Havasupai Falls Hike!!!
Abbreviated itinerary:( more detailed one at bottom of document )
Thursday drive to Peach Springs - 370 miles / 6 hours
Thursday eve meet 7PM on Firetruck on front of Hotel
Friday Morning 7AM caravan 1 ½ hours to parking lot
Leave duffle bag in parking lot for mules to carry down
Hike 10 miles down canyon to our duffle bags
Pick up items / water at grocery store at bottom
Hike 1 ½ miles to camp spot (with duffel bags & day pack)
Frolic at one of a couple falls
Saturday hike down stream, swim, play, chill, swim, hike
Sunday drop off duffle bags 7AM
Swim, play, another waterfalls, hike up canyon to parking lot
If yawanna go, and it hasn’t filled up yet;
here’s the stuff you gotta do:
1)Make Hotel RSVP in Peach Springs for Thurs April 3
(or you can bypass this step if you will be sharing a room with someone else… people already RSVP’d with a room and want to share with someone, post on the comments section of the Meetup page)
the Caverns Inn phone # 1-928-422-3223
Ask to be in “Johns Hiking Group” for a cheaper rate
Other Hotels in Peach Springs:
Hualapai Lodge, 1-928-769-2230
Frontier Motel and Café, 1-928-769-2238
2)Make a down payment via PayPal (either Pay Pal account OR a credit card) to my E-mail address amount of $167.
(if you click “send money to friends or family” there is a smaller charge)
Enter HAVASUPAI in the “SUBJECT” – enter your Meetup Screen-name in the “message”
This covers park entrance, 2 days camping, environmental fee and the mules round trip (they will be carrying our duffle bags as we hike down). As soon as I receive your down payment I’ll take you off the WAITING list and place you on the GOING list.
REFUND POLICY / If you cancel prior to Feb 28 you'll get $137 back
If you cancel prior to March 15th you'll get $100 back
3)Make your carpooling / caravanning plans and room sharing plans on the Meetup comments section.
HOW to PACK:
HAVE ONE LARGE DUFFLE BAG to put your heavy stuff in, ie: tent, sleeping bag, air mattress (if necessary) and some food, flashlight, clothes, aqua shoes, bathing suit etc. This bag you will leave in a pile in the parking lot for the mules to carry down before we start the hike. EVERYTHING must be in ONE large bag… no shopping bags / plastic bags or pillows….
have a day-pack / backpack for your trek down the canyon. At LEAST 2-3 quarts of water, and some food... it's 10 miles till we hit the small town where there is a grocery store with water and canned goods and camping stuff. Also a snack bar.(GREAT breakfast burritos!!!)
YOU WILL CARRY THIS BAG IN ADDITION TO YOUR DAY PACK FOR APPROX 1/2 TO 3/4 MILES from the drop off site near the campground, to where we will set up camp.
FOODI'm bringing 2-3 quarts of water in my day-pack, and putting a couple bottles in my DUFFLE Bag and buying more at the GROCERY STORE at the bottom of the canyon. I'm bringing stuff like dried fruit, trail mix, protein bars, peanut butter and Jelly etc,,, and buying canned ravioli, canned stew, fruit and whatever stuff they've got at the grocery store. Last time some people brought stoves, Tri-Tip, burgers and a few steaks... they ate well, and everyone wanted to be their friend.
CAVERNS INN at PEACH SPRINGS HAS A 7-11-ISH kind of grocery store
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Slightly More Detailed Itinerary
My car's takin off early on Thursday, around 7AM so we can hopefully beat some traffic and get to Peach Springs by 4PM so we can see the CAVERNS near our hotel. You can of course leave any time you want... I thought the caverns were worth getting up a little early for. It's approx 370 miles or a 6 1/2 hour drive from LA. that will allow us a little time to explore a couple stops on Route 66 also
here's the map:
DOWNLOAD MORE GROOVY MAPS
Thursday eve we'll meet approx 7PM (exact time to be announced prior to the trip) on top of the Fire Truck on front of the hotel to get acquainted and go over any questions for the trip.
It's REQUIRED everyone have a libation of sorts at this meeting!!! I'll leave a note with the FRONT DESK of the Cavern Inn with any pertinent info.Friday morning, approx 6AM (maybe 7AM) we'll leave the hotel and drive 1 1/2 hours to the parking lot next to the Grand Canyon.
