Escaping Havasupai

We had a fabulous time in Havasupai.  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  That meant that we had to make a decision as to how we were going to get home.  I knew how we were going to do the 11 hour drive, it was going to happen in our car that was still parked in the parking lot.  The decision we had to make was how to get to the parking lot ten miles away.

One thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to carry my backpack for ten miles back up the canyon.  The first option I considered was to hire some mules to carry our packs and we could hike out only carrying our own body weight.  (Believe you me, I have plenty of body weight, so that would have still been a workout.)

However, Robyn was starting to get some blisters, and though we probably would have been fine, we realized that we weren't going to be able to change our minds five miles in, so we decided to play it safe and take an easier option.  We elected to charter a helicopter and fly out.  (Can we all just agree that flying is more awesome than walking?)

We woke up extremely early on our last day.  Those of us in our group that were hiking wanted to get an early start so that they could avoid hiking in the heat of the day.  We wanted to get an early start so we could be first in line for the helicopter.  So we woke up at about 3 AM.  But let's be honest, I was a cranky boy when I had to get out of that tent at that hour.

Since others in our group were hiking ten miles, I agreed to carry some of their stuff.  It made my pack heavier, but theirs could be lighter for their long hike.  I had no way of weighing the pack, but I would guess it weighed somewhere in the 50-60 pounds range.  The helicopter is in the village of Supai, which is 2 miles from the campground, and it's a pretty good climb to get there, so it was some hard work to carry that pack for those 2 miles.

Robyn commented that with the heavy pack I probably weighed about what I used to before I lost all the weight.  It turns out I was sweating about like I used to when I was 300 pounds.  I would stop and bend over to rest.  The headlamp I was wearing had sweat just dripping off of it.  It's gross, but that's the sort of realism you've come to expect from this blog.

We finally made it to where we could book the helicopter.

Robyn snapped this pic of me as I set down my giant pack.  I was a tired boy.

When I talk about the helicopter, you're picturing a well run charter company that has things like schedules that make sense.  STOP IT!  Stop imagining that right now.  It's not real.

If you're going to imagine things that aren't real, perhaps you should picture something like me frolicking in a meadow filled with fairies and unicorns.  Or maybe me riding on a dragon as it spews forth a pillar of fire.  Or maybe an animal that can produce multiple delicious foods such as ham, bacon and pork ribs.

What did you say?  That last one was real?  Wow!  Miracles never cease.

Anyway, the point is that a well run, well scheduled charter company in Supai is a fantasy.  Also, bacon is delicious.

This thing was not well run at all.  When we signed the paper to get in line, we asked when the helicopter would come.  They had no idea.  It was going to get there when the pilot felt like it.

So we waited.

I had plenty of time to take selfies with the horses eating their breakfast on the helicopter pad.

We had no idea how long our wait would be, so we just hung out.  I laid down and took a nap.  I listened to people around us argue about things they did while they were drunk.  It was good times.

Eventually, a big dude came and started spraying the dirt road where all our packs were sitting.  We quickly scurried to get them out of the way, so naturally he kept chasing us further and further away.  I guess it was so that the helicopter wouldn't kick up the dust, but he didn't bother to explain what was going on, he just yelled "PACKS!" as he started spraying our packs.

Then, after chasing us far, far away, he started yelling, "First six get ready!"  We had about 30 seconds to gather all of our stuff together and get on the helicopter as it landed.

We jumped on and like any helicopter company would, they just piled our packs on top of us.  It was a really high quality service we were paying for.

Despite the fact that I was not impressed with how the service was run, the view from the helicopter was beautiful.

The trail that we totally weren't on.

The helicopter dropped us in the parking lot, just a few hundred feet from our car.  A few hundred feet is a way better distance than the 8 miles we would have done.

It's important to get a selfie with the helicopter.

When it landed, I got out of the chopper and turned to help get the packs off of the people that were still inside.  A big native dude told me to stop and step aside.  Like a good kid, I got out of the way assuming that he would help them, and that I would just get in the way.

Remember what I said about the fantasy of the well run company?  Well, that fantasy included logical things like him helping the girl with the nasty burn on her leg to get the heavy pack off of her and helping her out of the chopper, so clearly it didn't happen.  He pushed me out of the way so that I could watch them fend for themselves.

Oh well.  Everyone lived, and we have a great story to tell.  Next time I ride a helicopter, I think I'll do it in Hawaii with a more legit company.  Nonetheless, I had a great time.

Havasupai

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go backpacking into Havasupai.  It was our first real backpacking trip (I say it was real.  I was informed by one of the hardcore backpackers on the trip that hiking ten miles and staying somewhere for several days is not actually real backpacking.  Real backpacking entails ten or more miles per day.  Nevertheless, it was real enough for me.)

If you're unfamiliar with Havasupai, it's a beautiful area located in Havasu canyon which is a subsidiary to the Grand Canyon.  It's located inside a native american reservation, and is maintained by the natives.  To get there you have to hike in 10 miles, but once you are there, there is a campground with waterfalls, a freshwater spring, a beautiful river, plenty of hiking and swimming opportunities, and just general awesomeness.  I'll share a few of the most memorable experiences from the trip, in chronological order.

