Thank you for the pictures. They bring back memories of our hike 20 plus years ago. The area was quieter then. No helicopters except for emergencies. The waters were cold but so refreshing after a long dusty 10 mile hike from the top. We, too, began our hike out before sunrise to escape the heat of the day during the last climb. We were only partially successful and finished the climb quite sweaty. It was a lovely place then.
2
I have mixed feelings when a rarely-visited gem gets big media attention. If you've got time and energy the walk to and from Supai from the rim is out of this world. You can hire a mule to carry your bags. Don't miss the museum. Supai has what seems to be a communal pack of domesticated dogs, the nicest dogs I've ever met.
4
I worked as a guide in Supai for 10 years. Yes, it is a popular and busy place these days. But I wouldn't lay blame on NYT. There isn't a month that goes by that you can't find an article (or at least a mention) of Havasu Falls in a magazine or paper. They’ve been talking about it for years now. It’s no secret anymore.
The trash problem is largely due to the visitors. They bring it all in and are too lazy to pack it out. Too many uneducated, first-time backpackers and campers with no respect for the environment. The waste levels exceed the tribe's capacity to get it out. The outfitters are the ones who are packing every last thing out that they bring in and are often cleaning up after everyone else. They utilize the packhorse service (supporting the tribe further), making it easier to remove large amounts of trash. Yes, now it’s easier for those 'who can afford it' to visit. But we also help lower the impact on the environment, teach and encourage low-impact camping practices, and support the tribe. The visitors are coming whether guide services are there or not. At least we're helping keep it cleaner.
I feel fortunate to have helped facilitate many life-changing experiences for people over the years. I helped them hike further than they ever would have on their own, visit an incredible place they never would have seen, and overcome fears. They changed their lives because of an amazing experience we helped facilitate. Is this such a bad thing?
The trash problem is largely due to the visitors. They bring it all in and are too lazy to pack it out. Too many uneducated, first-time backpackers and campers with no respect for the environment. The waste levels exceed the tribe's capacity to get it out. The outfitters are the ones who are packing every last thing out that they bring in and are often cleaning up after everyone else. They utilize the packhorse service (supporting the tribe further), making it easier to remove large amounts of trash. Yes, now it’s easier for those 'who can afford it' to visit. But we also help lower the impact on the environment, teach and encourage low-impact camping practices, and support the tribe. The visitors are coming whether guide services are there or not. At least we're helping keep it cleaner.
I feel fortunate to have helped facilitate many life-changing experiences for people over the years. I helped them hike further than they ever would have on their own, visit an incredible place they never would have seen, and overcome fears. They changed their lives because of an amazing experience we helped facilitate. Is this such a bad thing?
10
Thank you and for the wonderful photos and memories. In my travels only Iquazu and Angle Falls come close to my spiritual experience of Havasu. The last time I hiked up Mooney was 25 years ago when I was a young 56 year old. There were very few people around the falls in the 70s-80s. For a warm and fun bath I suggest a dip in the Little Colorado which has a beautiful deep blue color before flowing into the Colorado.
1
REALLY? That was the worst description of the falls and the tribe I have ever encountered. Yes the falls are beautiful, but Ms. Cepeda's experience and culturally biased expression of it clearly reflects her lack of exposure to people, places and camping in general. Please don't publish this tripe, it makes me suspicious of the Travel section altogether...and when I read articles in the Times about places I haven't traveled, I will now have to hold them suspect. Maybe Ms. Cepeda should do some hiking and camping before she proffers such unsophisticated and poorly developed opinions. For those that have not visited Havasu Falls, do so. Your entry fee and spending benefits the tribe and residents. The Tribe has invested in this resource, it is an important income source for them, so please respect it when you get there.
13
This is my first comment ever on any article in the Times.
Is this writer serious? She 'waited and waited' for her helicopter in? If one wishes to experience the wonder of this sacred land -- HIKE IN. The relatively flat hike after the initial descent from the trail head down to the campground is an experience in nature and a communication with the land of the tribes whom have lived there for centuries.
