HAVASUPAI AND A FLASH FLOOD: DAY 2

Sandals c/o Teva

Our second day in Havasupai we woke up to a sunny Saturday. We heard rumor from the local village that there may be rain, but we all remained optimistic. This was very common in July which is peak monsoon season. But as we looked at the morning sky it was a beautiful clear blue and we were ready to take advantage of it while it lasted.

We began by hiking down from our campground to Mooney Falls as pictured. It was a little deeper in the canyon than Havasu Falls which we visited on the first day, but insanely close to our campground. The sketchiest part of getting to this waterfall was the trek down the narrow cave with only ropes and ladders to guide you down. But once you hit ground, look at that view! Absolutely magical you guys.  I could go here every year and never get sick of it, it's so fun to stare at. We spent an hour or so there that morning before working our way down the river to Beaver Falls.

To get to Beaver Falls you have two options. One, you can trudge through the river. Or two, you can use the pathway to the left of the river on land, which may take you through a little bit of water but nothing crazy. Lets be serious, hiking through water is awesome and it was so dang hot we chose the river route. It was so beautiful! You never get used to that aqua water and there are little picnic tables throughout the river you can stop to take a rest. Hiking through mini waterfalls throughout the river was sometimes tricky, but with the help of the ladies in the group we made it through. Some of us got more wet than others (including bags full of things that we didn't want wet---like cameras), but there was always a guinea pig ahead that was willing to go first and help direct those behind her of the best route or how to avoid the underwater holes below the falls. It was a trip!

Choosing to hike through the river obviously is a lot slower than hiking on land. Once noon hit we started hearing some thunder and saw angry clouds rolling in. We didn't think it was too bad so decided to keep going. Somehow, Kylie and I got separated from the majority of the group which eventually broke up into 3-4 smaller groups. We began wondering if we should get on the land when a group of guys on the river bank warned us to get out and turn around asap. There was a 90% chance of flash flooding! OKAY we said haha, that was our answer. We immediately made our way to the river bank but decided to book it down to Beaver Falls anyway. We had made it this far and weren't about to turn around now. Kylie and I began running our hearts our with tired bodies and sore feet, thinking we could outrun the storm. The rain began pouring and we soon found ourselves laughing that we were the only ones going down as everyone else was turning around headed back to camp. Luckily, we made it to the bottom and saw the beautiful Beaver Falls from the overlook. We snapped some pictures and wished we could have stayed longer, but decided to turn around quickly with a local native who found us and wouldn't leave with out us haha. Later, we found out that a part of our group had made it down shortly after us and stayed till the rain passed. They braved out the warnings and had an awesome experience down there. Dang, haha, next time!

As we made our way closer to camp it was crazy seeing the water turn from aqua to muddy brown. It was sorta sad, but at the same time we were glad that we still got to experience Havasupai when it was beautiful and blue. The rest of our hike up was exhausting, wet, muddy and very slippery. Once back at camp Kylie and I decided to hike out early with about seven other girls in our group since all we brought was hammocks. We weren't down to get dumped on all night as this storm was not about to stop! So off we went to hike 12 miles up the canyon throughout the night. Or so we thought.

Shortly after we hit the village about two miles up the canyon, we were stopped by some locals on a four wheeler. They directed us to their high school cafeteria for safety to spend the night. There we would have shelter and water provided. We were told to not hike any further due to the flash floods running through the top of the canyon. The rain wasn't supposed to stop till about 3 am and the roads were like mini rivers. The two miles we had hiked already we were hiking through muddy puddles instead of roads, and let me tell you our open wounds and blisters did not like this! So we took the locals advice and joined the rest of the night hikers who were stopped and slept on their high school gym floor. Since we all only had hammocks it made for an interesting night sleep on the hard floor, but we were grateful for a shelter from the rain. Meanwhile, back at camp the remaining part of our group huddled together in their tents and tarps and had a glowstick dance party, swollen feet and all. No storm can stop us from having a good time!