Havasu Falls

Thursday morning I got an email from Chad asking if Nancy and I were interested in going to Havasu Falls on Friday night. Not much notice, but you gotta grab these opportunities when they occur. So, yeah, we were in.

Some background:
Havasu Falls is in a far west spur of the Grand Canyon - on Supai indian land. They limit the number of people who can go to the falls by issuing permits. This trip had been previously scheduled a couple of weeks before, but was called off due to a rare, and rather nasty, storm. The next available date to get permits at that time was October. So we had pushed this trip out of the "things going to happen soon" list. However, Kendall was itchin' to get out so she called and called and called until she got a cancellation - 4 spots. It was on.

We carpooled up to the parking lot where the hike started on Friday night. This parking lot is 60 miles from route 66 - in the middle of nowhere. We expected a few cars to be there, but it was mobbed. We found a parking spot and set out our sleeping bags on the pavement, behind the car. The wind was ridiculous up there and it blew all night. At least it wasn't raining.

Next morning we were up with the sun and got ready for the 10 mile hike to the campground. From the parking lot the views were  pretty cool

The hike starts with a substantial drop via switchbacks.

Then it sorta flattens out to gradual descent through the scenic canyon.

Eventually we made it to the Supai village where we paid our $62 per person - the price of getting to tresspass on Supai land to view the falls. There BETTER be water there.

Just outside the village we saw the first small falls (upper and lower Navajo Falls) and a hint of the beautiful blue water.

About a mile out of the village we got to the first of the big falls. This is Havasu falls - it is about 100 feet high. From the top it was a beautiful view into the blue green pools at the bottom.

We hurried down to the bottom to get the full spectacle of the falling water. Oooh. Aaaah.

We decided to find camp and dump our stuff before playing in the inviting waters.
The campground was pretty full. It was kind of a free for all - camp where ever you can find a spot. It took a bit more walking, but we found a spot that suited us.

Set up camp and made the decision to head down to Mooney Falls first.

It was not much further down. As with Havasu Falls, the view from the top was pretty stunning.

Chad mentioned something about the route to the bottom of the falls being a bit "sketchy". But that did not even prepare us for the route down. For those afraid of heights, they probably would never see the bottom of the falls. For me, this was uber cool.

Through tunnels

Down "stairs" and ladders

And of course, the view from the bottom was breathtaking - almost a 200 foot drop.

We wandered downstream enjoying the mini waterfalls and other features. I imagine you could walk, entranced, all the way to the Colorado.

Finally we headed back to the falls and up the crazy route and back to camp.

Chilled for a while to gather our energy.

Then we headed back to Havasu falls to check it out.

We played on a little falls below the main attraction and generally acted like little kids at the beach. So much fun.

Eventually it was time to head back to the campground.

Made some dinner, read the WSJ, and enjoyed good company.

A little exploring lead us to discover what appeared to be abandoned mine shafts on the walls of the valley. They only went back about 100 feet - but really interesting.

This night was much more relaxing than the one up on the rim. The wind came back a couple of times - but not all night. So that was good.

Next day we were up early again - hoping to get back to the car by noon. A 6am departure under cloudy skies (wasn't there 0% chance of rain?) was accompanied by quite a few of our fellow campers. However, most of them bailed in the village where they piled their gear on to mules for the trip out.

While there is no way we would have done the mule thing. We found out on the way out that you could put 4 packs on a mule for $100. So, $25 each to not have to carry our gear out? Hmmmmmmmmmm.

One of the reasons we started out early was that we wanted to beat the heat. However, the cloud cover took care of that - so cool. Much to our surprise, the friendly cloud cover turned to drizzle about half way out of the canyon. I swear it was supposed to be 80 degrees with 0% chance of rain.

We piled on the warmer clothing and soldiered on. Finally, we came to the switchbacks and started our ascent. The drizzle had stopped but it was still pretty cool.

Climbed out of the canyon and checked the time. 9:30 - killed it. We made it out of there way faster than expected.

We gorged ourselves on snacks that Chad and Kendall had brought - we earned it.

Hopped in the car ready to head home.

Jump back to the night we arrived. I had backed the car into the parking space. When I went to do that, the clutch had dropped to the floor and I couldn't get the car in reverse. Turned the car off, shifted and backed up. Hmmmm, what was that all about? I was wondering about this all weekend - figuring the clutch master cylinder was getting ready to no longer work.
When we went to leave, I pushed in the clutch, shifted to first and headed out. Whew, maybe it will hold till we get home. No such luck. When I went to shift at Rte 66, the clutch was just gone. Now what? MANY miles from home or help. It turns out you can start a car while it is in first gear and shift (carefully) without a clutch. This bit of gear fu got us to Williams - where we got gas and food at Mickey D's. And it got us back to I-17 and Carefree Hwy where we had met Chad and Kendall for the carpool.
That last bit was really dicey, so we decided to leave the car there and get it towed the next day. Chad and Kendall gave us a ride back to our house and continued on home to Tucson.

But it was all part of the adventure. I'd do it all over again in a second.

