Saturday, June 20, 2009

Havasupai




I was recently able to spend a few days in Havasupai. Havasupai is a beautiful area in the Southwest desert with some pretty spectacular waterfalls, cliffs, and pools. I've heard great things about it for years, but have never made it down there until now.

Havasupai is only a few miles from the Grand Canyon. It is a little over an hour from Peach City, Arizona and is located on reservation land. To reach the falls and camping area, you pass through the little indian village of Supai.

Our crew consisted of friends Paul and Amy Bankhead, John and Kara Bankhead, Dave Jenkins, and myself. We spent a night in St. George, UT on the trip down and rode a fun bike trail called Stucki Springs the following morning. We then proceeded to drive to the trailhead, and hiked the approx. ten miles in to Havasupai that evening.



Last fall, there was a huge flash flood that altered some of the landscape pretty dramatically. The rest of our group had been numerous times before, and were quite anxious to see what had and hadn't been affected. It was interesting to listen to their insights over the course of the trip regarding the differences between the area in it's pre-flood state, and it's current state. There have been some significant changes (including the loss of Navajo falls and the creation of two entirely new falls), but the area is still incredible and should continue to clean up over the coming years.



We hiked in Wednesday night, and hiked out Saturday morning. We explored the effected flood area, and followed the river all the way down to Beaver Falls where we did some cliff jumping. It is possible to continue for a few more miles to the Colorado River, however, we turned around at Beaver Falls.

It was a fun trip, and a great opportunity to see a very unique and beautiful environment.