It was definitely the trip of a lifetime, and definitely someplace I will visit again. It was my first experience backpacking, and I loved it! I was really nervous how I would do carrying a heavy backpack, but it really wasn't too bad. The group was great too, I met some awesome people and hopefully this trip won't be the last. Havasupai is the name of the reservation in Arizona which borders the Grand Canyon. It took us 12 miles to drive to the hilltop, and then it is 8 miles to the Supai village and then 2 miles past that to the Havasupai campgrouds. Here's how the trip went....
Wednesday
We woke up early and started our drive. We ended up making pretty good time and arrived at the hilltop around 7 pm. We got all of our stuff ready and started hiking through the canyon. The trail has about a mile and half of steep downhill right at the beginning and then it is pretty much a flat/gradual downhill 6.5 miles to the village. We hiked for a couple of hours on Wednesday night and then set up camp for the night. That was a fun night getting to know everyone in the group a little better.
Thursday
Saturday
We wanted to go back to Rock Falls for a little bit and explore them a little better. The main fall that we spent time at on Thursday was just one waterfall, but there were about 5 more up the hill a little ways. So we climbed up to those, but we didn't spend too much time because the mist from the falls was so cold. It was pretty though.
We spent most of the day at Rock Falls.... just laying out and swimming. We had packed up our camp and backpacked up the hill to Rock Falls in the morning and we were just going to spend the day there and then finish hiking out that night. We decided to break up the hike out a little bit which I am so grateful for! We also made a little stop in the village cafe again to get a good dinner. Then we started our hike out....
we made it to the bottom of the hill and then we set up camp. It was COLD on Saturday night... we all slept really close together, but I think I had the cheapest sleeping bag... I was freezing! We woke up early (and frozen) on Sunday morning and hiked the ~2 miles up hill (hardest part!) to the cars.
It felt so good to make it the whole way!! Before I left I was convinced that I'd have to get horses to carry my pack or that I would pay for a seat on the helicopter... but nope... I packed my stuff the whole way! It was awesome!
Anyway... Havasupai is a beautiful place, and backpacking is a great adventure. I loved it!!
Once we got to the village we checked in and (stopped at the store for ice cream!) got our wristbands and we were all set. We hiked the 2 miles to the campground (mostly downhill) past a few waterfalls, including Rock Falls and Havasu Falls. Once we found our camp site we dropped off our stuff and rested for a bit and then decided to head to Mooney falls which is a mile past the campgroud. 
I did not love Mooney falls. You had to pretty much climb on the side of the cliff to get down to the falls. They had chains and had carved steps into the rocks, but I'm not of fan of that stuff... If you've hiked Angels Landing, its like the last part of that trail, but worse. 
But the falls were pretty and it was fun to swim around and GREAT to cool off. I think after that we just headed back to camp and made dinner and headed to bed.
One couple in the group had been there just before the flood and they kept saying how much the landscape had changed. Havasu Falls were definitely beautiful and there was no rock climbing required to get to the pools. But the pools weren't very deep so it wasn't a great swimming spot. However, I think this is where the girls got to wash our hair. That felt great! After spending some time at Havasu Falls we decided to head up to Rock Falls because we thought we remembered people swimming there. I'm so glad we headed up there. Rock Falls were great! A bunch of people were able to jump off of the falls (not me, I'm a wimp), and we could climb up behind the falls too. 
There were a couple of deep pools to swim in and a huge flat rock we could all lay out on. Since we were already more than half way back to the village we decided to go to the cafe for lunch. 
Yum! Now, that is backpacking! ;) I think we just went back to Rock Falls after we ate - played around some more there and then headed back to camp. Oh yes... I can't forget - we met Mihayla (I have no idea how to spell her name) on the way back from the village. She just started walking with us. Super cute little 6 year old girl. 
