For quite a few years now, my dad and brother have been talking about wanting to hike the Grand Canyon again, this time to Havasu Falls.  I think the last time they did it was about 10(ish) years ago, in which my mother and I opted for the less strenuous activity of scrapbooking in a cabin at the rim.  This time however, after some quick Google-ing, I decided I wanted to join them… even though they are in far better shape and were, you know, training to run a marathon at the time.  Yeah, I can totally keep up…

You have to book crazy far in advance to reserve a camping spot near the falls, which we finally got around to a few months ago.  I feel like the wise course of action at that point, would have been to start training (or even better breaking in proper footwear).  The hike to the campground was about 10 miles each way, the duration of which we would be carrying a pack with camping and eating necessities (and for me, camera gear!).   Alas, while they continued on their marathon training course, I did no such thing.  Not my brightest moment, if I may say so myself.

Anyway, the good news is we all made it in and out!  Though I’ll admit I would have denied this during the dreadful hike up, it was definitely beautiful and worth it!

One of my (favourite!!) lenses ceased working somewhere between the top and the bottom, so that was quite depressing, especially after lugging it all the way down.  Arg!  Anyway, I blame the lack of better photos on that… and the fact that I couldn’t stand still long enough to take photos due to my freakishly twitchy leg.  Silly muscles.

Anyway, the beauty of hiking to Supai is the (if you couldn’t guess) water falls, which are seriously stunning – even the water was a lovely blue/green.  The two main falls were Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls, both of which were right around the campsite… The water was freakishly cold despite the desert heat, but definitely a welcomed contrast!!  Anyway, to get to Mooney Falls, there was this crazy like proper rock climbing route you had to go down, which had built in like, spikes and chains and things to help you get down safely.  I guess the falls were named after some drunk cowboy (named Mooney) who fell trying to get down… so they put in helpful things?  I didn’t take a picture (I know, I know), but I did snag this from Flickr -

Crazy, right?  Super fun, though!

We were down for two nights, so we basically spent the middle day just exploring the area and trying not to get hypothermia while enjoying the water (okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad).  Caleb and dad jumped off mini waterfalls and Caleb even got his Tarzan on (/cheesy).

We even took a cheesy photo.

Also, sleeping in that hammock under the stars was definitely a highlight as well – people should do that more often.  I love how beautiful Arizona is.

The hike out was even worse, and there were quite a few times I thought I was going to pass out… because apparently I do that sometimes, ha.  It probably didn’t help that we sort of ran out of water about a mile out and had to ration for the final, steepest, leg.  It was all very dramatic.  And then I had a deliciously cold Dr. Pepper at the top and I’m pretty sure it was one of the most amazing moments in all of ever.  I’m not even joking.  Better yet, I managed to escape with merely 6 blisters, a twitchy leg, and one falling-induced cut (that made it look like my knee had been mauled by a lion…).  It could have been worse!!

Needless to say, pretty things were found, fun was had, and no permanent injuries were sustained.   Good times.