Blogs from Supai, Arizona, United States, North America

How does this place exist and it seems like no one knows about it? It is called Havasuipai and it is an Indian Reservation attached to the grand canyon. We knew it was going to be a 8-11 mile hike (which was the on going debate), but we didnt know how tough, how hot or what we were getting ourselves into. We left Orange County at 7:30pm and drove 8 hours through the night. Warning: Drive slowly during the last 90 minutes of the drive. We received this warning from the website due to animals on the road, but who listens to warnings. It wasn't until we were going 60 mile per hour and saw a 12 foot tall elk like creature that we decided to heed the advice. The elk wasn't the last of the ... read more

"Want to hike & camp in the Grand Canyon?" was what we asked eachother and my mom. "Hell yeah!!" was the obvious response. So we began preparing for the trip. A group of Couchsurfers were planning the trip and had all the details ironed out. Sure, we could have done the trip on our own and for a little cheaper but forking over the dough to them ensured a somewhat hassle free trip. The organizer used the money to pay for the transportation to & from the Canyon, camp fees, mules to carry in supplies, 3 meals a day, and a helicopter ride out. We paid significantly less than an actual tour guide would charge due to the fact that the organizer wasn't doing the trip to make money, but more so to show people the ... read more

We flew into Phoenix to meet up with an old college friend Eric and 3 of his other friends from grad school, Jason, Justin, and Ryan. The canyon was beautiful and so lush along the river. It makes you feel so small to look up as you are walking along and see that much cliff. It was by far the most physically demanding thing I've ever done but it was worth it. We felt so proud after hiking 36 miles in 3 days. On Friday we drove from Phoenix to Seligman, stopping in Prescott to do a little boulder climbing. I wasn't so sure about this at first but once you get up there it's really fun to climb over the rocks. I felt like a mountain goat! We had planned on sleeping in the parking ... read more

The Havasupai Indian Tribe consists of 650 people and have lived in their remote village for over 700 years. They are very traditional in some senses: farming is still a dominant way of life, they prefer to speak in their own language, and you can't take their picture because they're afraid it will "steal their soul". Some of the luckier tribesmen, however, do enjoy modern amenities like television (Direct TV is the only signal that can reach out there) and get to tote around their dirt roads on golf carts. There wasn't any public access to phones (don't even bother bringing your cellular) and any major supplies had to be flown in by helicopter. Overall, their standard of living was very poor and simple, we could have been in a remote jungle village in Vietnam and ... read more

I traveled to Arizona to hang out with Travis and to go on my first real backpacking trip ever, and my first time camping in a looooong time. We traveled to Supai, AZ-- pretty much in the middle of nowhere in the northwestern-ish part of the Grand Canyon State. We arrived at hilltop Friday evening to find way too many cars in the parking lot. We started our hike early in the morning Saturday-- I think we were the first people to leave the parking lot. After a few hours, we reached the village of Supai. By this time we had 8 miles under our belts and on our shoulders, and had only 2 more miles to go to the campsite. The campsite was pretty crowded as well, with a lot of large groups that I ... read more

In February of 1999, I took my Ford Econline E150 across the United States on my way to Santa Cruz, CA. The trip was filled with misadventures and mishaps, but the one destination that was far worth my while was my trip to the Supai Indian Reservation. An old college bud had spoken highly of his acid laced experiences in the area, and I had always taken interest in his exaggerations. No road leads directly to Supai, so the only way to access the canyon town is by helicopter or by trail on foot or horseback. Because of it's remote location, I was under the impression that Supai would be far removed from American Culture and I could get a better perspective of the lifestyles of Native Americans, but it happens that outside influence is more ... read more