Yes, one must reserve their place to hike down through the beautiful narrow canyon, just as one reserves their helicopter ride.
The trail head for the falls I'm referencing (having hiked it myself several times) is not from Bright Angel or Kaibab -- it's much farther west --
This gem is not a theme park, and your writer (suffering from her long journey) made it appear as such.
Plan in advance, skip the chopper and book your permit to hike the trail in advance.
Is this writer serious? She 'waited and waited' for her helicopter in? If one wishes to experience the wonder of this sacred land -- HIKE IN. The relatively flat hike after the initial descent from the trail head down to the campground is an experience in nature and a communication with the land of the tribes whom have lived there for centuries.
Yes, one must reserve their place to hike down through the beautiful narrow canyon, just as one reserves their helicopter ride.
The trail head for the falls I'm referencing (having hiked it myself several times) is not from Bright Angel or Kaibab -- it's much farther west --
This gem is not a theme park, and your writer (suffering from her long journey) made it appear as such.
Plan in advance, skip the chopper and book your permit to hike the trail in advance.
14
the "chalk" you felt on your skin was actually the salts that you perspired left behind when the low humidity caused the moisture in sweat to evaporate. its amusing to read the observations of city folk when brought face to face with like, actual nature. I've hiked many of the canyons there dozens of times and its even better when you leave the touristy areas. and I understand with small kids how you were hamstrung but not hiking up or down from either rim and riding instead means you missed some of the best parts. you were also in the middle of such awesome places as zion, bryce and red rocks canyons, capitol reef and grand escalante national monument. and while yes, the grand canyon is great, theres so much more to see, especially for urban types.
5
Women like this are the reason that every pretty place in the world has become unbearable. I mean, what do you make of a grown woman who says her dreamcatcher tattoo is her "spiritual armor"? Is she really unaware that the dreamcatcher was created for the sole purpose of being an easy-to-make craft project for native Americans to sell to gullible tourists looking for something that looks vaguely Indian-y?
I was also struck by the layers of irony to be found in a photograph of a woman dressed in native regalia...but also wearing eyeglasses. It should be an object lesson to every tourist looking for an authentic Native experience: there's no such thing. Native culture doesn't exist anymore; all that remains is the minstrel show.
I was also struck by the layers of irony to be found in a photograph of a woman dressed in native regalia...but also wearing eyeglasses. It should be an object lesson to every tourist looking for an authentic Native experience: there's no such thing. Native culture doesn't exist anymore; all that remains is the minstrel show.
5
I first went to Havasu when I was 5 or 6 in the early 60s. We hiked down at night to escape the heat, sleeping half way. There were no helecopters, you either hiked the 12 miles or rode a horse. I went with my dad as a part of a YMCA group of maybe 20 from the bay area. We were the only tourists there if I remember correctly We went 4 or 5 more times over my childhood and things didn't change much. Then I took my daughter 3 years ago and was amazed at how many people we visiting. There were at least several hundred camped on whatever patch of ground the could fine along Havasu creek. It looked kind of like a refugee camp. And like the writer states the majority of them were college aged. We didn't see anyone leaving garbage or misbehaving but it was a shock to see that many people down there camping. We went easter week--which is when we always went-- and it seems like going to Havasu is now sort of a spring break destination now but without the drinking and partying. I saw no wet t shirt contests. It makes sense that the Havasupi would maximize their revenue, and we still enjoyed ourselves, but the size of the crowds do detract from the experience.
2
This article actually made me very sad. I hiked in Havasu Canyon in 1971 and nothing was there except a rudimentary settlement and the beautiful falls. The only way in was walking, horseback, or helicopter. I and my hiking companions had the place to ourselves. No frat boys, no families, no campgrounds, no restaurants. A very beautiful and wild place.
4
I enjoyed this very much. I've hiked down to the bottom of The Canyon a few times, and never paid much mind to the occasional plane and/or helicopter overhead. Simply put, this is not an easy hike in any season, be it the Kaibab, Bright Angel, whatever; I would be far more disgusted had Ms. Cepeda reported that she made her 3-year old son walk it. As for the NYT's Disneyfying the locale, Havasu is drop dead gorgeous, but it's no happiest place on earth!
