Havasupai, a Great Adventure.

As you all know, Dee & I had the opportunity to go to Havasupai.. A beautiful "paradise" in the grand canyon, which is owned by Indians, that you have to hike 10 miles to get to. There are other ways to get to it.. like taking a mule or horse down, or flying in/out on a helicopter. (But even if you fly in the helicopter, you still have to hike 2 miles to even get to the campground... which wouldn't be too bad since you didn't hike the other 8 miles before it). I just wanted to write about my experience there. But first here is a beautiful picture from Supai!(:

 It is much more beautiful in person!

Okay so we went on this trip with my cousin Brandon & his wife Nicole, we decided about 3 weeks before they were going that we would go with them. We knew that before going on this hike that we would have to start conditioning. So we went on a few hiking trips before this one, one of which we actually packed our packs super heavy, just to get a feel for it. When Dee asked if we could go on this trip I thought it would be like any other camping trip where you bring your car with you & since all the pictures were so beautiful I said yes! Dee "tricked" me ;)... He knew what we were getting ourselves into & he knew we wouldn't back out once we agreed to go. So a couple days later I asked Dee about the trip & he told me we had to hike to get to it. I was like WHAT? seriously? Hike? Then I found out no showering.. I found out that it was in the grand canyon & I learned that you had to put in a lot of effort to just get to this place. & even then you still have to hike to all the waterfalls.. You might be thinking So what if there is no showering or so what that you have to hike? no big deal! But it is actually a big deal to me considering the fact that I'm a brat. Yes I know I'm a brat & I'm okay with admitting it. I ALWAYS hated camping. Like I stated in my last post I am that girl who hates to get dirty! I am a whinny baby & I guess I should just openly admit that I hate doing hard things.. I can do them obviously.. But I hate doing them (But who doesn't) I like doing things the easy way & I like getting my way.. (Again, who doesn't?) But like stated before since being married I have been a lot more open to trying new things (hard & easy) because I want to do things that my significant other wants to do & I find an interest in things that my hubby has interests in as well... & this is one of them.

Camping actually ISN'T that bad.. I mean I hate the whole no showering thing.. but that can be easily fixed! (only go for one night! or somewhere that has showers!) Camping I suppose is always better with  a fire... but sometimes places don't allow fires, for example Havasupai.. (just go camping where they do allow you to have a fire) Camping isn't that bad when you have a husband.. I know that sounds cheesy.. but it is true. I always know that Dee will be on my side & won't leave me behind. I know that he knows that I am a brat & he's willing to take things easy on me. Also camping is so much more fun when you have a positive attitude.. while I can't say that the whole time at Supai I had a positive attitude, I can say that when I did have a positive attitude I had a lot more fun, & my eyes were open to see the beauty of nature. & be VERY grateful for the things I do have that were waiting for me back at home. (My comfy comfy bed & hot showers every day! etc.)

Anyway so back to the conditioning part... we went on a few hikes.. I started getting back into going to the gym (you wouldn't think this.. but getting married makes you stop going. At least for Dee & I & a lot of other married couples I know..) & I thought Hey I can do this hike it won't be too bad I've always been pretty active! (yeah active for more then 3 WEEKS!) Dee & I read some blogs before we went on the trip about Havasupai.. & some of them said that they had not been working out or had not been active recently before going & they did just fine.. That is a HUGE lie (unless you have the mules take your pack down). If you go on this hike & plan to hike the whole 10 miles with a pack on your back with all the things you need... You definitely need to be active before doing this hike.

So when Tuesday night rolled around (March 12, 2013) Dee & I packed our bags like crazy. (again if you are hiking the whole 10 miles with a pack on your back... don't pack the kitchen sink. This was super hard for me because I have always been an over packer, because you never know what is going to happen). & they turned out lighter than they were on our practice hiking trip with the packs. We were so happy about this. That night Dee & I didn't get to sleep until 12am & we had to get up at 3am to leave by 4am. It's safe to say we didn't get any sleep..

From St. George to Supai it is about 6 hours (if you go through Vegas.. we couldn't go the other way because we didn't want the chance of snow). we arrived at the hilltop at almost 10. We unloaded our packs from the car & started our hike around 10am. 

So the hike starts off with a lot of switch backs for about a mile. They weren't too bad in the shade.. but once we were in the sun it was HOT! I don't have too much to say about the hike in except wear sunscreen, make sure you wear good hiking shoes, don't overly pack your back pack.. & DRINK a lot of water.

