we went to the Havasupai Reservation this last week and had an amazing time! we drove down Wednesday afternoon and arrived at the rim of the canyon just in time to start hiking (about 5 am). it was a ten mile hike from the rim to the campgrounds and we had amazing weather. we went to Havasu Falls first and cooled off in the water by climbing up under the water fall and jumping off cliffs through the waterfall... very cool! Next, we headed to the campground to pick our spot and we waited for our bags to arrive on the pack horses. They didn't come as early as we'd hoped so some of our group headed to Mooney Falls a few miles down trail. The descent to the bottom was pretty wicked, but so cool! You basically use chains and anchors that are placed in the rock and make your way down the rock wall. (Mom, this is the part you wouldn't want to see!) what a rush! we found a rope swing and played on that for a while and swam under the small falls to a little alcove. We didn't swim to the main falls because it's 200 ft. tall and makes quite a wind and tide away from it. we headed back to camp to see if the bags were there yet (we were starving!), just to find out that they weren't there. we waited a bit longer and they showed up so we set up tents and made a late lunch. some people fell asleep (Jeff was out for the count!) and some of us went to a fun rope swing to play for a while. we ate dinner, hung out around the camp and then finally crashed. the next morning we set out for Beaver Falls. it was a beautiful hike through green valleys and floating down the river in the canyon. we played a while on the way, at a rope swing,Jeff tried to do a back flip and couldn't quite figure it out. It was on this leg of the trip that Mandy got swept down a little waterfall and Jeff went down after her. Needless to say we got pretty beat up. Mandy got it the worst. She was quite the trooper however and finished the hike and the rest of the trip in stellar fashion. On the way to Beaver Falls there were many other falls that we jumped off and had a great time. We finally made it to Beaver Falls and Mandy ended up having to jump off a 25 foot cliff to make it to the other side. She again did great! Most of the guys ended up jumping off the big cliffs at the fall. After all the excitement, we started to hike back and didn't have any more incidents. The next day we went to Navajo Falls and by now Mandy's scrapes were really painful. But she was a good sport and we climbed all over the falls. Up through pools and trees... very cool! We ate lunch at the falls and stayed there most of the day. We headed back to camp and ate dinner and got organized since we were leaving very early the next morning. In the morning, Mandy realized why her toes had been throbbing and painful the whole trip... she had 1/4" blisters under her big toes so she couldn't put her tennis shoes on. She hiked out in her Teva sandals and barely made it, but we persevered and made it to the top just when our bags got there. We packed up and headed out. We stopped and Denny's for breakfast (we were famished!) and made the long haul back to Utah. It was not a great trip for Mandy considering she lost 3 toenails and gained some good scars in the process (while 10 weeks pregnant), but Jeff can't wait to go back! (Mandy wants to go too, only she'll take the helicopter in this time!)
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