5
"My 3-year-old son, Marceau, who had never been in a helicopter ..." Really? What took you so long?
It's sentences like these that erode the New York Times' reputation.
It's sentences like these that erode the New York Times' reputation.
27
Why is it necessary to write about a place like this? Does every last inch of the planet have to be publicized and thus Disneyfied? The charm of a treasure like Havasu is a dedicated hiker's stumbling upon it after an arduous experience of full immersion in the Grand Canyon--or maybe even seeking it out after reading Edward Abbey. Now, given this luxury travel treatment in the NYT, it becomes another tourist destination. Helicopters? Sheesh. I'm beginning to think that travel writing is yet another blight upon the world--carnival hawkers luring tourists to anything that remains even slightly off the beaten track. Nice work. So much for an idyllic place.
15
Whoa Nelly! Not all of us are able bodied. Some of us welcome the news that efforts have been made to include everyone, even the handicapped, in such wilderness adventures. Anything less is a bit elitist.
7
Those of us who will likely never have the opportunity to see places like this in person enjoy a little vicarious travel, thank you very much. I don't have the luxury of being a hiker dedicated enough to stumble upon an undiscovered waterfall in the Grand Canyon. So I enjoy reading about someone else's travels.
2
I totally agree with this assessment. As a many time traveler to the Grand Canyon and pinoeer river rafter from one beautiful end to the other,I wish the Grand Canyon would just be left alone in the tranquil peace and beauty that it is,especially when I see how overcrowded it is,people like in the article throwing and leaving trash,marring the landscape,etc. Tourist transports like helicopters disturbing the scerene air with their rotor racket,tourist attractions like the glass overlook near the South Rim and the proposed tram to the already popular and crowded Phanthom Ranch. Yes, I agree. Welcome to Disneyland.
3
Thirty years ago, a group of us carried everything on our backs and left from the hilltop at dusk, to avoid the heat. It took us to midnight to reach the camp ground, exhausted from 9 miles downhill. We laid down on tarps and awakened feet from the Havasu River between Havasu and Mooney falls, a lush paradise of green cottonwoods, red canyon walls, and aqua pools of water. Most of our day hikes were downstream from Mooney, where the limestone in the water precipitates out from the oxygenated water, and it grows dark blue. One day miles downstream, we jumped off a 50 foot cliff into a cool, deep, dark pool and climbed up the cliff in wet tennis shoes, then we scrambled up the river, climbing falls and swimming up stream to get to our camp. Going out with light packs, we hiked under a full moon--canyon walls of various colors lit by the eerie light. One of the most wonderful back packing trips of my life. But why helicopter when the hike is so gorgeous? Supai guides will use mules to take your packs down if carrying 40 lbs downhill is too much, but DO THE HIKE both ways.
9
The Times is certainly catering to the moneyed crowd. Helicopter? Any advice on a matching set of backpack and Italian leather boots?
13
An outfitter, to hike two miles (after the helicopter ride!), set up a tent and cook supper? Really? With three adults in the party? But it sounds like the outfitter also serves as a necessary campsite guard. Astoundingly beautiful spot but I think the local and visitor human element would ruin it for me.
11
I can't believe you flew into it. The helicopter rides is what has made it overcrowded. Plus the with the hike in, you get a real sense of the beauty.
11
Don't you know that it's playing cards that are the scourge of the canyon, not the fuel-dripping eggbeaters?
3
The helicopter is not why it's over crowded. The vast majority hike.
2
Isn't this where Edward Abbey ditched his friends and ended up spending an extended stay?
Desert Solitare should be required reading before anyone plans a family vacation in the 'remote' and culturally diverse landmarks of America's heritage. A little awareness and sensitivity goes a long way.
Desert Solitare should be required reading before anyone plans a family vacation in the 'remote' and culturally diverse landmarks of America's heritage. A little awareness and sensitivity goes a long way.
