Havasupai, AZ: Wading in Waterfalls/Candles in the Canyon

The Lucky Charm was not involved this time, but we did feel very "lucky" indeed to venture down into the Grand Canyon on the occasion of my 49th birthday.  How could you not feel glad to be alive when surrounded with beautiful sights like Havasupai Falls?

The Havasupai Tribe are the native people of this portion of the Grand Canyon, with the hiking trail starting not at the "traditional" tourist visiting point of the South Rim, or even the lesser-visited North Rim, but rather way to the west.  Havasupai means "the people of the blue green waters." 

  The 11-mile hike down starts out flat and barren and hot, with little shade.

("Where's Waldo?" .... can you spot a team of horses and a group of hikers in this photo?)

Eventually the trail leads to lush canyons and beautiful scenery.

Teams of horses share the trail and they are not slowing down for YOU!  Watch out!

We had heard horrific tales of animal abuse to the horses and mules in the Canyon,

but saw no evidence of it.  They looked well-fed, did not have any obvious sores or injuries, 

and we never saw them being mistreated by any of the wranglers.  

There were fun diversions along the way, and lots of other hikers to commune with.

After the first nine miles of hiking, we finally reached the native village of Supai, and the first sighting of the waters of the Havasu Creek (though the Falls would not be for another 1.5 miles and the campground 0.5 miles beyond that),  Great for hot feet and blister-ridden toes!

Little Navajo Falls showcased the area's gorgeous blue-green water, 

due to high concentrations of lime.

And finally, the world-famous 100-foot drop of Havasupai Falls!  Spectacular!

The water is cold but very refreshing on a hot summer afternoon after a long hike.

The campground was just past the falls.  We found the perfect tent site ...

...though others opted for double-decker bunk beds.

Drinking water for the hundreds of campers is from a pipe tapped into a natural fern spring.

Ahhhh, refreshing!

A short hike past the campground is Mooney Falls ... twice as tall (196 feet) as Havasupai Falls and just as beautiful, in our opinion!

But in order to get there, you must traverse through a series of tight caves,

and down many very steep ladders while holding onto chains drilled into the side of the cliff,

in order to avoid a 300-foot fall to your death.

Back at camp, my charming husband stuck candles into a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie

and played "Happy Birthday" to me on his harmonica.  Awwwww!

The hike out was even more enjoyable than the hike in, due to cooler temps from a rainstorm the day before, 

as well as some cloud cover.  But the same gorgeous scenery!

Eleven miles down, unfortunately means eleven miles up!!  

But 25,703 steps later, we reached the top, extremely tired but feeling proud!

 Our day was not done, however ... having sent our two 40-pound gear bags down via helicopter (instead of carrying them on our backs), we had to wait for them to be helicoptered back out.  This equated to a FIVE HOUR wait at the top, as our bags ended up in one of the last two runs of the day. (Early-birding overachievers who left camp at 3 or 4 AM had to wait up to 8 hours, in some cases.)

That teeny speck below the helicopter represents probably 20 or 30 bags (or furniture, or supplies, or literally anything)!  The natives living in the Village at the bottom of the Canyon use the helicopter as method of transport for themselves, their kids, their pets, and literally everything they need, both coming in and going out.

This was a beautiful trip, but as www.hitthetrail.com notes, "When envisioning your adventure to these blue-green waters, do not allow romantic thoughts of an unspoiled wilderness barely touched by 'civilization.'"  There were literally hundreds (if not thousands) of people down there with us (though of course I tried to get photos with as few people in them as possible).  Obtaining a tribe permit to go there in the first place, is extremely difficult (we heard they are already completely sold out through the end of this year and it's only May), and you may be best off joining a group expedition for this reason.  If you are thinking of taking this adventure, let us know and we can share with you some of the things we learned along the way!

The night before we hit the trailhead, we stayed in a "YURT" at Flagstaff Nordic Center. A traditional yurt is a semi-portable round tent based on dwellings used in Russia and Mongolia even before the time of Genghis Khan.  Basically, a camping cabin!  Ours had a wood-burning stove for heat, and an outdoor BBQ, but not much else!  It was very rustic, very fun and very romantic.

