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| Backpack | 19.10 Miles |
2,995 AEG |
| | Backpack | 19.10 Miles | 2 Days 14 Hrs | | |
| 2,995 ft AEG | | 37 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | This was Wendi's birthday "Hike". Happy Birthday! Here's 30 pounds now lets walk 11 miles through a desert. Gotta like that! We did pretty good for this being our most challenging backpacking adventure yet. We made one mistake, leaving the falls, by changing our early departure time to a late afternoon one. Everything we read said not to do this but the weather report seemed in our favor but in reality we found ourselves hugging every over hang we could find for shade. Starting up the "Hill" in full sun had us doubting a positive outcome. But just as we at our most desperate we came to the large boulder at the bottom of the switch backs. For over an hour we took full advantage of the shade it provided. After recovering and back on our feet we found that many of the switch backs offered just enough shade to stand in finally making it out around 6. Don't trust the weather reports, lesson learned.
But of course there is more to Havasu Canyon than the hike in and the hike out. There are Mule trains running mostly up hill in the mornings, Wendi very nearly got mowed down by a single mule that was either sent up on it's own or got spooked, in either case it was running trail full steam. Wendi was behind me peaking out to take a look but came so close that if I hadn't pulled her back in the wooden panniers would have clocked her in the chin.
There is of course the tribe's K9 population, too. They found their place in many of our excursions in the canyon, they were most notable for their complete lack interest in us. No mooching, no looking for pets. Often they would be part of the mule trains running alongside the drivers, but mostly they were just on the trail walking past you as if they employed there, not sure what the job was but they were on it. I deed see a few playing/foraging in the grasses along side the creek from time to time. We heard it coming and were already off trail when it came around the corner.
We hiked probably to with-in a 1/4 of Mooney Falls before just deciding the next open camp spot we saw was going to be ours. We found one right on the edge of the water. It was small and the picnic table was in poor condition to many of the sites. It was missing a board and there was another board that had splintered off and was just hanging there. Luckily I had a random wood screw in my pants pocket that just happened to make it along for the ride, so I can officially say that I left the place better than I found it.
First thing we did was have a quick snack, set up our tent, and then got into the stream and laid down letting the current give our backs a cold water massage.
We talked to our neighbors across the way who also came to the stream relax. He told us that they had flown in this time and that he had backpacked his first time in and could sympathize with our pain. He talked about Phantom Ranch as a comparison of some sort but I haven't yet got around to looking up the reference yet.
We had conversed for all of a 1/2 hour and just about 10' away from our picnic table which was on the other side of our tent. All the while we chatted, we were being robbed! Either a squirrel or crow found our snack bag, not yet safely returned to the ratsak. When we finally returned we found the Ziplok on the ground torn open a few of the items sampled but they seemed to really focus on the Combo's. We would later also have our garbage bag ransacked too.
There were forecasted high winds for the length of our trip and the first day did not disappoint. When we checked in they were talking about grounding the choppers but I don't know that it ever got that bad. But the impact around camp was at once amusing and problematic. We watched as a tent, tall enough to stand was being assaulted terribly by the winds we watched waiting for it to break lose, ready to chase after it, but it never did. Our new friend of whom I spoke of early would explain later that had in fact broke lose earlier before we arrived and they had to chase a good ways. It was mostly problematic for the layer of sand that if left behind. Even after closing the mesh and zipping the flaps sand still was able to get blown in. It got everywhere and everything. To protect our tent and our air mats we had to frequently sweep out the tent.
On day one we had just enough energy after the above events to check out Mooney Falls from the top. We approached from the northern rim and watched as people climbed, crawled, and pulled themselves up the circuit of cables, ladders and caves that make for "Safe" route from the top to the bottom. It was a crazy procession to watch, as people milling around in the beautiful blue waters at the bottom, eventually coalescing in queue to return top side but first having to wait as a line of people from the top were coming down. We were hardly able to keep from jumping in line but we knew that after a long day that going down now seemed not so smart.
Day two we got up early and headed out about 6:00. We thought we'd be first in but there was a group of 3 guys heading further down creek towards Beaver that we could down below. There was another man retrieving a dog from the bushes. He turned out to be the Park Ranger, whom we would meet later that day, we would recognize him for his dog and his cowboy hat. There was another gentleman building a new picnic table that would be placed in one of the many cave like structures formed by the travertine.
Wendi had spotted the first section of down climb yesterday which is "Staircase" carved into the Travertine which descends so quickly that it disappears into darkness into just a step or two. She bravely went first as I went about stowing my trekking poles. Everything was wet and slippery but we had no issues making our way down, just had to overcome our nerves.
We explored the bottom, and marveled at all the different ways Mother Nature created beauty down here. Too many to list but the color of the water was not spared on her pallet. I was sufficiently impressed the waterfall that I dared not go under. After we had our fill we headed for Beaver Falls. The path often had to be cut through neck high grape vines and other times getting your feet wet was required or we just felt obliged. There are definitely some sketchy looking ladders here and there. We made it to Beaver Falls and struggled to get fully in the cold waters but we braved. We had it to ourselves for a full 10 minutes. After a little playing around we headed further down stream looking for an old mine Wendi had heard about. Progressing further took some effort in finding the trail again but eventually we figured out to return to the last ladder and work our way to the higher bench, this trail wraps around to the next canyon, cornering north first and then switch backs back down to the creek. There was a mine shaft as it cornered north but not as described with some kind of ladder. Back at the creek we headed south up the new canyon passing it's junction with Havasu Canyon to a large boulder. I had wanted to make our way back up Havasu to a pool that I had seen from above, along the creek but we couldn't figure that out without getting more wet than we wanted to. So We just had lunch right where the two canyons met. As we ate the group we saw first thing in the morning came back up from their adventures which I guess included hiking to the Grand Canyon.
We ate and decided to return to camp. We were stopped by that Park Ranger we saw earlier too. It was near Beaver Falls and he was suspicious about our lack of wrist bands. They want you to wear them while you're at Havasu but they seemed to come off easily when you're in the water. Luckily we were able to catch up with them before the creek made away with them. We were keeping them in our pockets so we wouldn't loose them. The Ranger stated that this was happening a lot lately and that he would be bringing it up with management. He was surprised that he had not seen us yet this day but I guess we got out of the campgrounds before he had done his rounds.
Our third and last day started out relaxed, weather was predicted to be cool, like I said earlier, so we took our time at the Havasu Falls area, we searched for a grotto above Navajo Falls that our friend across the river spoke of but to no avail, we ate lunch at the Cafe, which kind of ate up more time than we wanted, waiting for them to find the wrench to change out their soda fountain. Then we headed out.
We saw a few horses, seemingly wild, perhaps not. They had a foal with them. We saw them coming in and the foal and one other adult on the way out. Something also saw on our way in, right at the bottom of the switch backs was the corpse of a horse or mule. It smelled pretty bad coming in, but going out was something altogether different. It looked like someone had set it on fire in an effort to dispose of the body. Pretty gruesome and the smell seemed to linger in spots all through out the Switchbacks.
The last lesson Wendi and I are left with is that this canyon is so beautiful that it ruins all other hikes to follow. But perhaps we just need to get through summer to get re-inspired. |
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| The Tree of Understanding, dazzling, straight, and simple, sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It. - Wislawa Szymborska, "Utopia" |
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