4
Really, a helicopter? Part of the magic of this trip is to come upon the land of blue-green waters after tramping through the red rocky desert; it's like finding Shangri-La (although there were some noise and trash problems even back then). It's also a relatively easy hike by Grand Canyon standards. Dropping in via one of mankind's noisiest creations seems like cheating.
This was the first hike I took when I arrived in Arizona in 1978, a young greenhorn from Long Island. I think it cost us $30 max for two nights of camping, plus food and gas. As I finally made it back up to the trailhead, my friends greeted me with a cold beer from the cooler in our car; it was like getting an Olympic medal. A life-changing experience, for about a thousand dollars less than the prices quoted here.
This was the first hike I took when I arrived in Arizona in 1978, a young greenhorn from Long Island. I think it cost us $30 max for two nights of camping, plus food and gas. As I finally made it back up to the trailhead, my friends greeted me with a cold beer from the cooler in our car; it was like getting an Olympic medal. A life-changing experience, for about a thousand dollars less than the prices quoted here.
13
This article made me sad. My friends and I backpacked to the falls in the early 80s. No helicopter. No hip hop music. No outfitter. There was no official campground. Just us and a couple of middle-aged French women who swam naked in the creek every morning. This was late October. The water was freezing but everyone had to dip into that blue-green water, if very briefly. The best part of the trip was the hike in and out of the canyon. That and the full moon hike to Mooney Falls. Spectacular. This article doesnt beckon me. It says Stay Away.
15
Nobody goes there anymore--it's too crowded!
Helicopters, boozy horse tourists and backpackers, litter everywhere. The falls and pools are fouled by too many swimmers, trampling the surrounding fauna.
Hard to even characterize the pathetic state of the native population, who have not thrived, their beautiful home overrun by constant unregulated, unconscious tourism.
Helicopters, boozy horse tourists and backpackers, litter everywhere. The falls and pools are fouled by too many swimmers, trampling the surrounding fauna.
Hard to even characterize the pathetic state of the native population, who have not thrived, their beautiful home overrun by constant unregulated, unconscious tourism.
13
That is cute that the writer thinks Native's would settle for cash reparations. We ceded land in federal treaties that guaranteed the continued right to hunt and fish in our traditional areas. Because of environmental degradation, our air, water, fish, plants and animals are being poisoned and habitats destroyed. If our treaty rights expire, so does the deed to "your" land.
8
Still, you got pretty good value for that land, didn't you? Forget things like modern medicine and the Internet, the white man has also given you such gifts as the wheel, the alphabet and the horse.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
2
I was so disappointed to read that your family "flew" into Supai Village. The hike to the village through the Canyon is half the fun and much of the beauty. You lost out on an incredible experience. And now your readers will think that's the way to go. At least you could have ridden a donkey.
19
I have read my last comments. To all the nay Sayers this is an article that the paper chose to publish. The constant I am" smarter / morally superior" in my view of the world is just not for me. I suppose what my mother taught me that if you don't have something nice to say then don't say it must not have been as common as I thought. Please just go snap chat and leave the drivel somewhere else.
5
"If you don't have something nice to say . . . " So, well founded criticisms pointing out how natural places in the world are destroyed by overpopulation, tourist industry accouterments and fossil-fuel powered travel amounts to not being "nice"?
8
The most usual way to visit the Falls is to hike it. The lazy way is to take the helicopter. Visit the falls in early spring (March- April) and late fall (Sept- Nov). Reserve the lodge if you are going to stay there. The hike itself is 10 miles each way to the falls ( 8 miles to the village and 2 miles to the falls). The hike down is fairly easy but the hike out can be tough for some not used to hiking in the Arizona heat. The toughest part comes right at the end: 1.5 miles and about 1200 ft of climbing. The sight of the falls in the canyon is spectacular and totally worth it. Every able bodied person should do this hike at least once. I have done it a dozen or more times (lost track of how many). I just love the hike. As some have pointed, the poverty in the reservation is sad and a reality that few people in America are aware of. Sad truth of how we have treated the original Americans.