Hiking In
We arrived at the parking lot about 9:00 at night.  One thing you do not want to do is make this hike during the day, because the heat will kill you.  It took us 20-30 minutes or so to get all the backpacks out, get changed into hiking clothing, and get ourselves ready for the hike, so we started hiking around 9:30 in the evening.

The campground is about ten miles from the parking lot.  It's 8 miles to the village of Supai, and an additional 2 to the campground itself.  Hiking in is primarily downhill, but between hiking in the dark and hiking through sand, I was having a hard time of it.  I was so tired, I was pretty sure I would die.  (I suppose it also didn't help that we were making the long trek after a long day of driving.)  Despite being exhausted, look what a cute hiker I was.

The ten miles get way longer when you get caught in a repeating gif image.

Sleeping in The horse's bathroom
You aren't supposed to camp on the trail.  You're only supposed to camp in the campground.  So we're not going to call it camping.  Let's just say that we stopped to take a nap after about 7 miles.  The place where we stopped had an abundance of horse droppings.  We didn't think much of it.  We each just made sure that we weren't laying on top of any of the droppings.  In the middle of the night, several wild horses wandered into our little napping space (not a camp).  They neighed at us in a very cranky manner.  We should have realized that we were in their bathroom.  I would be cranky too if I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and there were 12 people sleeping there.

The bats
The bats were one of my favorite things on this trip.  I've never seen them in such numbers.  At night you could catch a glimpse of one or two, and you could definitely hear their little chirps, but first thing in the morning you could lay and look at the sky and see dozens of them flying around catching bugs.  I figure as long as they don't turn into vampires, and they eat the bugs that eat me, I will always be friends with the bats.  Especially since they're so cool to watch.

My first view of the river
I'd been told that the water in Havasupai is beautiful, but nothing could have prepared me for how beautiful it actually was.  The water has a deep turquoise color.  It honestly looks like ocean water.  The word on the street is that it's caused by the high limestone content.  All I know is that my first glimpse of the river took my breath away.

Picnics in the river
I ate as many meals as I possibly could in the river.  Why would you eat (or do anything) in the heat of the area known as "not the river" when you could be doing things in the river.

This is the proper way to have a picnic.

Havasu Falls
As we were hiking into the campground, I had several views of the river and of waterfalls.  But that didn't stop Havasu Falls from taking my breath away.  It's absolutely stunning, and pictures don't do it justice.

The Ladder of Death
One of the prettiest waterfalls is called Mooney Falls.  (Apparently, it's named for a guy named Mooney who tried to climb down it and died, kind of like Clayton ravine from Back to the Future.)  To get down to it, they have built a descending stair of death.  It involves ladders, going through caves, and mostly just trying to avoid death as you descend a couple hundred feet almost vertically.

The sign warns you beforehand that you might die.

You go through tunnels where it's likely you'll be eaten by Shelob.

Some areas have chains you need to hold onto.

This is looking up at the bottom third of it, which is the most treacherous part.

Mooney Falls

Once we got down to Mooney Falls we spent the whole day there, because I was not going up and down the ladder of death twice.

Look how precious we were.

It's important to lay in the water and take pictures of my feet.

Rope swing

From Mooney falls we headed down the river, to see what we could see.  The first thing we encountered was a rope swing.

Robyn grabs the rope

And she releases it gracefully

My dismount was less graceful.

Trekking Down the River

From there we just hiked down the river.  We jumped off cascades when we encountered them.  We waded through shallow parts.  We swam through deep parts.  It was super fun.

Look at my adventurous wife!

The Shower

We found a little outcropping that totally functioned like a shower.

I told Dave to do a Maybelline pose.  He should be a model.

But Robyn is still cuter, even without the Maybelline pose.

Jumping off the falls

Robyn and I both jumped off of lower Navajo Falls.  It took me a while to get the courage but I did it.

Here's me.

Here's Robyn

How cute is it that she screamed on the way down and then screamed when she came up because she wasn't done screaming?

Upper Navajo Falls

I had tons of fun playing in the upper falls.  When we first walked up to it, I figured it was too hardcore to play in.  It turned out that it was one of my favorites.  We swam under a little ourcropping that made a little cave.  We showered in it, we swam against the current.  It was great.

About to head into the mayhem.

Sometimes I hide from waterfalls with the safety of rock

I was important to do a He Man pose in the maelstrom.

Erin and Robyn making the waterfall cuter.

Robyn had to make the waterfall more precious than you can possibly imagine.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip. There were a few negatives. One girl spilled boiling water on herself and burned herself super bad. Some squirrels got into the same girl's food, ate some of it and pooped on what they didn't eat. One girl said she didn't like bacon. (It broke my heart. I told her I would turn the car around and end her precious trip real soon.) But other than that, I'd say it was amazing.

There are way too many cool pictures for a blog post, so watch Facebook for the rest of them.  (I'll get them posted soon.  Don't rush me.)  And if you're really lucky, I might even blog about how we got out of the canyon.  (You think we walked?  Who would do that?)