We will leave our ONE DUFFLE BAG( tent, sleeping bag, air mattress (if necessary) and some food, flashlight, clothes, aqua shoes, bathing suit and some water) in a pile in the parking lot for the mules to carry down.
GREAT place to buy a LARGE duffle bag is at the Survival Store on the NE corner of Venice and Motor near Culver City. Remember... you will carry this bag in addition to your day pack for 1/2 to 3/4 mile from the drop off spot to our camp site.
Securing the mule is a process that will take approx a half hour or so...
We hike down the canyon, ( first mile there is a STEEP 900 ft elevation loss... there is a gradual 1100 ft elevation loss the next 10 miles ) it's FREAKING GORGEOUS!!!
APPROX 10 MILES DOWN, we all have to get our passes at the ranger station IN THE TOWN OF SUPAI, just before the grocery store and snack bar. If you get there before me, just chill out for a while... I'm gonna try to keep the group as close as possible. I DO tend to take more photos than the average person, so I hope I'm not WAAAYYY far behind. If so, you can punch my lights out later on.
a hundred yards or so, past the ranger station is a Snack Bar and Grocery Store with water, food, small camping supplies, batteries and 7-11 kind of stuff...
we'll continue down the trail approx another 1 1/2 miles to Havasu Falls... where we'll wanna SWIM and take some pics
after approx half hour or so... we'll continue down the trail 1/4 mile or so to the CAMPGROUND RANGER station where we'll magically reunite with our Duffle Bags...
We then carry our Day Pack AND our Duffle bag to our camp site; which extends for approx 3/4 mile. The farther we go, the better the scenery, and the less crowded it becomes (there are typically NO CHILDREN if we go at least half way to the end of the campgrounds)we'll pitch tent and relax for a bit...
some of us will want to go BACK to Havasu Falls for photos at sunset... some of us will want to hit the snack bar ( 1 1/2 miles past the falls) some of us will want to collapse from exhaustion; some of will want to climb down Mooney Falls (another half mile down)... we'll individually decide once the time comes.
Saturday morning, after everyone gets all "gussied up" and has their cup-o-Joe and breakfast; like maybe 9AM or so, (I'm just bringing 5 hour energy shots for my caffeine fix... although a couple people are bringing stoves who are willing to make coffee they said; OH... there are porta-potties, and we'll have to bathe in the stream)
we'll go down the trail further, CLIMB DOWN Mooney Falls ( it's a climb down the side of the falls, steep in places, rock scrambling kind of stuff where we'll have to hold onto chains in a few places...) we'll hike a mile or 2 to some swimming holes and relax in the water. We'll eventually hike to Beaver Falls which is another mile or so, as well as explore a couple slot canyons.
We'll return back to the campgrounds at "whenever sharp"... Some of us may want to stay and swim, some of us may want to get REAL FOOD at the snack-bar (2 miles from the camp area) some of us may want to explore the stream and climb on rocks near the campsite or walk down to Havasu Falls... we'll all individually decide once we're there. I'm sure we'll get into some kind of trouble at the campgrounds on Saturday night...
Sunday morning we have to have our DUFFLE BAG at the location where we picked them up by 7AM... (we'll even have time to return to Havasu Falls and swim) make the trip up the canyon and stop off a NAVAJO FALLS which is possibly the most beautiful place on the planet.
it should be approx 5-6 hours to the top where our Duffle Bag will be waiting. (once I took like 400 photos and took 6 1/2 hours or so.
THINGS TO BRING YOU MIGHT NOT THINK OF
Bathing Suit / towelAqua Shoes - sturdy soles.... or some hiking shoes you don't mind getting wet.a BANDANA ( when the mules pass us, they make a lot of dust, which is 10% mule poop )anti-bacterialflashlighttoilet paper or handi wipes or both
OBVIOUS THINGS TO BRING
tent / sleeping bag / air mattress or some kind of padding / pillow,camera with extra batteriesfood / water,clothesand a 60" LCD TV
I'm sure there's 100 things I forgot, but this should give everyone a pretty good idea of what we're doing
oh... PRACTICE PUTTING TOGETHER YOUR TENT and air mattress (if you bring one) prior to the trip...!!!
I'm pitching tent in my living room tonightCANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John