Beaver falls

Friday, April 17

There was an incredible amount of wind and rain overnight. It was extremely gusty and felt like the tent would be lifted up off the ground. My biggest fear through the night was whether a tree would fall on the tent or a flash flood that would wipe out the campsite.  Then came the rain. A full on downpour for about two hours. Good to know that my tent can definitely handle a good windy downpour. 

Woke up around 8am and enjoyed another delicious freeze-dried meal: Mountain House scrambled eggs with red and green bell peppers, potatoes and sausage.  This was delicious!! I have been supremely impressed with these meals! After breakfast, we moved the tent to a drier spot and headed out for the three mile hike to Beaver falls. The descent down to the base of Mooney falls was steep!  Plenty of caution signs to travel at your own risk. 

  

There are chains along the way to help climb down as well as wooden ladders appropriately placed. 

   

     

As you travel along the path, you will come across several river crossings that will require traversing. 

  

Bring either some old shoes you don’t mind getting wet, water shoes, or your bare feet. Today, the highest level of river to pass was roughly knee deep on a 5’7″ gal. The water was chilly, but extremely refreshing. It took about two hours to reach Beaver falls from the campground. 

   

   

Once at Beaver falls, go for a dip or explore the area. It’s one of the most scenic landscapes I have seen in the desert. Several guys were jumping off the falls. We opted to climb up the right side of the falls and wander around the upper pools. 

We had some lunch on a rock overlooking Beaver falls. These Epic bars made of organic meats and seasonings were like a thick jerky but fancier. The first one we tried the other day was a buffalo and bacon one. That was our fave. Today, we had the turkey, cranberry and almond. We also had the lamb, mint, and chutney. Both were ok, but not as good as the buffalo bacon one. 

After an hour exploring the area, we headed back towards the campground. There was a neat little offshoot to the right off the trail. Like a little slot canyon with a pretty dry/sparse area of water. The boulders were massive. We got back on the trail and enjoyed the impressive volume of water flowing at Mooney falls before climbing up the chains/ladder scramble. Note: tons of centipedes on that lil part. 

Made it back to camp around 3p and started another freeze-dried meal. This one was Mountain House beef stroganoff.  Let me just say… This was a delicious take on classic comfort food.  So far, I’m really enjoying these freeze-dried meals! I may have to go hiking more often to just eat these meals!

Minor blister on the left pinky toe from the water shoes. But there was plenty of dirt that could’ve been trapped to cause it. These Keen water shoes held up for the 6 mile trip (3 mi out and back to Beaver falls). 

Decided to share another small freeze-dried meal since we started smelling the yumminess that was coming from our campsite neighbors. This one was AlpineAire Spicy sausage and pasta. The flavor was just as it was described. If I had a spicy sausage pizza craving, this would hit the spot (minus the tomato sauce). Matter of fact, this pouch would’ve been super delicious with tomato sauce!

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Trek to Havasupai Falls

Thurs, April 16

After staying in Canyon Lodge (super stay!!) on Rte 66, we made the long drive from Seligman, AZ to the trailhead (Hualapai) for Havasupai Falls on a long straight road.  It took roughly 1-1.5 hours.  Organized our gear for a backcountry hike with a two night overnight in the campground. 

Made the 8 mile trek to Supai village. The trail has gravel, sand, and larger rocks throughout. They have mules/horses that you can reserve ahead of time to haul your gear down to the campground. We did not do that… We hauled our own gear; just part of the experience. 

  

We checked in at the office and they had openings (basically we took a chance without a reservation bc they were full online about a month ago). Got our tags and bands and headed the two miles toward Havasupai falls. On our way out of the village, we saw a helipad where they take visitors from the village back to the trailhead start for $85pp. Also, if we were out of luck with getting a campground permit, we would’ve had to hike back out to where we started (not fun since I had a 25-30lb pack on).  

   

 

On the way out of the village, you will come across a beautiful fall…Supai falls!  It is stunning and deserves a bit of time and pictures!  We got back on the beach sandy trail towards the campground. Right before reaching the campground, you will see a massive waterfall with a beautiful canyon backdrop – Havasupai falls. After basking in its sheer awesome strength and beauty, we headed further toward the campground and staked out a site and setup camp.  The bathrooms were extremely clean. It was a toilet seat base that dropped waste into a hole deep in the floor. For breakdown of bacteria, they had wood chips to place after every toilet use and it really reduced bathroom stench (in fact, no stench at all!). 

The freeze dried dinner of the day was a delicious Thai curry. It completely blew my mind! How could something packaged like that taste so darn good? Honestly, it could rival some Thai places I’ve experienced in town.  Let it be known that it was also my first taste of a freeze dried meal. I couldn’t be happier… Especially after the hangriness kicked in from a really small lunch (half a clif bar and some pork jerky) for a 10 mile hike. After our bellies were full, we took a short walk toward Mooney falls (another gorgeous waterfall)!  

After the falls, we went and checked out the fry bread which is exactly what it is — fried dough. Got the Indian taco which is basically a tostada on fry bread. It was pretty good!

Now the bellies are full and the body is tired. Time to quiet the mind. This place is incredibly relaxing!

Another gal’s account

Antelope canyon to Grand Canyon

We headed out of Page, AZ about 15 minutes toward our tour of Antelope Canyon and Rattlesnake Canyon. Our tour operator was fantastic! http://www.navajoantelopecanyon.com/tours.html

They had covered suburbans (other groups had open truck bed seats). Why is this important? It’s windy, sandy, and cold. 

The morning we started out at Rattlesnake Canyon. 

   

 

  

After exploring this amazing wave canyon, we headed over to upper antelope canyon. There were a bunch of photographers in our group, so we got to see the magic in making/creating beautiful shots with the light.  

  

 

   

 We headed to lunch at this awesome Texas BBQ joint! I was at home immediately.  

  

 It was roughly a three hour drive from Page, AZ to the Grand Canyon south rim. After seeing all the smaller slot canyons, the Grand Canyon was astonishingly gigantic and stunning!   

Caught the iMax movie on the Grand Canyon. It had some nice aerial shots. Dinner was the local pizza joint called We Cook Pizza and Pasta. Just delicious!

Bye bye zion, hello Page, AZ

We packed up from the watchman campground and headed for a hike to lower emerald pools before a drive thru the tunnel. 

   

We thought about hitting vermillion / Pariya canyon to catch The Wave. But it was kind of out of the way without permits. 5 mile hike roughly 6hr… It would look a lot like valley of fire from day 1. Google it. 

Headed out to Glen Canyon Dam which was definitely a spectacle to see. 

   

  

After the dam, we headed out to Horseshoe bend for a magnificent sight! Worth it for sure!

 

  

  

  

 We looked for atv activities but couldn’t find any around the Page, AZ area… So we hit up a quality establishment… The Bowl! Pool, bowling, and fooseball!   

Liquor and ammo on that last pic. Need I say more?