Havasu Canyon/Colorado River

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Hello Arizona!!

Hi there loyal patrons of my amateur travel-blog. I recently spent my spring break backpacking Havasu Canyon and canoeing the Colorado River in the Black Canyon below Hoover Dam and have had some requests for pictures and a story (apologies for the delay, been super busy).
The first leg of the trip was a 12 hour ride from Santa Barbara to the rim of Havasu Canyon, part of Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona. We camped there for the night before backpacking in approximately ten miles early the next morning. The hike began with an extremely steep one and a half miles of switchbacks bringing us to the canyon floor which was followed by a slow descent down the canyon to Havasupai Village and two miles later the infamous Havasu Falls.
Havasupai Village is only reached by helicopter, mule or by simply walking in. It’s an odd little town to say the least but the people there (Indian Reservation) seem to get by ok with a general store, a church and a school.
There are two grandiose waterfalls about a mile and a half past the village with a campground in between. Our first glimpse of 125’ Havasu Falls was jaw dropping. Following was 200’ Mooney Falls which didn’t disappoint either. As you’ll notice in the pictures, the color of the water is a very tropical shade of blue-green. This is a result of the lime deposits in the creek. It is a joke amongst the local Havasupai that they add dye to the water each morning to impress the tourists.
The second half of the trip brought us to the Colorado River for some canoeing. Our first day we knocked out 5 miles going UP the river then 3 more the next day. By using eddies along the sides of the river we were able to make the journey a bit easier, but it was quite the workout nonetheless. Upon arriving at our campsite 8 miles up-river we were greeted with natural hot springs right behind camp as well as many more just up river as well as sauna caves. After our hike through Havasu Canyon we felt like we were spending the weekend at a spa, haha.
Well once again my apologies for the delay. I’ll be graduating in just a few weeks and life in SB has been very hectic. Hope all is well with everybody.

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Photos

Sunrise over Havasu Canyon
View from my tent upon waking up

Dizzy
View from the top of Mooney Falls down the canyon

Really?
Treacherous hike in and out of caves down to the bottom of Mooney Falls.

Ahhh Havasu
Favorite pic of the entire trip.

Cave Dweller
Inside a cave on the river

Beat.....
Reached 2nd campsite

Headin back
Loving the current at our backs

Comments

[Rod Tucknott]

Sounds like good times!
Hey Johaan! Sounds like ya'll had a great trip. Thanks for goin' with UCSB Adventure Programs. Congrats on graduating! Have fun, Rod