19
This writer appears to have chickened out of visiting the most scenic parts of this reservation -- the hike down and going to the base of Mooney Falls and continuing to Beaver Falls where the scenery is positively prehistoric. Perhaps this was due to the fact of bringing a 3-year-old along to a hiker's paradise, possibly not the best idea as there's a degree of difficulty here. There are also some errors of fact: the Indians were never "forced to relocate" to this area. For hundreds of years, this was their spring and summer residence and several explorers visited them here. They've been farming that land around Supai for literally hundreds of years, well documented if you actually read the book recommended in the article. In the winter, they would return to the rim and resume hunting. There's another place that serves food that's actually nicer on the edge of Supai called the Sinyella Store with outdoor picnic tables. This writer missed it, having taken the shortcut of entering via noisy modern chopper. (Honey you can't have it both ways if you're looking to be "transported to a different world".) As for the reparations argument, this tribe alone was awarded the biggest land giveback in history in 1975. Does everything in this world have to be seen through the lens of racial politics, whether you think the tribal members spoke to you because you, too, have brown skin and others you saw down there the day you went happened not to?
16
Take a raft or a kayak or a duckie down the Colorado from below Glen Canyon Dam and hike up Havasu canyon. Better yet, go back 70 years in time and start your trip above Cataract Canyon for 14 miles of raging white water and then float peacefully through what once was the single most beautiful place on the face of the planet Earth--Glen Canyon. You can't go there today because that damn Glen Canyon dam buried the Canyon under the waters of Lake Powell, which is now a polluted, dying lake that is slowly receding as the 14-year drought in the area drains it, and the toxic brew from the Gold King Mine settles to the bottom.
Free and restore Glen Canyon! Tear down that damnable dam!
Free and restore Glen Canyon! Tear down that damnable dam!
10
Looks like heaven but sounds like hell: guitars, hip-hop, outdoor loudspeakers, frat boys, helicopters.....my paradise would be quiet if less spectacular.
16
The blaring sound of hip hop drumbeats a welcome mat to paradise?
12
"Villagers," New York Times? Gosh, they must be quaint. Count on the Times to resort to cheap exoticism.
8
Leaving from the Supai corral on the top of the canyon we hiked in and out - accompanied both ways by Indian dogs with whom we shared lunch. Clever dogs, hot hike, wonderful place.
5
Do not take valuables down there and keep an eye on your stuff, the local misfits will steal your stuff.
2
I have been thinking about this place ever since I saw pictures of Havasu Falls taken by my outdoorsman office-mate at UCLA while I was a graduate student there 24 years ago. I thought that the only way in or out was by backpacking, too bad about the helicopter. Still plan to make it there sometime...
Helicopter! Guide! What decadence. Long ago (before a big flood damaged some of the pools) we (four adults, two kids) hiked down with backpacking gear to a long-reserved campsite. Had a great time there. The path to the third (lowest) Mooney Falls was indeed a challenge, but the well-worn path told us that many people had safely traversed it before. The trip from there to the Colorado River was described as very rough.
BTW, Mooney Falls is named for a 19th century explorer who was lowered down over the falls in a basket, and was never seen again.
On the way out, we paid so four backpacks would be carried to the top by mule, and shared the load (mostly water) of the fifth one. Even that concession was viewed by some as "wimping out." It was summer, so that was a hard trek anyway--overall, just no place for tiny kids. The beers we guzzled at the first available vendor never tasted so good before or since.
Some commenters may have been there more recently and observed various bad conditions, but for us the trip was just great.
BTW, Mooney Falls is named for a 19th century explorer who was lowered down over the falls in a basket, and was never seen again.
On the way out, we paid so four backpacks would be carried to the top by mule, and shared the load (mostly water) of the fifth one. Even that concession was viewed by some as "wimping out." It was summer, so that was a hard trek anyway--overall, just no place for tiny kids. The beers we guzzled at the first available vendor never tasted so good before or since.
Some commenters may have been there more recently and observed various bad conditions, but for us the trip was just great.
