Becoming Sara

Every time I go on an adventure, I come home changed. My trip to Havasupai is no exception. The Havasupai campground is in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The only ways to get there are on foot, horse or helicopter.

What makes this campground so wonderful is that it sits between two incredible waterfalls of crystal clear blue water. The creek that runs between them goes right through the campground. Reservations (Permits) are limited so they sell out immediately every year.

My cousin Nate and I decided to try for permits for 2018. The day they went on sale we were ready and waiting online. Nate was a able to get through before they sold out. We were set with permits to hike Havasupai in late September. I was ecstatic.

I decided to fly into Las Vegas and spend the night in the Valley of Fire on my way. I’ll make a separate post about that one. The day before we hiked in I drove to the trailhead. The recommendation is to start hiking before the sun comes up. We decided to leave the trailhead at 4am. For me, that meant sleeping in my car the night before.

The only person I knew in our group of 6 was my cousin. Everyone else I met for the first time at 4am at the trailhead. My group was made up of my cousin’s friend Sami and her friend Maja, as well as Mike and his wife Rae. It’s amazing how an experience like this will bond strangers.

It’s an 11ish mile hike from the trailhead to the campground with approximately a 4K foot elevation drop. People often underestimate the toll that much downhill hiking can take on your body. The first hour or two we were hiking in the dark. With pictures and exploring it took us almost 6 hours to reach the campground. At that point it felt like it had been an entire day but it wasn’t even lunch time.

We found an amazing camping spot. We were on a little island. You had to walk on a log to cross the creek to get to the site. My tent was less than 5 feet from the Havasu creek. It was amazing falling asleep to the sound of the rushing water every night.

We spent some time at Havasu Falls after getting camp set up. I was mesmerized by the clear blue water. We lounged in the pools created by the sandstone and dove into the falls. The water was chilly but revitalizing! We also did some exploring and met a few people that gave us some advice on our planned hike to Beaver Falls the next day.

Everyone was ready for bed early that first day. I believe I was in bed before 7pm. We had agreed to get up early to start our hike to Beaver Falls.

Beaver Falls was a few miles from camp. We heard it was worth the hike and a fun place to hang out. It completely surpassed my expectations. The hike from the campground to Beaver Falls was incredible. So much vegetation for the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Several people have said it was like being in Jurassic Park. There were several creek crossings, ladders and some rock scrambling.

Before you can get to Beaver Falls you have to scale the canyon wall down to Mooney Falls using chains secured to the sandstone wall and some rickety ladders. As someone that is a little scared of heights, I had to overcome the fear of slipping and falling.

When we arrived at Beaver Falls we couldn’t believe it. It was like a playground of waterfalls. So many pools of water to lounge in and waterfalls to play in. We sat behind, climbed and jumped off of crystal blue waterfalls. It was amazing! I learned the hard way that you can’t dive from behind a waterfall and swim to the shore. It sucks you right back in.

The hike back to Mooney Falls and the campground went quick. Our way back was slightly different. The trails were a little confusing but all led to the same place at the end of the day. My group decided to cross the creek along the top of a waterfall as opposed to wading through where we had before. We had to make a large step from the edge of the waterfall to the next rock, all with the rushing water at our feet. I made everyone else go first. When it was my turn I almost slipped. Luckily Mike caught me.

Later that night we headed back to Havasu Falls to enjoy our last night at camp. We talked about how amazing the trip had been and took a lot more pictures.

We set our plan for the hike out the next day. It was going to be a tough hike (we had to go back up those 4K feet). The plan was to get up at 4, tear down camp and be on the trail by 5 in order to beat the heat of the day. We hit the trail about 5:30 and kept a good pace. Everyone was pretty quiet and not much stopping for pictures. It was time to focus.

I felt pretty good up until that last mile and a half. That last section is made up of very steep switchbacks. At that point the sun was beating down on us. My feet hurt and my legs were tight. It took all I had to get up that last quarter of a mile.

I had such an incredible weekend with some truly inspiring people. I loved how encouraging and supportive everyone was to each other. One moment we we would be joking around and the next in a deep conversation about love and life.

Roughly 10 years ago I hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. I was about 60 pounds heavier than I am today. I barely made it through that hike. I was miserable. It took me days to recover. This time was completely different. It really put how far I have come physically and mentally in perspective. Later that night, at my hotel, I had tears in my eyes just thinking about it. I left that Canyon more proud of myself than I have ever been.