2desitravellers

We recently went on a hiking expedition in search of "Oasis" in the desert of Grand Canyon. Havasupai Falls in the Indian Reservation. The turquoise water falls was nothing less than heaven on earth. You need permit to do this hike and no day hiking is allowed.

I am leaving a few tips for your trip from my experience:

Keep your trip days open to the availability of the campground/lodge.
Keep calling the reservation number, they do not receive calls easily, keep patience.
If they say they are booked for the year, try reaching them every two week, if are lucky you can find your spot if some one cancels.
If you are booking a lodge ensure to give your correct address, as they send confirmation through US post. If you do not receive the post do not worry call them back and request for the confirmation number explaining your situation. (In our case they denied to share the confirmation number on the date of booking, however they share the same latter as we didn't receive our post )
Cut your feet nails the day before the hike.
If you are a Indian and a vegetarian carrying food may be a good option. Cooking stuufs like tamarind rice, lemon rice, Sevai for lunch from home and Bread peanut butter for dinner and for breakfast next day will not be a bad option.
Be careful once you reach the Indian reservation road 18 from the Historic Rte 66 as you will be able to spot bunny rabbit and elk crossing the road, you need to vigilant and alert. The road is in really great condition offering a smooth ride.
Sleeping in the car will enable you to get a head start for your long hike and escape hot sun.
You got pit toilets in the hilltop
Carry sun screen, hat, bug spray
You got a microwave in the lodge reception but again lobby closes at 5.00 PM in the evening.
The hike is long but push yourself to Mooney falls extra one mile from Havasupai falls, remember its once in lifetime and well worth the effort.
Do not doubt if you will be able to do the hike. My training at a glance for you:
In the month of November through February I religious did 10,000 steps at least 5 days a week and 20,000 steps three days a month. In the Month of February I trained myself with 3% inclination at the gym at least three days a week for half an hour. In the month of march I started with hiking trail, walking in graveled path, stretched my limits to 15,000 steps five days a week and 30,000 on week end. I could easily do Havaupai hike in first week of April. If you are a person with zero physical activity still want to do the hike trust me you can. Because I could.
Thanks to my fitbit for helping me track my steps and motivating me though out my efforts.Otherwise 0% physically inactive person doing this would have been impossible.
I carried a camelpack with 2 liter hydration pack and one liter of gedoret and some food for the hike, my husband carried Osprey 33 liters pack with 4 liters of water, clothes, medical kit, food and other essentials.
We switched bag and shared the weight.
We got a REI carbon hiking poles and used one each.
I wore a Eddie Bauer runner shoes and my husband wore a Merrell hiking shoes.
REI water tube to drink the spring water of the falls
We started hiking before sunrise the temperature was around 33 degree Fahrenheit, we felt cold during the initial stretch of hike around 10 min.
We suggest a three day trip however our trip was for two days and found it to be good enough though with a little lack of time to spend at the falls. If you are a couple below 30 years in good physical fitness and can push yourself for a 24 mile walk over two days. Two day trip will be a good option
We noticed that the trail has two paths one graveled and other a little ungravelled. One which goes through the center of the canyon and other close to the canyon. Be wise in choosing the path.
Do not have the fear of loosing the way, we notices that the route leads to the village, and where ever there is a deviation the trail is marked.
What ever you pack in please do pack out.

Hope this helps you.
Find pictures and more at https://desitravellers.blogspot.com/...nd-canyon.html

emalloy

Your pictures are lovely. It sounds like you prepared very well for this trip.

Thanks for the report.

2desitravellers

Thanks for your reply. Hope I added valuable inputs for your plan.

MichelleY

Thank you for reporting back. ABC20/20 just did a piece about a woman trying to find these falls using GPS. She got lost and spent 5 days in the desert until being rescued. The point of the piece was not to rely solely on GPS.

2desitravellers

Thanks for that useful input

db6040

My husband and I have visited Havasupai the past two Octobers. It is an incredible place but requires a good deal of planning and is not something you can just decide to do all of a sudden. As you mention, calling often can be necessary. Reservations go on sale February 1st and they sell out quickly for the entire year (unless you are lucky enough to grab a cancellation). Glad you got to enjoy this area - it's stunning.

When you say you had 2 days - does that mean 1 night? So you hiked down on day 1 and then hiked out on day 2? That's pretty intense! I wouldn't want to have to hike out the very next day after the hike in. At a minimum- this trip usually takes 3 nights - 1 the night before the hike in Peach Springs, 2 nights at the bottom. We prefer 3 nights at the bottom. After that, it is time to get out and get showers and a nice meal somewhere .

Thanks for sharing your experience!!

2desitravellers

Thanks for the input. We were planning from six months and were luck to get reservation from a cancelled slot.

Yes we did 2 days. Hiked in one day stayed for the night and hiked out the next day. We wished we could stay longer, however we got only a day of vacancy at the lodge. The night before the hike we camped in the hilltop thus got early start for the hike.

We feel if you really want to visit the falls and one gets only one night permit, opting to do the hike will not be a bad option for a person with good fitness.
Do agree...?

Thanks