We drove to Las Vegas where we picked up Madison who was flying in from NY. Once we were all together, we started driving to the trailhead and didn’t arrive there until around 1:30 am.
Sunday June23rd, we arrived at the trailhead and had to go through security where they told us we
could not start hiking until 4:00 am. We tried to sleep in the car and we set our alarms for 3:15 so we
could be ready to start hiking at 4:00 am. We all had trouble sleeping in the car. Once the alarms went off, we were all scrambling to get our gear, food, water etc ready to start the hike in. We were on the trail by 4:30 and we saw several other hikers coming in and going out at this early
hour. It took us five hours to get to the village which was approximately eight miles. We were at the village by 9:30 am.
We saw two Mormon missionaries in the village and got to visit with them which was interesting. We
had a little break in the village getting our permits, paperwork etc. But after about a half hour in the
village, we were on our way down to the campground which was another 2 miles. I believe we were at the campground by 11:00 am. We set up camp. Sarah and Rachelle set up two hammocks in the trees. Mom set up a two-man tent for her and her gear. Danielle and Madison set up a two-man tent for themselves. Made several trips to our local “Wal Mart” (as we affectionately called the drop off and pick up area). So many campers do not want to hike out with all of their gear so they leave anything they do not want to take out. We scored with a brand new - still in the box, three-man tent. We took it to the campground and thought we would use it as our dressing area and gear storage. But decided that Madison and Danielle would sleep in the new tent and we would use the two-man tent for our gear and dressing area. Our camp was pretty awesome. Right next to the water and very comfortable. We camped at Fern Spring and we were close to the natural water spring where we filled our water bottles daily. Some of the other items we got from “Wal Mart” in Havasupai were: hiking towel, tarp, bed pads, sunscreen and tablecloth. Our lunch consisted of salami and cheese mango wraps. Very good. After lunch we went and played at Havasu Falls. So beautiful and so refreshing.
We played Hearts later and Madison took home the win!
Our dinner was Pad Thai Good to Go packets. Jet Boil is the only way to go. So fast and easy to use.
We were ready for bed by 8:30 pm.
Monday June 24 th , we were up at 6:30 am. Breakfast was oatmeal with dried strawberries, coconut and chocolate chips. Great tasting breakfast. We hiked to Mooney Falls and Beaver Falls. Both gorgeous waterfalls. A little tricky getting to both. Climbing ladders, hanging onto chains but so worth it. Going to Beaver Falls, we were walking through Valley of the Vines which is so beautiful and green. We had a lot of fun playing in the falls, jumping off rope swing, and doing the cliff rock scramble. Madison lost her sunglasses here and Rachelle was able to feel them with her toes and resurrect them from the bottom. (only after bringing up several sticks with her toes thinking she had the sunglasses) *when you get to the bridge you are about half way to Beaver Falls.
Great lunch today, Spicy Thai tuna packets with cheese and wraps. Back to our tent by 6:30 pm. Dinner Thai Curry Good to Go packets. We spent some time tonight doing foot and body care. Mole skin, Bandages, Neosporin, and Advil. We thought about going to the confluence once we were at Beaver Falls. BUT if you are planning to go to the confluence, you need to be at Beaver Falls by 11:00 because they have security checking anyone going down. They want to make sure everyone makes it back so there is tight security before leaving Beaver Falls if heading down to the Colorado River. I think we were glad we were too late because it was further than we originally thought and it appeared to be a pretty hard hike down and back up.
Tuesday June 25 th , we were again up by 6:30 and after breakfast of oatmeal and dried blueberries, we went hiking to Fifty Falls, Navajo Falls and Havasu Falls. Spent the day playing in the water and meeting some very nice people. Lemon Sesame Ginger tuna packets with cheese or PB and J wraps for lunch. Rachelle lost her sunglasses today and after going back and looking for them we thought they were lost at Havasupai. We talked to some people we had met and told them about the sunglasses and if they happened to find them please let us know. Not too long later, they met up with us and they had the sunglasses! *Note for future trips, bring sunglass straps! After playing we headed back to camp. On our way back we stopped at the Indian Fry Bread hut to get some Indian Tacos. It was fairly early but they were all sold out of their Indian Tacos. We bought some ice cold drinks which tasted so good. We also bought some fry bread and took it back to camp to have
with our dinner of Indian Vegetable Korma Good to Go packets. The bread was really good and we
should have bought more.
Wednesday June 26 th , we were up at 2:30 am so we could leave the campground by 3:00 and get to the village by 4:00. We wanted to start hiking out before it got too hot. We were very organized and had most everything packed the night before. We left by 3:30 along with many others, and we were to the village by 4:30. We had great weather and were so grateful that there was a little breeze hiking out. It was very hot once we got out of the canyon. We were back to our car by 9:30 am.
*When we were trying to figure out what time to leave the campground, we started figuring out what
time we needed to be in Vegas to catch our flights. And then work backwards to know when to leave.
Do not do this. Leave as early as possible to avoid the heat. You want to be back to your car by 10:00 or earlier. It just gets too hot to be hiking any later.
We drove to Kingman and had the best hamburger, sweet potato fries, shakes and root beer floats. Go
to Mr. Dee’s Diner for sure. A fun place to end our trip. We drove to Hoover Dam and the girls got out to explore a little, but mom stayed in the car and just rested. Mom was pretty tired and wiped out from the heat and the hike. Thanks to each of you for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you. A great trip with great daughters. Memories for each of us were made in Havasupai!
A little sidenote. We were blessed and we are tough women! Sarah, Danielle and Rachelle just raced a half marathon the day before. Madison was 8 weeks pregnant. Mom had a hip replacement in February.
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