MANY, MANY thanks to good friends Chad and Kendall for the invite, the snacks, the ride home, and most importantly for being such fun to hang with.

Additional photos (and a couple of videos) here.

Kayaking on Lake Powell

My son Josh was due to come visit us at the end of April this year. Philly had experienced a particularly ugly winter and we figured he was in dire need of some fun in the sun.

Since Josh had been doing a lot of kayaking in the Philly area (even in the winter), we figured we'd arrange a kayak trip while he was here. Nancy and I had not yet made it out to Lake Powell and I was able to find someone to take us on an overnight kayak trip up there - so we had a plan.

I don't know if it is good living or what, but this trip was marked by a good amount of luck. Our initial try at a date was 4/26, but that was not available. So we pushed a week to the weekend of 5/2. Turns out we had a freak storm roll through AZ on the weekend of 4/26. It brought cold weather, high winds and rain/snow. That would have made for a pretty miserable kayak trip. Instead we got amazingly perfect weather on the weekend of 5/2. Although the threat of high winds hung over us on the last day - it didn't appear until we were about 20 minutes from finishing our day.


So we started out Friday by driving up to Page. A couple of miles out of town is a short hike and an amazing view of Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado river. Apparently, this view is an international sensation. Of the groups I heard talking on the hike out and back, about 10% were speaking English. Anyhow, the view was spectacular. As always, a camera can't really capture how BIG this feels.

We overnighted at the Knight's Inn in Page - it was pretty awful. Not recommended. Had a great dinner at El Tapatio. Josh recommends the giant burrito

Next day we met our host, Jim, at the marina. He and his wife run Kayak Lake Powell (http://kayakpowell.com/). Jim does the tours, his wife runs the office.

A 30 minute power boat ride got us out to the starting point on the main part of the lake.

Gear was stowed, basic kayaking instruction given, then out on the lake we went.

 From there we followed the shore into Labyrinth Bay. We meandered through the bay, exploring anything that looked interesting.

The walls got closer and closer together. Finally, we came to where the water ended.

Time to start hiking. From here the walls really started to close in and we got into the type of slot canyon that I've always wanted to explore. It is hard to overstate how cool this was. Might be an issue if you are claustrophobic.

After about a mile of walking, the canyon opened up into an area that was perfect for a lunch break. We had some sandwiches and played around a bit.

We then headed back to the boats. This section was so fascinating that I was sad to leave it.

Back in the bay, looking at the scenery from the other direction. So much cool stuff to see.

When the bay opened up again we headed down the other shore and found a little inlet where we stopped to stretch our legs. Turns out this inlet was a perfect place to play. The water was slightly warmer than in the main part of the lake and it was still deep enough for jumping into.

Jim had been checking his weather radio and told us that the forecast was for the wind to pick up with some strong gusts (30 mph). It was supposed to start that afternoon and continue all day the next day. However, it was still really nice out with very little wind. We crossed our fingers and headed out.

Next we headed out to a shore on the opposite side of the lake. Another opportunity to get out and climb a little hill for an overview of the surrounding area.

Back in the boats and heading out along the shoreline - checking out interesting features along the edge.

We headed into Gunsight bay to find a place to camp for the night. A couple of good looking places were already occupied by houseboats, so we ventured further in.
Eventually we found a small inlet with a perfect spot for camping. Set up camp. Played around a bit and chilled.

Dinner followed.

The forecast was still calling for big wind, but we had completed our first day with little or no wind. How long would our good luck hold? The wind did start to pick up around dinner time and blew pretty good overnight. However, by morning, it was calm and there was a good layer of cloud cover. The cloud cover was actually welcome since the previous afternoon was quite warm.

In the morning we headed further into Gunsight Bay. Jim had not been there in a couple of years so it was a bit of exploration for all of us. We dinked around, checking out anything interesting and heading toward the end of the bay.

We got as far as we could on the water and headed in further on foot. The ground was boggy and surprisingly green - at least surprising for the desert.

Headed back to the water and wandered through the bay.

Found a little cave.

Claimed a few islands as our own.

And then headed out to an interesting area for some lunch. Jim had caught a nice sized striped bass in the bay - so we had some VERY fresh fish tacos for lunch. Awesome.
Forecast still called for heavy winds - but it was still really nice out.

After lunch we played around some more in the kayaks. It was just so much fun paddling around, looking at the rocks.

Eventually we needed to head back across the main part of the lake to our pick up spot. As we headed out across the open water the wind started to pick up. It got windy, but not crazy windy. So the last 20 minutes or so of our trip were into the wind. As we got on shore it started to pick up a bit and started really getting down to business as we headed back to the marina. Our luck had held.

This trip was an amazing adventure. Seeing the lake via kayak is really the best way to go. It was so nice being able to poke around anywhere that looked interesting and to be able to pull the kayaks out and explore whenever we wanted. It was extra great having the logistics handled by someone who knew the lake.Our guide, Jim, was great and I highly recommend using his services (http://kayakpowell.com/).

A whole bunch more pictures (and video) can be found here.