The trek to Havasu falls...the inside edition

Still happy and enthusiastic


Reflections from the Backcounter

My calves hurt. In fact muscles that I did not know existed are hurting and might I remind you...Gray's anatomy is not a TV show for me...it was my anatomy textbook. Hiking the Grand Canyon is a laudable goal at any age and at my now ripe old unmentionable age it was a personal victory, triumph, bucket list???. Of course, the trek down was preceded by hysterical downsizing of the contents of the backpack...who needs a sleeping bag anyway??? I remain amazed at the weight of a packet of instant oatmeal and the unfathomable density of Trader Joe's dried blueberries. The pack became progressively heavier as we marched toward our goal of the Havasupai camping grounds. We reached Supai village, victorious in our accomplishment, only to have our hopes of rest and relaxation dashed by the realization that it was 2.2 more miles to the campground.
Looking a little less happy and not so enthusiastic

We arrived with barely enough strength left to lift the packs off our weary backs and still had to pitch tents and cook food....luckily, we had been given explicit instructions in tent pitching and camp making by our outfitters who conducted our pre trip instructional seminar with unbridled enthusiasm and zeal for the full backpacking experience. Armed with our new found knowledge and state of the art equipment, we dispatched with the camp set up and feasted on our tamale pie and cornbread following which we collapsed into our tents and slept throught till dawn wrapped in the tent tarp...did I mention that the sleeping bag was left at the trailhead along with my water filter and extra pants. Any strategy to lighten the load...

More on the experience later...things started to look a lot brighter in the morning once I found the spring water, a portable water filter bottle from our neighboring campers (Israelis) and the coffee.

Here are a few pics to start with. Notice our naive enthusiasm as we approach the beginning of the trail...as my daughter said as we passed hikers starting down as we were on the way out...Look at those people...they are still laughing and talking....



Peace and packing,

Julia