Day 7

I'm not sure if I awoke early or simply didn't sleep that night. A combination of discomfort and excitement made our 4.30 alarm seem almost too late! For today was the day, today we were going to Havasu Falls!

As I've mentioned before, I have mentally split my travels into sections and certain moments like swimming with Whale Sharks or diving the Blue Hole stand out as landmarks in my master plan. Havasu falls was another of these moments. The 62 Mile drive only gets you as far as the trailhead, 8 miles hike from the village of Supai. The only way in for locals or visitors is to walk or fly by helicopter.

We tightened our boots and loaded our pack horse (me) and set off down the steep switchbacks along the canyon wall. About 90 minutes in the trail levelled out to the dusty dry red river bed. We had set off so early to avoid the sweltering desert heat; the memory of 120 degrees a few days earlier was playing on our mind. Walking at day break was actually pleasantly cool until the canyons protective shadow shifted as the sun rose above us. By 8am we had made a good dint in the 8 mile hike but the day was only going to get hotter. We spent the next hour leapfrogging the two groups in front of us until eventually we turned left and walked downstream of the Havasu creek. The contrast between this lush green trail and the dry river acted as a reassurance that we were headed the right way.

Finally we reached the village of Supai. Not at all like other native villages I have visited but they do continue to live and thrive on the same remote land that their ancestors have done since way before European settlement. The homes are still pretty basic but the store, visitor centre and lodge are fairly modern construction. We had booked two nights in the Lodge to avoid having to lug camping gear with us, so checking in was our first stop. For some stupid reason, even though everyone hikes in early the check in time was not until 1 so I was stuck with my bag with all the water and food for another 2 miles down to the waterfalls.

Spurred on by the prospect of a refreshing swim we walked down alongside Havasu creek and passed New Navajo falls; So called because it was only created in a 2008 flash flood which redirected the creek from (old) Navajo Falls. New Navajo is pretty small with very little room to swim so we continued on past and towards the echoing thunder of Havasu Falls.

As we turned the last corner we were greeted with the most spectacular view, the blue water bursts out of the layered red rock and the sun sparkled through the mist all the way down to the deep pool below. This is what we had come for; this is what made the sore blistered feet worth it! For the past year or so I have had a photo of Havasu Fall on my phone and every time I showed it to someone they all said the same thing! "Wow, were is that?", "That's awesome" or "There's no way that the water can be that colour, it's been photo shopped!" the water upstream really is that blue and crystal clear but sadly due to the recent rain the falls were not as blue as we had hoped but still breathtaking!

We whiled away the afternoon down in the canyon playing in the falls and resting in the sun before heading back to the lodge for a well needed sleep.

The next day we gritted our teeth as we put our walking shoes back on and set of down past Havasu falls and on to Mooney Falls. Along the way we passed the campsite and bumped into our friends from the trailhead who pointed us in the right direction. The walk to Mooney is actually more of a scramble. Steps and tunnels have been carved into the rock face with ladders and chains used when things get even trickier! It's not hard as such but it definitely makes you slow down and take your time, things get really tricky when your meet someone coming the other way. Mooney is actually a bigger drop than Havasu and just a little further downstream there are a handful of beautiful small falls covered in bright green plants and algae that made great photos.

Returning to the car the next day was simply a case of retracing our steps. Now normally hiking involves a mountain where the way up is harder work that the way down! Canyons are the opposite, as we stood at the bottom of the switchbacks looking up the canyon wall we suddenly realised the attraction of taking the helicopter! But eventually we made it to the top and actually only a little slower than on the way down, which felt like quite an acheivment!

Carrying on along Route 66 back to Flagstaff we passed the 'World Famous' Hackberry General Store, which was another victim of the Highway diversion! In flagstaff we checked back in to the same motel for our final night on our roadtrip. Tomorrow we drop our car back in Vegas and fly to San Francisco!!!!