4
Several years ago, my sister and I, along with our college age sons, hiked to Havasu Falls, spent a night in the canyon, and then hiked out the following day. The falls were beautiful, but the rock formations and colors, as you hike in and out, will remain the trip highlight for me.
A word of caution. Summer temperatures can reach 110 degrees, and we saw several hiking groups ill prepared for the trip. Adequate water is essential. In addition, the falls can be dangerous. A young Boy Scout drowned the summer of our trip. If you are planning to hike in, make sure you are well prepared.
A word of caution. Summer temperatures can reach 110 degrees, and we saw several hiking groups ill prepared for the trip. Adequate water is essential. In addition, the falls can be dangerous. A young Boy Scout drowned the summer of our trip. If you are planning to hike in, make sure you are well prepared.
10
Beautiful place but when I was there there was a problem with human feces from those that didn't want to hike to the porta potties. Put a big damper on my enjoyment.
4
To learn more about the heritage of the Havasupai try to find a copy of "Man of the Canyon: An Old Indian Remembers His Life".
It gives an excellent account of what life was like living in the canyon in the mid 1900's. The "old man" ran horses some years, worked outside the canyon others, and was known also as a medicine man. Good book for those wishing to learn more and go beneath the veneer of tourism, etc.
It gives an excellent account of what life was like living in the canyon in the mid 1900's. The "old man" ran horses some years, worked outside the canyon others, and was known also as a medicine man. Good book for those wishing to learn more and go beneath the veneer of tourism, etc.
5
It's a beautiful area but not well taken care of. Trash and human waste abounds. There are pit toilets at the campground that are overflowing. Along the trail, beer cans are strewn about - we observed the mule train teams on their "budweiser breaks" dumping the empties along the trail. It would be nice if the Supai used the fees for maintenance and improvements.
29
Be even nicer and more respectful if visitors did not leave their garbage behind, no?
1
Not as dramatic, but very dramatic and way closer to NYC, are Kaaterskil Falls https://www.google.com/search?q=kaaterskill+falls+ny&ie=utf-8&oe...
4
The Grand Canyon should be on everyone's bucket list, even if you think nature isn't your thing. In the words of a little girl who was part of my group on her first look and who had been made cynical and uninterested by an older relative who had never seen it herself that it was just a bunch of rocks, - "OH MY GOD!!!!!"
7
It's a spectacular sight but another world as well. Be aware that you are on a reservation. Sadly the level of poverty there is not unusual for a reservation and there's a dark side to the poverty. Youth leave the reservation but some come back with bad habits and worse. A young woman camping here was killed a few years back - I don't believe the murder was ever solved. There have been other reports about (well behaved, not obnoxious or disrespectful) campers being harassed.
Reservations are sovereign states. Not a lot of incentive to publicize risks and scare off tourists. It seems like the tribe tolerates the tourists - needing the income - but some members resent them. Not exactly the most accommodating environment - which I can understand but the tourists are there and do come. A better approach would bring in more money for the tribe. A couple accompanying us had reserved horses for their trip to the falls but they were 'unavailable' once they arrived at the village. The rest rooms at the canteen were also closed - no other options were available. We'd have gladly paid a nominal fee for use of the 'facilities' and spent far more while there given the opportunity. Canyon de Chelly only allows tourists into the Canyon accompanied by a paid guide - providing jobs and income while educating those that visit.
Reservations are sovereign states. Not a lot of incentive to publicize risks and scare off tourists. It seems like the tribe tolerates the tourists - needing the income - but some members resent them. Not exactly the most accommodating environment - which I can understand but the tourists are there and do come. A better approach would bring in more money for the tribe. A couple accompanying us had reserved horses for their trip to the falls but they were 'unavailable' once they arrived at the village. The rest rooms at the canteen were also closed - no other options were available. We'd have gladly paid a nominal fee for use of the 'facilities' and spent far more while there given the opportunity. Canyon de Chelly only allows tourists into the Canyon accompanied by a paid guide - providing jobs and income while educating those that visit.