We loved our backcountry journey to Havasupai Falls, but it also reinforced our appreciation of the Lucky Charm with her soft bed, hot food and many modern comforts!  The Lucky Charm is chompin' at the bit to hit the road again and experience the mountainous beauty of the Canadian Rockies (primarily Banff --pictured below, Lake Louise, Jasper and Calgary) from June 8 through July 22.  

If you'd like to follow along, add your email address to "Follow by Email" on the homepage (and then confirm your subscription via the resulting email that is auto-generated) to receive our blog posts via email!  Happy Trails, everyone!

Cottonwood, AZ: Horsin' Around at Dead Horse

Who wouldn't jump at the chance to stay at a place named "Dead Horse"?  Sales experts around the world shudder at this marketing faux pas, but we were intrigued.  Why is it dead?  And like Michael Jackson or Prince, why was its death so noteworthy as to be commemorated over 423 acres of prime real estate with naming rights and a gift shop?

We've been checking out some of the Arizona State Parks this year, and so the quest continued at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.  (Since last summer, we've also stayed at Lost Dutchman, Usery Pass, and Picacho Peak -- all in the state or regional parks system.)  We swallowed our queasiness at the name and headed out for the short 109-mile journey to Cottonwood, situated in the Verde Valley with great views of Jerome up on the hill.

Dead Horse has lots of great hiking trails, is biking distance to Old Town Cottonwood, and is located right along the Verde River.  ("ENOUGH DESCRIPTIVE VERBAGE!  Tell us 'Why is it called Dead Horse!?") 

Well, it goes like this: The Ireys family came to Arizona to buy a ranch in the 1940's.  At one, they found a large dead horse lying by the road.  After two days of ranch-viewing, the dad asked the kids which one they liked best.  "The one with the dead horse, Dad!"  In 1973, when Arizona State Parks bought the property, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of sale.

There are beautiful stocked lagoons for strolling, fishing and picknicking.  

Multiple hiking trails and loops lead right out from the campground.  Most connect with other trails and are shaded.  On one that used to be a wagon trail, we saw the remains of a historic lime kiln (below) which was used to burn local limestone, an essential ingredient for mortar used in chimneys and fireplaces for homes from Sedona to Jerome, between which the trail ran in the 1800's.

(Living) wildlife is abundant at (Dead) Horse, including over 100 species of birds, everything from the common quail to egrets and even bald eagles.  A Birding and Nature Festival was going on this weekend (Birdy Verde) so we had lots of experts, with dorky hats and binoculars the size of your couch, to help us spot them.

But not all of the wildlife was to be found at Dead Horse.  Nearby Out of Africa Wildlife Park showcases exotic animals in large, natural habitats.  Although they had plenty of room to roam, the layout of the park allowed us to get very up-close to most of them.

Out of Africa has a number of different shows, but their most popular is the awwwww-inspiring Tiger Splash show, where a gorgeous white tiger is tempted into splashing into a shallow swimming pool for maximum cuteness.  Afterwards, you can step right up and feed him some tasty steak bites ... at least they said they were steak.  What if they were Dead Horse??  (sorry, I couldn't resist)

Old Town Cottonwood is a charming small collection of shops, cafes, galleries and wine tasting rooms situated along charming Main Street. We pedaled our bikes on over for a nice afternoon.

The animated lady to Philip's left in the photo below was part of the Birding Festival at Dead Horse and described in great detail how she had just observed a male "raptor" (presumably a bird and not a dinosaur) swoop down,grab a field rat, strip it of its skin and all the gross bits, and leave it on a tree branch as a romantic offering to his woman raptor.  Philip took the hint and quickly ordered me a cheese plate to go with my wine. 

We stepped back in time with a visit to Blazin' M Ranch, where a succession of corny Western activities and amusements were surprisingly well done and enjoyable.  The food at the chuckwagon dinner was scrumptious and the ranch was impeccably kept.  Musical entertainment had us using terms like "rustlin' up" and "tumblin' tumbleweeds" for the rest of the night.

Our visit coincided with Earth Day, so it was only fitting that it concluded with a spectacular Full Moon and a sky full of stars, right from our campground.  

Our Dead Horse weekend was delightful, but Lost Dutchman is still our favorite Arizona State Park thus far.  Our next adventure will be a return to Lake Pleasant Marina for Memorial Day, a decidedly less peaceful locale on a long holiday weekend but lots and lots of rowdy fun!  Shortly thereafter, on to Canada for our six-week adventure in the Canadian Rockies!