04.19.08
Pain & Pampering & the most beautiful waterfall we’ve ever seen.
The adventure nearly halted as my back rejected the abuse I was giving it. Heidi decided a bit of pampering was in order, so on Wednesday she arranged for me to get a long massage in town and hopefully the back spasm would cease. Not to be outdone, she herself was treated to a wonderful facial. We then headed out towards Supai in preparation for the next day’s 10+ mile hike to Havasu Falls. Staying at perhaps the oddest motel/lodge/playground we could find, Heidi and I checked out the wildlife – including dinosaurs, cows, and horses. Photos are a must.
We woke the following morning, drove an hour to the trailhead and began the long decent into the Havasupai Canyon. This was Heidi’s first real backpacking experience and she proved to be quite the trooper, toughing it out through blisters and sore feet.
Eight miles into the canyon lies the village of Supai, a wonderful Native American village who’s people can trace their heritage back to the area almost 1000 years. We trekked through the village, past the helicopter landing zone that brings in fresh supplies from the otherwise removed village, and onward to our campgrounds, another 2 miles away.
The campgrounds sit along a powerful, yet little, creek that feeds the main attraction for those like us visiting – Havasu Falls (video). In addition to Havasu, the creek continues to feed down the valley yielding to gravity in a number of other beautiful waterfalls. The creek which carries with it a great deal of lime naturally found in the hills of the valley and the deposits left from the lime and other sediment form travertine terraces at the lips of most sharp declines. This gives the creek its unique beauty and kept us clicking our camera for the next two days.
This being the gem of the trip for Heidi, we spent much time hiking around and checking out the falls at strategic parts of the day to capture, or avoid, the light conditions. As you can see, she gathered some amazing photos. I believe all in all, she took over 700 photos during the trip. I took almost 150 myself, mostly for giggles.
As the time drew near to conclude our trip from Supai, it was clear neither of us was still in peak condition. For that matter, we were tired and whiny to boot. So we made arrangements in the village to have our packs hauled out for us. We also decided we could fit into our budget rides for us as well. At 7am, we met DuShane, our Supai guide and took the merry 10-mile trek out of the canyon on horseback, saving us about 5-6 hours of hiking, complaining, crying, whining, bickering, coughing, and overall pain. I could complain that the horseback ride made us sore, but I think at this point, that would constitute as bitching. We were out at last. Then we headed back for the long drive back to Phoenix, one more peaceful night in a hotel, and then on to home sweet home. We had an unbelievably wonderful vacation. Hope you like the photos.
