Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Reservation

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The hike in! 

We started the 10 mile (11.3) hike at 8am. The most important part of this day is WATER. Make sure you have at least 1 gallon per person (3L if you use a CamelBak). I took my hydration pack from my daily hiking backpack and added it to my larger backpack. We toughed it out and hiked in with all of our gear for the 4 days. There are other options to use a mule or helicopter, but you get the full experience (and the respect of fellow hikers) if you have all of your gear on your back. 

The hike in is absolutely beautiful. The start of the trail is switchbacks down into the canyon, then mostly flat with rocky terrain. It stays like this until you reach the village where is turns into a sandy, red dirt. Having the right shoes on is also huge for this day and the trip! Multiple other hikers were complaining about their feet and mine were completely fine. I purchased the Merrell Moab 3 boots a few years ago and they're great. Waterproof, lightweight and have good grip. 

Once you reach the village, you have 2 miles left until the campsite. This is a great time to stop at the grocery store and grab a cold drink or a piece of fruit. Don't plan to buy items at the grocery store for your trip, the supplies are limited. Right across the street from the grocery store is a cafe that has random hours. They opened up as we left the village to head to the campsite. We noticed some days, other campers headed into the village for burgers, etc. at the cafe so that is an option for a meal! We didn't see the village again until we hiked out. 

You're welcomed to the campsite with the first waterfall, Havasu Falls! It's a stunning sight after the long hike. 

On the way into the campsite, you'll notice a table of leftover goods that other campers left behind. There was always plenty of propane so I would not carry in extra. 

Don't get hung up on finding the perfect spot on day 1. A lot of campsites will be taken, but in the morning 1/3 of the people there will be leaving so you can relocate early on day 2. This is what we did. We didn't have a table for the first night. Drop your gear at the site you claim and locate the spring to refill your water and keep your legs moving. 

Get in a big stretch and set up camp, you made it :) 

Mooney & Beaver Falls

We woke up around 6am to relocate, there were plenty of new spots available!

We wish we would've known to get started on the Beaver Falls hike ASAP because we hung around, drank coffee, ate breakfast and didn't leave for the hike until around 9:30am.

(side note: have some great recommendations on instant coffee and biscuits and gravy- we ate this every morning)

 The "sunset" at Beaver Falls is around noon, so you should leave camp around 8am so you have plenty of time to enjoy in the sunshine. The hike to Beaver is 5 miles and you cross through water 4 different times. I thought I would be fine in my Tevas because I've done long hikes in those sandals but my feet never had time to dry so I got pretty bad blisters on my toes. A lot of hikers had hiking boots and water shoes for this trail. It's worth it to take the time to switch your shoes for the water crossings!

This hike was one of the most surprising, exhilarating and beautiful hikes I've ever done. When you begin the hike, you'll find the "cave" or tunnel right by Mooney Falls.  There are plenty of gloves to use to make sure you have a good grip to climb down the trail. I don't think you need to bring your own gloves because there are plenty for you to use but I did see some people bring their own.

There is the option to continue on from Beaver Falls to The Confluence, it is another 6 miles past Beaver. You'll want to leave your campsite by 6am if you're going to The Confluence. I got mixed reviews on this trail. One group I ran into said they attempted the hike but didn't make it because they wanted to be back before dark but they thought it was still worth it! Another group said it was ok but it's not a must see.

We got back to camp around 3:30pm from Beaver Falls and were lucky to find the Fry Bread stand was still open. It's at the top of the hill next to Havasu Falls and has different variations of fry breads. It's usually an Indian Taco, bean&cheese and sweet option. They sometimes have gatorade, lemonade and soda as well!

We soaked our sore feet in the river that runs through the camp and enjoyed the stars before bed.

We laid on the table for the stargazing, but if you can find some lightweight chairs to bring this would be a nice luxury! Taking the time to view the stars is a MUST!

50 Foot & Little Navajo

Some will also call this the rest day. You may be a little sore, but it's good to keep your body moving because the hike out the next day is no joke.

We were pleasantly surprised by the 50 foot falls. This is one you don't want to skip! As you walk down towards Little Navajo, you'll go to the left and wade through some water to find the falls back through jungle like terrain. You'll know you're going the right way when you see a bright blue sign marked "50 Foot". 

Little Navajo is  more clearly marked and this is a spot you could relax at for hours. We got there before the sun hit around 11:30am and had the place to ourselves. The sun came out around 12:30pm and we shared the spot with just a few others. We treated ourselves to Fry Bread again and picked up a bag of Ramen from the giving table on the way back to camp.

We decided to scope out parts of the campground that we haven't seen and ended up on the other side of Mooney. It gave us another view of the falls and we also got to see the full obstacle course going down to Mooney that we climbed the day before.

We also made friends with a dog we ran into in the village. She made her way all way back to the campground. She was a wild thing and I almost saw her go off the waterfall... 

3 nights/4 days can seem like a lot of time to spend sleeping on the ground, but we couldn't believe we were at our last night. Time flies at this place so be sure to wake up early each day and fully take advantage of the scenery and all the land has to offer!

We relaxed the rest of the night, got organized and set our alarms for 5am.

"You guys look beat down!"

I wish I could see how the lady who said this to us looked when she hiked out LOL.

We ended up leaving our campsite fully packed up at 5am. We wanted to make sure we weren't blasted by the sun on the climb up the switchbacks at the end of the hike. Jeff was up a lot earlier than me, so I woke up to a hot cup of coffee (highly recommend :)).

Make sure you take EVERYTHING with you that you brought in. There is a table where you can leave things for the next campers such as propane or extra food but we also saw people use this is a place to dump things they didn't want to carry out (tents, sleeping bags, chairs, etc.). You should be prepared to carry everything back out with you, trash included.

We had headlamps and wore them for the first 3 miles. It really wasn't bad hiking in the dark, it felt like the time flew by. Our spirits were lifted around mile 7 when we spotted our girl trotting along. The dog we saw at the camp also ended up fully hiking out the canyon that day.

(Disclaimer- the dogs we saw on the reservation looked like they were healthy and loving life.)

Depending on the trail out, you may notice a large rock stamped with a 2 mile marker. This is the time to regroup, take off any layers and tell yourself YOU CAN DO IT!! I'm not going to lie, it is rough. You just have to keep moving and know it'll be over soon. We didn't prepare like we should have, but if you train a little before I'm sure it's much easier.

The rush you get from completing this hike, eases the pain of having to leave the most beautiful place on earth.

In the parking lot, there are a few stands with gatorade, fruit and of course, one last chance to get FRY BREAD.