| Day 7 & 8: Havasu Canyon, AZ | |||
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Sunday, September 17, 2000 We got up early, at 4:45 AM so we could leave Peach Springs at 5:50. We had to drive back a little so we could take the 18 to the Hualupai Hilltop, where we had to leave our car and most of our luggage behind. We arrived at the hilltop at about 7:10 AM. This was where the 8-mile hike to Supai started. |
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| On the road to Hualupai Hilltop | The view from Hualupai Hilltop | A steep descent | But a great view |
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| Sammie going downhill | Almost down the hill | That's how we go on | Igor walking on into the canyon |
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The first part of the trail was very steep and went downhill. The view was incredible! It was a good thing we had left early, because we profited from plenty of shade during the first part of the hike. After a mile or so we got onto more flat ground and followed the trail into the canyon. As you can see we were surrounded by canyon walls after a while. We did alright for the first two and a half hours, but after that I got a pain in my knee that didn't go away for quite some time unfortunately. |
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| Further into Havasu Canyon | First sight of Havasu creek | Plenty of green down here | First sight of falls |
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It was a good thing though that it was such a beautiful trip, that made it all a whole lot better. It was great to hear the sound of water running - and it was the first sight of Havasu creek. When we saw the first houses of the village of Supai we still had to go on to get to the Lodge where we had booked us a room. Since at 11:00 it was still to early to check in we decided to walk on to see the falls, the main attractions of Havasu Canyon. |
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| Havasu Canyon | Navajo Falls | More of Navajo Falls | The water.. icecold! |
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| In the direction of Supai | Roots - all calcified | Havasu Falls from above | Havasu Falls |
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| Closer to Havasu Falls | Pool at Havasu Falls | One more of Havasu Falls | Mooney Falls |
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Our next stop was at Navajo Falls. We were a bit (culture) shocked at first to find people there on bright yellow air beds eating peanut butter sandwiches.
We were glad to find a less crowded part of the falls where we stayed for about an hour, climbing rocks, swimming and resting. After that we went to Havasu
Falls, the best-known of the four. It was definately the most popular one, but I think the pictures show why. Finally we went to see Mooney Falls, named after
the man who fell to his death at these falls. We only watched this one from above! |
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| Mooney Falls | In the direction of Beaver Falls | Another Canyon picture | Havasu creek along the campground |
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Monday, September 18, 2000 Today we got up at 5:30 and went on our way at 6:18. Our fear appeared to be reasonable: the way back was much harder, especially since we hadn't had a lot of rest and my knee started to hurt again after just half an hour. We reached the starting point of the steep part of the trail after about three and a half hour when it started to warm up. That was the hardest part, but we kept our eyes on the hilltop (or where we thought we were going) and made it of course. I definately felt triumphant when we finally reached our car at 10:40. YEAH! |
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| Setting off the trip back | The same way we came | Canyon again | Some company along the way |
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| It's still a great view | The mules take the same trail | Climbing the last part.. | Almost there.. |
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| Together again we took a piece of route 66 |
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After we took some rest and drank loads of water we got into the car and drove back to Kingman. Marco was just taking a walk down
the road along the KOA. It was great to be united again and to share our stories. We took the time to relax, reorganize our luggage
in the back of the car and do some shopping. We left Kingman at 3:30 PM and arrived at Grand Canyon Camper Village three hours later.
We made our own dinner that evening and found out that this part of Arizona was actually much colder at night... |
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