melanie chased it down to get some pictures and even braved the wrath of a cactus to do so.  The rest of the 8 mile loop was fairly uneventful, we saw a few other animals, some cacti obviously, and got to play on some rocks.  But we didn't accomplish our main goal: to kill see a javelina.   Maybe next time.  Here are a few pics.

Entrance Pic

Gila Monster

Close up 

Battle Scars

Cactus Flowers

More Cactus Flowers

Melanie's Saguaro Impression

Climbing the Rocks

After we left the park we saw a sign for Colossal Cave and decided to check it out.  It is a pretty big cave system but it has had lots of damage done to it.  If you have been to Carlsbad or Kartchner Caverns, this is nothing in comparison.  Pretty much every formation inside is broken.  They said the locals used the stalagtites and target practice.  It was just me, melanie and another couple on our tour.  They were about 60 years old and had been married for 3 years.  And apparently it was on there bucket list to have sex in a cave....  because the definitely had sex on the brain.  The tour guide said "there are no insects in the cave" and the guy said "there is no sex in the cave? What is the point of being here then?".  Then later on we were at the lowest part of the cave, called the living room, and the lady says "you all can go ahead we are going to need our privacy... we'll catch up".

Ahhhhh newlyweds!!

Here are some pics

This was a ledge that I wasn't supposed to climb on... ...
 I was pretty sure it was going to break and I was going to fall and die