Backpacking Havasupai
Backpacking Havasupai 💚🧡
Havasupai Indian reservation is in Arizona, close to the Grand canyon (south entrance by 3 hours), las Vegas 2 hours to the nearest hotel (Peach springs, AZ) and then 1 hour to the start of the trailhead.
My friend Jenny invited me on her permit that she scored. For each attendee, the fee is $400 for 3 nights on the reservation. Knowing permits are hard to get, I was grateful to have the opportunity to join and of course said yes!
Day 0: flew into Las Vegas, drive to the hotel and sorted out packing/gear. Weather showed 20F in the evenings and even snow on the last day. All of us prepared our clothing and brought extra fuel just in case.
Day 1: 15 miles and mostly down to the camp. There are 3 bathrooms before you reach Mooney fall. We stopped at the village and enjoyed a fried bread burger (credit card accepted) and wifi in the restaurant. We arrived to camp and found a site big enough for 5 of us. The evening was mild in temperature. It felt like it was in the 40s.
Day 2: Nearby by campers gave us their picnic table and a better site than where we were the night before, so we moved tents and headed off to Confluence. Confluence is where the rivers merge and it's the end of the trail for Havasupai. We crossed 6 rivers and at 1pm I wanted to turn around because I didn't want to rush to get to Confluence and risk crossing the rivers back in the dark. Iryna and I headed back and I further trekked to the village to reply to a work email. 20 miles 2200ft +
Day 3: a more relaxing day going back towards the village and checking out the waterfalls along way. Since day 1 we were a bit rushed to get to camp, today was a perfect day to take it slow. I also went for a swim in the Fifty foot falls. The water is pretty warm but I was definitely shivering when I came out of the water.
Day 4: We had an early start and headed back out to civilization.
What to bring: normal backpacking stuff.. there was a lot of fuel other campers left in the campsite and didn't pack them out. I think I had 3 extra fuel that I carried out. Pack out your trash also. A hiking pole helped with river crossing (I had a single). I didn't bring gloves for the Mooney Falls scramble (there was a stack of gloves at the top and at the bottom). Bring lotion! It's super dry there. I had a bad rash on my legs. The scramble wasn't too hard, I had to carry some stuff back and climbed back one handed, but I probably needed both hands if I was descending.
Havasupai is beautiful and I hear it looks different throughout the seasons. Be Careful of going in the flood seasons though. And of course, do your best to preserve nature for the next person 🧡💚
