HAVASUPI
Chad and I have hiked down the Grand Canyon in Arizona several times. It is a grueling hike, but well worth the time and effort (although I suspect I might be too lazy to do it now). I even took camping classes at community college. I figured it just didn't get any better than getting college credit to go on camping trips :-) Anyway, these are all pictures from one of our earlier visits to Havasupi. That name comes from the Indian village at the bottom. If memory serves me correctly, the hike is one mile straight down (or up depending on which way you are heading) and then nine miles through sand and river beds until you get to Havasupi. Then all of a sudden you end up in this oasis. There are huge water falls, warm water, green plants, etc.
These are the killer switch backs that either start your hike or end it. AND let me tell you, its a cruel way to end your hike after nine miles of hiking before getting to the switch backs.
This is one of the cool water falls. There are cool little pools in the water which can be seen in a different picture. The water is also really clear and warm. Pretty amazing.
We found this old mine shaft. That's Chad and Matt (I think his name was Matt?). We went high enough to find that sign, but decided against getting on that rickety ladder and going way up there. We did go in some other cool caves though.
These are some of the cool pools in the water that I mentioned above. They are at the base of the falls. All the sediment in the water created some cool looking things down there.
This was what our camp looked like. The bad part was having to hike all your gear down. That's pretty tough. The Indians have made it easier though for those less inclined to torture themselves. You can have mules haul your stuff down so all you have to do is the hike. You can hike your stuff in and then have the mules hike it out. Or you can have the mules haul YOU and your stuff down and back out. Or, if you want to avoid all that kind of thing, you can take a helicopter down and out. I have hiked the whole thing in and out with all my gear. I have also let the mules carry my stuff out (much nicer!). I have never rode the donkeys and have never used the helicopter.
Keep going for more Havasupi