Day 1 of My Havasupai Adventure

The alarm went off at 3:00 a.m. I hardly slept a wink because the excitement was just swirling in my head. The other seven ladies all met up at the church to load up Clifford, The Big Red Van, aka the Little's van. Imagine eight packs,eight sleeping bags,five tents, and enough outdoor gadgets to fill a second REI store. The van was loaded, a prayer of protection was said, and we were off to our hiking adventure.

We stopped in Flagstaff for some yummy Starbucks coffee and oatmeal. It was toasty and warm as the air was chilly and windy. We all buzzed about our expectations and fears, most of which included a lack-of restroom scenario.

The drive continued to Seligman, a tiny little town that had the cutest little gas station. It was full of trinkets,chatchskis, and postcards. We purchased the postcards here to avoid the high cost at the bottom Canyon Store.

We finally reached the beginning of our trail head, adjusted our packs, and checked in our bags for the mules to take down. No sense in carrying tents and sleeping bags, when you have mules! Off we went,that is after a 'before' group picture.

The switchbacks were easy at this point. It looked a lot like Windcave at Usery Pass with all the dirt and rocks scattered about. The incline did not seem too steep, but I reminded myself,with every step down I will eventually be stepping up on the way out.This portion of the hike lasted about an hour to an hour and a half. The next portion was level and the Canyon hues started to take place. The reds were beautiful and really stood out against the brown, dusty background. The shapes, textures and colors really came alive. I was overwhelmed with this first glimpse of Gods creation.

The next portion was getting into a lot of sand, like the beachy, deep sand that is hard to walk in with hiking boots. Note to self, I will be bring gators next time to put over boots! We had our first stop about mile 3-the stop where everyone started putting on moleskin and bandaids. By this time, you could tell where hot spots on the feet might be, and the care for them should be preventative instead of waiting too long and having to repair the feet. We stopped at a place we called 'Dolphin Rock' because of its shape and size. I did not get a good picture of this, but some of the other ladies did.

The next five miles were just putting one foot in front of the other. Not too much incline with the occasional change in sand, dirt or rocks for foundation. It would alternate occasionally and the sites were gorgeous. By mile eight we were approaching the village of Havasupai. The houses were mixed in size, shape and color. I was very sad to see the overall care of the animals,they were very malnourished. The town was of the beachy sand and the river flowed around it. We made it to the office to pay for our camping spots. This was where I saw a difference in the ladies energy. Some were very tired and the level of excitement had turned into feet hurting. By this time you know how your boots should be fitting and how they were not. A quick snack and on to the next two miles to the campground.

We first ran into Navajo Falls. This was the one that had the most damage from the flood last year. You could see the rebuilding and restructuring, but it was a beautiful fall. The next one was Havasupai Falls. The color of the water was a very unusual blue-green. Havasupai actually means 'people of the blue-green water' and it is easy to see where they derive their name. The water was crystal clear and an amazing contrast to the red travertine rock behind it.

It was now about 4:00 p.m. and the mules carrying our stuff had not yet passed us along the way.They were supposed to be there around 3 p.m., so we waited to see what we should do about picking our spot to camp at. We could not set up camp without the tents, which were still on the mules. After about 15 minutes, the mules showed up. They looked worse than we did. They were sweaty and had sores on them. I felt very bad for them!! After carrying our bags, tents, and did I mention we brought eight chairs in case all the picnic tables were gone? On our way to set up camp, we found the restrooms. Can I just say they were the nicest bathrooms in a campground I have ever seen? They were a flight of stairs up, brand new, with a basket full of wood shavings to help the smell as well as turning it into compost. They were also fully loaded with toilet paper, night lights and clean. They were not too far from where we set up camp, but not too close either, if you know what I mean!

It was now time for us to get our game on! We set up our own tents, stoves and eating facility. All the fun stuff came out as we oohed and ahhed over each others gadgets, I fell in love with one stove that would fit in the palm of my hand. A prayer of thanks to God for all of us making it down without injury or sickness, and for His beautiful creation that we were pleased to see. As our tents were set up we started cooking all of our dinners. We traded and took bites of each others food, even camping we are still ladies! We took note of what we liked and what we would not get again,there were some great ideas we all shared. By this time it was dark and about 6 p.m. We sat around with our headlamps on and tried to stay awake. I think the last person went to bed after nursing her feet about 7 p.m. I shared my two-man tent with Dana, my sweet friend who put up with me smelling oh so good. It was cold, about 45 degrees and we were all layered with longjohns, Underarmor and sweats. None of us cared, we were all asleep very quickly with thoughts of our day filling our dreams as the stream flowed outside our tents peacefully.....