22
The other means of visiting the falls is via a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon, private trips which are rare with long waiting lists - I've been lucky to have been invited on two such trips, or through a commercial outfit, will take you to where the Havasu canyon meets the Colorado river, you can park your raft and hike up the canyon for a lovely day trip.
3
It's really incredible that this was just posted. Today, after 22 years since I last camped down there, I called my friends who live out of state who I speak to less than once a year, to talk about "the most beautiful place we've ever been" - Havasupai. This is the most magical place I've ever been. Very, very special place... I called my friends for the sole reason that I wanted to talk about this place and remember it and share our memories and relive it for a little while. They were happy to do so :)
5
My (not yet) husband and I visited the Supai back in the late 1970's. He had been there several years before and felt it a magical place for us to visit. We "drove" (in a rented Olds Cutlass) to the trail head that is now Hualapai Hilltop. The "road" we took to get there was basically driving for miles through pasture land, opening cattle gates to proceed and following signs every few miles that pointed to Supai. We hiked down a switchback and across the bottom of the canyon for miles to finally reach the village. The campsite was 2 miles further on and we ended up camping at the same place my husband had a few years earlier. Bad move. The next morning we hiked down to the falls and had a glorious day, to return to our looted and trashed campsite. Anything of value was stolen. We ended up packing up and leaving. When asked at the village for a better route out, the people were shocked on the route we had driven in "I wouldn't take a horse on that trail!".
In crossing the canyon our canteens both sprung leaks and the hip strap on our backpacks broke (wonder how?) but all our repair items were stolen. We finally made our way to the bottom of the switchback trail. Made it to the top and found the cars in the parking lot had their tires slashed and gas tanks siphoned. This NYer however had backed the car against a wall to guard the gas cap and chocked the tires all around. Best beer of my life was the Coors tall boy still icy in the styrofoam chest in the back seat of that Olds.
In crossing the canyon our canteens both sprung leaks and the hip strap on our backpacks broke (wonder how?) but all our repair items were stolen. We finally made our way to the bottom of the switchback trail. Made it to the top and found the cars in the parking lot had their tires slashed and gas tanks siphoned. This NYer however had backed the car against a wall to guard the gas cap and chocked the tires all around. Best beer of my life was the Coors tall boy still icy in the styrofoam chest in the back seat of that Olds.
15
I've been three times to Supai in the '80's and never had a similar experience. Campsites weren't looted nor trashed, tires weren't slashed, and nothing was vandalized. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but it was the exception, not the rule.
3
We made this journey about 24 years ago with our extended family. We hiked there. Some hiked out, some rode horses, and some took the helicopter.
1
Reservations for the mule trips in the main part of Grand Canyon book up a year in advance, so make plans early.
1
Experiencing Havasu Falls should be on everyone's bucket list. Truly one of the most memorable and spiritual places I've ever visited. I don't understand why the author didn't mention the best and least expensive way to visit the falls--hiking the trail on your own without a guide, or the annoying blare of a helicopter which is the opposite of commuting with nature. The trek is long (12 miles each way) and arduous to say the least, but the reward is so much greater when you reach this stunning destination.
21
I visited the top of the Grand Canyon last year while on a cross-country train trip and I thought that was beautiful; however, that cannot compare to the wonder of Havasupai.
1
I have been to Havasu falls, it is truly beautiful, we hiked 14 miles to get there though with wildland trekking , Mooney falls and the climb down to get there was one of the most amazing crazy things I have ever done , climbing down the face of the canyon at least ten stories high. Absolutely a trip of a lifetime and it"s in the Great United States of America
6
Wonderful place for a camping vacation, incredibly beautiful. The hike in, and back out, is about 7 miles each way and while not the greatest of fun, is also very beautiful. We went there at least 20 years ago and it was and is a very special place. Prices have gone up a bit since then,and the helicopter was just for emergencies. Make your reservations and go. no regrets.
5
Sad to have seen the waterfall erosion in height from heavy flooding
several years back.
Scary to have witnessed the malnourished animals and over nourished
unsmiling Indians as if in Deliverance watch us go by.
The single hind leg of a mule strewn about in the parking lot gave me chills and great relief to have made it out.