My Hubby likes to climb things.. haha He is such a boy.

So as you know now, from the beginning of my post I said that I am a "whinny baby" I know that is nothing to be proud of.. but it's one of my weaknesses that I've had since birth. It's a horrible habit & I need to somehow get rid of this habit.. but this is besides the point. So considering the fact that I whine over a lot of things.. I think I did pretty good on this hike. I didn't start complaining or whining until the last four miles. Good thing Dee was the only one who had to hear it.. ha Next time (if we ever go again) I am having the mules take my pack down. I don't want to put Dee through my whining again. haha But over all I think this 10 mile hike was a good experience. Even though I complained towards the end I'm glad I can say that I did this! I hiked 10 miles with 25 lbs attached to my back. I DID IT!! (: & not too many people can say they have.

So we hiked the 10 miles in about 5 or 6 hours. It was a long day! My knees were hurting & we were super tired. (who wouldn't be if they only had 3 hours of sleep.. drove in a car for 6 hours.. & hiked almost 6 hours). I think everyone should take a chance & go to Supai.. It is absolutely beautiful!! All the pictures we took don't give do it justice. Let me just give some advice make sure you stretch when you hike ten miles, otherwise your legs will be extra stiff & sore. Once we arrived at the camp grounds we set up camp & went to Havasupai falls & relaxed a little bit. It felt good to take my hiking shoes off.. after that we headed back & made food. It was mountain house Freeze dried food. After hiking pretty much half the day any food sounded good at that point & they actually tasted pretty good! Not going to lie. haha. We went to sleep that night at 9 & woke up at 8..

The next morning (Thursday March 14) we went back to Havasupai falls, & went to the Navajo Falls, Mooney falls, & Beaver Falls. It was a long day.. The top ones are of Navajo falls & Havasupai falls. To get to mooney falls you have to climb down a steep cliff with chains. Saying it was scary is an understatement.. it was TERRIFYING. One wrong step & you could fall to your death.

Before we climbed down the cliff..

Look how incredibly steep this is! So scary! Plus that ladder wasn't the most reliable.

Then we decided to head to Beaver falls which was 5/6 miles round trip.. On the way to Beaver falls there was a lot of narrow passage ways on cliffs. half way there the path stops & you have to hike threw water.. so we had to take our hiking shoes off & leave them behind in a cave. So half the hike I was hiking in flip flops. (not a smart thing..) We had to climb up many ladders that weren't the most stable. Plus hiking in flip flops made it A LOT harder. One moment we had to climb over a huge rock.. usually climbing over a rock there were places to place your free foot, but on this rock it was steep & in flip flops there was no way to get a good grip with your foot. So as I was climbing over (& have in mind that there is nothing to grab onto & keep in mind that there was an edge of a cliff on the other side), I slid down the rock & almost tumbled over the edge of the cliff (yes I almost died on this trip) Everything was in slow motion... Like in those movies where the girl or someone slips & falls down the cliff & the guy or someone grabs onto their arm(s) at the last second.. & guess what the same thing happened to me Dee grabbed onto my arm seconds before I could have flew over the edge & died. It's crazy to think that if Dee hadn't grabbed my arm I would not be here right now. Here is a random picture to give you an idea of how it was...

Except imagine Dee grabbing the back arm. It was scary the rest of the time we were hiking to beaver falls.

 After making it to beaver falls without dying we turned right back around to head back so we could make it back to camp before the sun went down. Not going to lie I complained most of the way back. My legs hurt like heck.. I was scared to death that I would almost fall again or actually fall. & I was ready to go home because I didn't want to die. I cried & I probably annoyed my husband a tad bit. But he was so encouraging & sweet through it all. I'm lucky to call him mine. Once Dee & I made it back (Brandon & Nicole got there before we did) we all decided that we would leave the next day instead of Saturday because we wanted to ride the helicopter.. & apparently they only do the helicopter on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays & Wednesdays... Or something like that. & there was no way I could hike out 10 more miles on Saturday I was exhausted & super sore. So the next day we pack up camp hiked two miles to get to the village to get in line for the helicopter. We ended up waiting almost four hours because the Indians, prisoners, & government had priority over us even though we had to pay $85 per person when the Indians only had to pay 30 for 6 people. & it was a JOKE! The people with priorities just kept coming & coming & once we felt like there was no hope we finally got out of there at 4. & we made it home by 11pm that night. It was a great experience & I'm glad we went.

Thanks for reading.. that is all for now! (: