INCANDESCENT DEVIL
“Oh my incandescent devil
Last chance gas station.
Smell of perfume fading,
Another night's gone by.”
From “Incandescent Devil”, by Tea Leaf Green.
We
reached Peach Springs, Arizona at 8:30 MDT.
That is actually 7:30 Arizona time, because Arizona doesn’t recognize
Daylight Savings Time. Arizona time is
stupid. For starters, Utah, Colorado,
and New Mexico are all on Mountain Daylight Time. Arizona is technically an hour behind. In June, according to Arizona time, it gets
dark before 8pm, but sunrise is at 4am.
This is obviously ridiculous. For
our trip, we chose not to recognize Arizona time. So, all references to time in these reports
reference Mountain Daylight time, regardless of the state we were in.
Peach
Springs is the last town on the way to the trailhead, and it isn’t much. There is one store, and it is literally the
definition of “last chance gas station”.
When we reached it, we were down to a couple of gallons of gas. We still had to drive over 60 miles to reach
the trailhead. We also needed water (for
the hike the next day) and ice (to preserve the food we had in the
cooler). Google Maps said that it closed
at 9pm, but the lights were off. Uh oh.
The
last open gas station we had passed was where we’d gotten off the freeway, over
30 miles back. Christy had (wisely)
suggested stopping there, but prices were very high and the place looked like a
dump. For some reason, I had stubbornly
continued on, anticipating getting gas and water in Peach Springs. Except that the only store there appeared to
be closed.
Google
Maps showed another gas station 4 miles farther down highway 66 to the west. We drove to it, but found ourselves in the
middle of a vast expanse of nothing.
There was no gas station there.
There had never been a gas station there, and I’m confident there will
never be a gas station there.
The
next town, Truxton, was three miles farther, but it was even tinier than Peach
Springs, and Google Maps didn’t show anything there. We decided to head back to Peach
Springs. Even though the lights were
off, maybe the store was still open? If
not, we MIGHT have been able to make it back to the gas station by the freeway
without running out of gas, but that was iffy.
That was now 37 miles away, and the indicator on the dash showed that we
would run out in 33 miles. I figured
there was some cushion built in, but there were no guarantees. Our only other option was to sleep in the
store parking lot and get gas, water, and ice when they opened in the
morning. However, that would mean getting
to the trailhead late that morning and hiking the 11 miles to the campground on
Havasu Creek during the hottest part of the day. The forecasted high was 116, so that was not
a good idea.
We
reached the store in Peach Springs at 8:40. I pulled up to the pump, and
incredibly, it worked. Woohoo! We had gas!
And it was cheap, too. Peach
Springs is part of an Indian Reservation, and they do not have to pay the same
taxes as regular gas stations. So we saved a couple of dollars. It hadn’t been worth the stress though, and
we still needed water.
After
filling up, I walked to the door. The
shutters were drawn and the lights were off.
The door was locked. Damn. The store was closed, but the gas pumps still
worked. We had gas, so we could drive back
to the gas station by the freeway and get water there. But that would take an hour, and Google Maps
said that the last 62 miles to the trailhead would take us 2 hours and 40
minutes just from Peach Springs. We
needed to get up at first light, so we were looking at potentially hiking to
Havasu on a couple of hours of sleep.
I
was peeing behind the dumpster when somebody walked by. I greeted him, and asked him if there was any
place around that we could get water. He
said that his brother had just closed the store (a bit early, as it was), but
that there was another store 7 miles down the road in the town of Truxton. We had already driven 4 miles down that road
earlier, but had turned around before reaching that town. He said they closed at 9 (!). It was 8:48. If we hurried, and they really closed
at 9, rather than 8ish, we could get water there.
We
drove very fast. The store was open when
we pulled up at 8:55.
Woohoo! The owner was
really friendly, too. He had plenty of
water, but the ice was a different story.
The ice machine was outside, and although it was running, it had been so
hot the last few days that most of the ice had melted. We managed to salvage about a bag and half of
intact ice from it. Incredibly, we had
gotten away with the foolish decision I’d made earlier.
We
drove back to Peach Springs one more time.
We left there just after 9, expecting to reach the trailhead parking
area around midnight. I had my doubts
about that, though. Google Maps seemed
to assume that we would drive 25mph the whole way there. We started out at more than double that. We did slow down a bit after passing a giant
elk standing right next to the road, it’s massive shadow extending out across
the pavement. There were several more
elk after that, and some free range cattle. Hitting any of them would’ve been a
disaster. I highly recommend driving
this stretch of road before dark.
We
reached the beginning of the parking lot at 10:15, beating Google’s estimate by
about 90 minutes. The
parking area goes on and on. Initially
it was just cars on the shoulder, as the actual parking lot is pretty
small. When we reached it, we realized
we’d made a mistake. The lot was packed
with cars and people camping. It looked
like some sort of refugee camp. There
were actually people sleeping on cots next to their cars. I don’t know how anyone could sleep like
that, as there was a lot of traffic going in and out of there. There were people like us, arriving late and
looking for a place to camp, as well as people leaving, after hiking back up
from Havasu that evening.
The
parking lot was a nightmare, so we circled it and drove back down the
road. After less than a mile we found a
wide gravel pulloff.
There wasn’t anyone around, and there was room for a dozen tents or
more. We pitched the tent as far from
the road as possible and then pulled the car in front of it for protection and
privacy from passing cars. Somehow, we
were asleep before 11pm.
HAVASUPAI POLICEMAN
We
got up at first light the next morning, feeling refreshed. I had actually slept fairly well despite the
occasional passing car. Traffic had
really picked up right before first light, with hikers and horse packers
heading for the trailhead. Most people
seemed to be in a hurry to beat the heat, but we took our time. I made us a full breakfast while we loaded
our packs. We were a bit disorganized,
since we had arrived after dark. Once we
had packed up we drove to the trailhead, circled the parking area (which was
still a zoo), and then parked a ¼ mile down the road at the first available
spot. It was a sketchy spot at the base
of a cliff. There were lots of rocks
scattered around, having recently fallen from the cliff above. We knew the car could get pelted, but we
didn’t have any other options, and it was just a rental.
We
walked the road back down to the trailhead and checked in at the security
trailer. The policeman scanned a lengthy
list, but couldn’t find our name. This
made me nervous, as getting our permit reservations had been an adventure. When I’d called in early May, I was initially
told that they were fully booked until November. But then the woman I spoke with suggested
checking back in a few days, as they might open up some additional spots. The Supai tribe
makes a lot of money on hikers and tourists that stay at their lodge and
campground, and they hate to turn people away.
I called back a few days later.
Initially they only wanted to give us one night in the campground. That really isn’t enough time to experience
Havasu, since it is an 11 mile hike, one-way. Eventually I talked him into two nights, but
on slightly inconvenient dates. Then he
caved in and gave us two nights on the dates we originally wanted. I wasn’t sure how I’d pulled that off, but it
all seemed a little dubious. They didn’t
take my credit card info. Instead, I was
given a permit number, which consisted of this guy’s name and some digits. He told me to bring that and $242 (cash or
credit card) for two people for two nights.
The
policeman waved us through, even though we weren’t on the list. He said that someone along the trail would
ask us for our reservation number, and that we would need to check in at the
office in the village of Supai to pay. Alrighty then, let’s go.
It
was 8:30 when we started down the trail.
We were a couple of hours behind most of the other hikers, but I wasn’t
concerned. The hike was downhill the
whole way, and only the first section was out in the open sun. By mid-morning we would be in Hualapai
Canyon, where there would be some shade.
The
hike started with an abrupt descent. We
followed rocky switchbacks down below the rim of the plateau. There were many fine views along here of the
surrounding peaks and cliffs. We passed
numerous hikers heading up on that first section. Although it wasn’t terribly warm yet, most of
them did not seem to be having a good time.
After the initial steep descent, we crossed a plateau and headed into a
broad, sandy wash. Before long the walls
on either side grew and we found ourselves in Hualapai Canyon. This part of the hike was quite pleasant, as
the walking was easy and the canyon walls provided shade. The steady stream of hikers heading out
dwindled to a trickle, but we were frequently passed by mule trains hauling
baggage. Some hikers chose to have their
gear transported rather than carrying it.
For that matter, some visitors choose to go to the village by
helicopter.
We
knew we were getting close when Haulapai Canyon
joined Havasu Canyon. Havasu Creek is a
beautiful milky blue, and it was a sight for sore eyes. It was the first water we’d seen all
day. We followed the dirt road
downstream, parallel to the creek.
Eventually we reached a pasture on the outskirts of the village. Supai is larger and
more robust than I expected. We passed a
couple of churches and several houses before reaching the center of town. Our first stop was the tourist office. We checked in there, paid our fees, and
picked up a map of the campground. Then
we stopped at the café, where we ate the leftover pizza we’d brought with us
for lunch. We also bought salads and
cold sodas. Afterwards Christy bought
ice cream at the general store while I waited with the packs and hung out with
the village dogs. There were dogs everywhere,
and they all seemed to have the run of the place. That was one happy collection of puppies,
probably because there wasn’t any sign of a leash anywhere.
HAVASU
From
there we hiked the 2 mile trail from the village down
to the campground. This stretch was a
struggle, as there was only limited shade and the temperature was well into the
triple digits. The sun was blazing, but
that didn’t prevent me from getting distracted by a couple of waterfalls
visible from the trail. Early on I
followed a short side path to a small cascade and a beautiful blue pool. There were some local kids swimming in
it. I took a couple of photos, and
another kid on the bank turned to me and said “no pictures”. I took another photo. He repeated himself, saying, “didn’t you hear
me, I said no pictures”! He was maybe 6
years old. I took another photo, then
looked at him and said, “I heard you.
What you need to learn is that just because you say something doesn’t mean
that people are going to do what you tell them.” Then his mother came over, apologizing
profusely. That wasn’t really necessary,
but it was an interesting encounter right at the beginning of our trip.
Before
2008 there was just one waterfall between the village and Havasu Falls – Navajo
Falls. However, a flash flood rerouted
the creek into a new channel. Now there
are two or three smaller waterfalls in that stretch. Navajo Falls, which is now called Old Navajo
Falls, is now dry. It has been replaced
by 3 smaller waterfalls. There is a lot
of confusion on the internet regarding the names of these waterfalls. I believe the first (upper) waterfall is
Fifty Foot Falls, followed by Rock Falls and New Navajo Falls. Regardless, they are all beautiful, and there
were lots of people playing, swimming, and relaxing at each of them.
We
reached the top of Havasu Falls and followed the trail down towards the
base. It was now early afternoon, and
there were lots of people swimming in the beautiful pool at the base of Havasu
Falls. We thought about stopping, but
decided to find a campsite first. The
campground extends for a full mile, from just downstream of Havasu Falls all
the way to the brink of Mooney Falls. However,
when we checked in, we were told that the lower campsites, between the last of
the toilets and the top of Mooney Falls, were off-limits. That was disappointing, as a friend had
specifically recommended that we aim for the very last campsite at the brink of
the falls. That was out, but we decided
to head towards the far end of the campground anyway. That turned out to be a good strategy. The upper half of the campground was
packed! Almost all of the campsites were
full, and the only vacant ones were mediocre.
About halfway down we started seeing occasional vacant spots. Most were between the trail and the cliffs,
well away from the creek. We kept
hiking, and finally spotted a free site right next to the creek. When we reached it, we were stunned at how
much cooler it was near the water. The
campsites on the other side of the trail were at least 20 degrees hotter. Havasu Creek is cold, and the cooling effect
from the water brings the temperature down in the immediate area.
Our
campsite was delightful. We’d brought
hammocks, and there were several ideal trees right next to the water. Our site also had two picnic tables, which
was unnecessary but somewhat useful. Our
next door neighbors were a family from Southern
California with two teenage girls. They
were friendly, and we actually ended up hiking with them the following
day. There were other groups in the
general area, but nobody else that was overly close. It was a good spot.
That
afternoon we hiked back up to Havasu Falls.
Havasu Falls is world-famous, and for good reason. It’s big, it’s powerful, and it features a
huge blue plunge pool. There were many
people swimming when we arrived, and Christy and I joined them. Later we returned to camp and relaxed. We lounged in our hammocks and played in the
creek. A previous visitor had left 3
pool floaties near our campsite. One of
the teenage girls next door had come up with the brilliant idea of tying them
to trees. That enabled us to lounge in
the water without being swept downstream.
Later
that afternoon I hiked down to the top of Mooney Falls. Mooney Falls is a spectacular 200’ drop. While Havasu Falls is gorgeous, Mooney Falls
is awesome. Its power is
staggering. From the brink
there is a great view down the canyon.
The rim offers many good views of the falls, so hiking the treacherous
scramble path to the base isn’t necessary to see it. I decided to save that for the next morning.
That
evening I went back upstream to check out the waterfalls we’d passed on the
hike in. First
I attempted to reach the last waterfall before Havasu Falls (New Navajo Falls,
I think). That one is down in a canyon,
and you can only get a glimpse of it from the trail. Cliffs prevent better views, so I tried
hiking up Havasu Creek from downstream.
I made it part of the way, before swimming would’ve been necessary to
continue upstream. At that point I had a decision to make. I didn’t have enough daylight to do that and
hit the waterfalls upstream. I decided
to save that adventure and focus on the other two waterfalls.
I
returned to the trail and then descended a side path to the base of Rock
Falls. The light was good and there were
only a couple of people there, so I was finally able to focus on
photography. I then followed a trail
around the falls and continued upstream past a lovely run of cascades and pools
to Fifty Foot Falls. By the time I
finished there it was time to head back.
I stopped at Havasu Falls, but people were still swimming there. Back at camp we had a late dinner. Afterwards we lounged in the creek and
watched as bats swooped and darted around us.
We both took a dip in the creek right before bed to cool off
farther. That worked well - almost too
well. We didn’t bring sleeping bags with
us. Christy had a bed sheet while I had
a soft fabric shower curtain. I actually
woke a little chilled late that night.
MOONEY AND BEAVER
We
got up early the next morning. The plan
for the day was to dayhike to the base of Mooney
Falls and downstream to Beaver Falls. We
joined our neighbors for parts of the hike, though they were actually ahead of
us most of the way. We started with the trail to the top of Mooney Falls. Then we descended the scramble path. At first it winds its way down through breaks
in the cliffs. Then the trail passed
through a cave or tunnel. At the far end
was a great view of Mooney Falls. I took
many photos from here, both from inside the cave and from the brink just
beyond. While I was doing that, two
large groups of teenagers caught up to me.
Christy had already gone ahead, and was waiting at the base.
I
ended up between two groups of teenagers for the final descent. This was sketchy, as the route started with
some rock scrambling aided by steel cables and ended with a slippery metal
ladder. In fact, everything was slippery
due to the constant spray from the waterfall.
I didn’t particularly enjoy doing this route with a herd of people
directly in front of me and behind me, but there wasn’t much choice. I made it down ok, but we did see a guy fall
down the final ladder later that afternoon.
Fortunately, only his pride was injured.
Photographing
Mooney Falls from the base was frustrating because there were people everywhere. A young girl in a thong and her boyfriend
hogged the base of the falls for a good 10 minutes before they finally got out
of the way. I eventually managed to get
some shots of Christy at the base, but it required a lot of patience!
The
hike downstream was fantastic. Early on
we were treated to great views back upstream to Mooney Falls. After that, we passed an endless run of
cascades and swimming holes. Long
stretches of the creek feature trails on both sides. On the way down I
didn’t do a great job of picking the optimal route, but we did better on the
return hike. Parts of the hike were
challenging, with sections of ladders and scrambling around some of the
cliffs.
It
was almost noon when we arrived at Beaver Falls. The hike had taken quite a bit longer than
expected, as my information states that it is 3 miles one way. My guess is that it is a good bit farther
than advertised.
Beaver
Falls was a busy place. This was a bit
of a surprise, as a lot of the visitors to Havasu don’t do the extra hike to
get here. The two large groups of
teenagers and young adults accounted for most of the visitors. Most of the young women were wearing thongs,
or regular bikinis with the fabric wedged up into their crack. I guess that is the latest fashion. However, it did have a downside. One poor girl in a thong had apparently taken
an unpleasant slide on a rock earlier, as she had scrapes on both of her butt
cheeks. Ouch!
When
we first arrived, we went for a swim in the pool at the base of final
drop. Beaver Falls is actually a series
of waterfalls separated by plunge pools.
After cooling off I waded and swam downstream a short distance. There I found a run of cascades dropping
through a narrow slot canyon and down into another run of pools. I understand that it is possible to jump 60’ from
one of the surrounding cliffs into one of those pools.
We
eventually worked our way upstream to the next plunge pool. I found a floatie there and took advantage of
it. There was a large eddy in this pool,
and I was content to lazily float around in circles. Just above was another waterfall and
pool. Part of this drop had a small cave
behind it, dripping with ferns. I swam
back into the cave and then jumped from a rock out into the main current at the
base of the falls. The current swept me
downstream, but then I caught an eddy that pulled me back into the cave. I was happy to do this several times before
shuffling off in search of another place to lounge.
The
hike had taken longer than expected, and we were low on food and water. Our neighbors let us borrow their water
filter, which was a big help. Before
heading back we actually met a ranger on patrol. He was a nice guy that was just checking up
on things.
The
hike back was quicker and easier than the approach. The highlight was encountering a pair of
Bighorn Sheep in an overgrown field at the base of a redrock
cliff. We took some photos there before
resuming the hike back.
We
returned to camp late that afternoon. We
had a minor food dilemma to deal with.
Christy had brought a whole pack of gluten-free bagels. Except they
weren’t gluten-free. Oops. She couldn’t eat them, which left us short on
breakfast and lunch stuff. That evening,
I decided to save my freeze dried dinner so that
Christy could eat it for breakfast the next morning. Instead, I went up to the fry bread hut just
downstream from Havasu Falls. I got an
Indian Taco frybread for dinner, which was pretty good. The family next to us had food challenges,
too. They had run out of lunch and snack
stuff. We gave them our bagels, as we
had no real use for them. So I guess that all worked out pretty well.
I
didn’t do any additional exploring that evening. I thought about searching for caves. There was an obvious one in the cliff directly
behind our campsite. I saw some guys
scramble up to it the previous evening.
They disappeared briefly, but came back out less than a minute later. Either it didn’t go very far, they lost
interest, or it was blocked off. Another
cave in the same cliff nearby had a sign posted at the entrance saying that
entry was prohibited. Also, near the top
of Havasu Falls was an obvious trail heading towards a narrow side canyon. I suspect it led to a cave or slot
canyon. That one was blocked by a fence
and it featured a sign that said that off-trail hiking was prohibited. I wasn’t inclined to antagonize the locals,
so I decided to skip it.
I
do regret that I didn’t make it to Rock Falls, but I was out of gas and I
wanted to relax and enjoy the creek and our campsite. We spent most of the evening lounging in the
pool floats watching the bats swoop and dart overhead. We went to bed shortly after dark because we
needed to get up early for the hike out.
However, our idea of early didn’t really mesh with most of the other
hikers. We decided to get up around 5am
(Mountain Daylight Time), which was a bit before first light. The family next to us was planning to leave
an hour or so earlier. We heard of other
hikers heading out around 2-3am. I
thought that was overkill. We knew it
would be hot towards the end of the hike, particularly on the final climb up to
the rim. We don’t mind the heat that
much though, and we preferred to get some actual sleep before we started.
That
proved to be a challenge, at least for Christy.
There were some college-aged kids camped nearby, and they were up late
and loud. I can sleep through pretty
much anything, so I didn’t notice.
The
family next to us was gone when we got up the next morning. Somehow they had
packed up and left without waking us.
There’s a lot to be said for having courteous neighbors! The only other people nearby were the loud
college kids. They were all passed out. We knew they had big plans for the day, and
we didn’t want them to oversleep, so we made sure to make a lot of noise as we
were making breakfast and packing up.
We
left shortly after first light, but we seemed to be the last people heading
out. It seemed like the rest of the
folks in the campground were spending the day there. We hiked back up through the campground and
made one final stop at Havasu Falls.
Then we started the climb up to the village. We stopped at the store there, which had just
opened. Our timing was perfect! We bought frozen gatorades
and stashed them in my pack. We figured
they would thaw out in time for the final climb up to the rim.
We
added one minor side trip to our hike out.
At the confluence of Havasu Canyon and Hualapai Canyon, the trail turns
right and heads up Hualapai Canyon.
There is also a trail up Havasu Canyon.
The map shows it ending at a different road east of Hualapai
Hilltop. I’m not sure if that is a
viable route to Havasu. We did follow
that trail a short distance though, passing numerous signs warning us that we
were going the wrong way. The signs
didn’t specifically say that the area was off limits, but I wasn’t really sure
if we were supposed to be there. Still,
my goal was to reach Havasu Springs, which is a short distance up the
canyon. I wanted to see the beginning of
Havasu Creek. The trail brought us close
to where the spring is shown on the map.
Eventually we had to leave it and bushwhack over to the creek. We found several springs there, but they really
weren’t much to look at. Also, there was
still water flowing from farther up the canyon, so there must be additional
springs farther up. I wasn’t interested
in a wild goose chase, so we headed back to the trail.
The
hike out was pretty uneventful. Early on
we passed lots of hikers on their way in.
Many of them were playing music on portable radios. The quality of the music ranged from bad to
truly awful. We observed this sort of
thing on many of the more popular trails during our trip. I’ve concluded that there must be a direct
connection between the likelihood of a person playing music while hiking and
that person having really bad taste.
Eventually
the flood of hikers subsided. There were
quite a few mule trains, but those encounters weren’t unpleasant. It was just natives on horses, accompanied by
dogs herding pack mules. Most of the
hike up Hualapai Canyon was enjoyable, at least until the upper end. There, the canyon walls dwindled and the
sandy wash broadened. It was late
morning at that point, and the sun was high in the sky. There was very little shade along this
stretch, and it was getting hot. We
stopped for short breaks in the occasional shady spots. Once the canyon ended though, there was no
shade. We opened the first Gatorade near
the beginning of the climb. It was cold
and slushy, and was quite refreshing in the heat.
That
climb was a little challenging, and yeah, it was hot, but it wasn’t really a
big deal. Of course
we have a lot of backpacking experience, and intense heat doesn’t bother us as
much as many other people. Less
experienced hikers probably should start out earlier than we did. Our plan worked out just fine for us
though. We had that second Gatorade over
the last ½ mile, and even found a couple of shady spots along that
stretch. When we reached the parking lot
we passed a native selling cold drinks out of the back
of pickup truck. We had other beverages
in mind. The ice in our cooler had
melted, but the water was still cold. So
was the beer. Those beers were quite
refreshing after a long, hot hike.
From
there we drove back to Peach Springs, where we got lunch, ice, and cold
drinks. Then we headed for Kingman,
Arizona. We stopped at a KOA there
hoping to buy showers, but that particular location doesn’t sell showers to
hiker trash like us. We ended up at a
truck stop, where we shelled out $12 each for showers. I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to us to buy
one and double up. At least the showers
were nice.
Our
original plan was to backpack that evening into Arizona Hot Springs in the
Black Canyon of the Colorado River.
However, we were having some second thoughts about that plan. It was 116 degrees, and for some reason a hot
spring didn’t sound that appealing.
Ultimately, we decided to skip it and continue on to Escalante,
Utah. That worked out well. When we passed the trailhead for Arizona Hot
Springs, near Hoover Dam, we noticed that the entrance to the trailhead parking
area was gated. Apparently, the
authorities had closed the trail due to the extreme heat.
We
picked up groceries and dinner at a Whole Foods in Henderson, Nevada. Then we drove through Vegas without
stopping. What happens in Vegas can stay
in Vegas. Leave us out of it.
We
passed through the desert northeast of Las Vegas at sunset. It was still 116 degrees. Our revised plan was to head straight to
Escalante, where we would spend the next three days. However, we still had a long drive ahead of
us and it was already late. We were
weary of the heat, so I came up with another idea. We decided to head up into the mountains of
southwestern Utah for the night. There
are a bunch of campgrounds up around Brian Head, at elevations around
9-10,000’. It would be a lot cooler up
there! The first campground we reached
was full. It was a Friday night, and apparently we weren’t the only people that thought that
camping up in the mountains might be more pleasant than the desert. The second campground we tried was several
miles down a dirt road. That one had
several vacant sites. When we arrived at
11PM, it was 54 degrees! We had to put
on jeans and sweatshirts when we got there!
We set up camp and went straight to bed, as we had big plans for the
next day.
Back to Arizona
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