A Second Trip to Havasupai – Day 1

The week of the Havasupai trip was upon us and people started coming from near and far to meet up with us before we headed out on Monday morning. We had guests from Norway, England, Canada, New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, Oklahoma and of course, our beloved state of Arizona.

We decided we’d not make our slave labor friends work on the pergola anymore that day and they actually went and did something fun. 😉

Sunday was church and a big dinner here at the house.

Of course everyone waited until late evening Sunday to get their packs ready to go and with an early morning departure of 5:30, we all had a rather short sleep.

Three vehicles left our house that morning…

and headed for the town of Seligman (1 1/2 hours away) where we met up with the rest of the group…

and had a small breakfast of granola.

After driving another 2 hours, we finally arrived at Hilltop where we were to begin our descent.

Piles of backpacks were unloaded and everyone prepared themselves.

And after about 45 minutes, all 45 of us were ready to go.

We headed down the trail with everyone hiking at their own pace.

We always made sure to move over for the mule trains. They own the road!

I love this photo of a mule train packing items out of the canyon.

We passed a collapsed hiker going down. He had ran out of water and was suffering from dehydration. We shared water with him,  food, prayed for him and some waited for his buddy to come back who had hiked out to get more water.

I love the massive cliff walls that surround you as you get deeper into the canyon.

Make way! Another mule train coming through.

Near the village of Supai, you pass streams of water that are crystal clear.

And occasionally, you even pass some love birds. 🙂

Four hours after leaving Hill-top and hiking 9 miles, we arrived at the village of Supai…

…where we stopped in at the cafe for some refreshments and to catch up with the hikers who had arrived earlier than us.

Most everyone ate at the cafe that evening but I had packed the items for making Greek Gryos with chicken that we had grilled before we left home.

It worked out really well and would be something I’d do again.

The next morning we gathered in the courtyard for breakfast and devotions before heading out on a two mile walk to the falls.

It was a beautiful but crisp and chill morning.

coming up…. Day 2 – The Falls

Day 3 – Leaving Havasupai