HAVASUPAI
ADVENTURE
By
The Great
MELVIN ZWICK
What is a
Havasupai adventure? Well read on and I,
MELVIN ZWICK, will tell you.
A Havasu
Adventure is a heart throbbing walk through a South America.
Jungle where there are ants as big as cats,
Giant blood sucking bats
Moreover, why
would anyone want to go on a Havasupai Adventure? Because at the end there is a party hosted by
Miss McKenna and Miss Cassidy serving Bowes kiddos cookies. There are thousands of books for the Bowes
kids to read, the fastest sneakers for Miss McKenna, thousands of earrings for
Miss Cassidy, all the chocolate one could want for Chocolate loving momma, a
web master to teach the computer lady all she ever wanted to know about web
design and the most advanced satellite connection and computer for Ted and
Chuck.
This is what
the start of the trail looks like. I,
MELVIN ZWICK, think it is not a very uninteresting area. It looks very dull without any plants or
color.
The mules on
the trail have the right of way. Hikers
are expected to stand on the edge of the trail nearest the drop off. A hiker quickly learns to plan ahead when
mules are near. It is best to find a
wide spot in the trail and stand there until the mules pass.
Here the
scenery starts to look a little more colorful.
Boy, just look at that long trail.
Grandpa was in very good shape during the times he hiked the trail.
This is a
photograph of the canyon taken from a helicopter. The trail can be seen at the bottom of the
canyon.
Grandpa
entered a dry creek bed within a ravine after he left the trail shown
above. The trail is soft sand and loose
gravel and is surrounded by towering walls of pink and red sandstone. It is beautiful and impressive. The towering cliffs makes a person feel very
insignificant.
You
modified the photo just like I, Grandpa, modified this photograph of Lydia and
McKenna.
The Indians all have a horse as that is the only means of travel. It is common to see horse tied in front of the houses. There are no cars, motorcycles or bicycles in the canyon. Any items the Indians need from the outside world have to be delivered by mule down the trail or helicopter. There are no Wal-Marts nearby. The village does have a country story where hikers can buy things, that is, if they have lots of money.
Grandpa hikes
another half mile and the beautiful Havasu falls comes into view. The Havasu stream falls about 100 feet in a
spray of mist into an aquamarine pool.
The limestone
and miscellaneous chemical salts in the water creates dams forming many shallow
pools. Just the place to rest a weary
hiking body. Look at the color of the
water. It is unbelievable.
Well I,
MELVIN ZWICK, cannot help but think about Valerie’s pie and all the cookies the
Bowes kiddos made. And who ever heard of
a soup pie?
Getting down
this part of the trail takes a little butt sliding.
There are
many formations formed by the chemical in the water as shown on the left. That same chemical forms the dams that form
the shallow pools under the falls.
If you look
up at the vertical wall you will see a vertical steel ladder that was installed
by the miners. The top of the ladder is
probably 200 feet above the stream.
There is a ledge cut horizontally in the cliff face that leads from the
top of the ladder to the mining tunnel.
On Grandpa’s second trip he continued on the trail for about two miles to Beaver Falls.
The twelve
mile hike out of the canyon from Beaver Falls is tiring and not as thrilling as
the hike down the trail. The walk seems
to take forever.
This is what
Grandpa saw as he started up the last mile of the trail to the hilltop. This part of the hike is definitely not much
fun.
Grandpa
finally reached the hilltop and the car.
A short rest than the drive back to Phoenix. This day was very long and tiring.
and native Indian that have poison darts they shoot
through the likes of Kyle’s baseball mortar.
Attending the party is well worth the dangers in
getting there.
There you go
again Melvin Zwick, telling another tall tale.
A Havasu Adventure is not in the South American Jungle. It is an adventure in Arizona. There is one thing true about your
description though. It would be worth
any trip to attend a party hosted by Miss McKenna and Miss Cassidy serving
Bowes kiddos cookies.
So get on
with telling the real story of a Havasu Adventure.
Grandpa you
are always interrupting my exciting stories.
OK. OK.
Here goes. A Havasupai Adventure
is an extreme hiking adventure. It is an
eleven mile hike down 3500 foot hill to a place called Mooney Falls. It is an overnight camping stay at the
falls. Then it is an 11-mile hike up to
the trailhead roughly 3500 feet above Mooney Falls. It is another 2 miles to Beaver Falls is one
wants to go there.
Why would
anyone want to put themselves through such stress? Because it is a beautiful hike. The falls and pools are like nothing you will
ever see anywhere else.
It is the
Havasu village where the Havasupai Indian tribe lives.
It is three
waterfalls each one prettier than the last.
It is a fourth water fall that is much harder to get to and not quite as
beautiful as the other three.
That gives us
a brief description of the Adventure.
Now to get into the specifics.
Why would the
great MELVIN ZWICK want to write about a Havasupai?
Adventure? Why
you ask? Because your adventurous
Grandpa hiked the trail three times. The
last hike was a little different from the first two. The description of the third hike will
surprise all of Grandpa’s family. The
story of that hike will be told at the end of the story. No Kiddos do not jump to the end. You must read the entire story first.
On to the
description of Grandpa’s adventure. The
head of the trail of the Havasupai Adventure starts at a point about 75 miles
north of Peach Springs, Arizona. There
is a dirt road from Peach Springs to the trailhead at Hualapai hilltop. Where is Peach Springs you ask? I, MELVIN ZWICK could send all of you on a
map adventure to find where Peach Springs is but I won’t. Peach Springs is about 30 miles North West of
Seligman, Arizona. Where is Seligman you
ask? Well if you keep asking where
things are I, MELVIN ZWICK, will not be able to tell you about the Havasupai
Adventure. OK. All right. Seligman is ninety miles west of Flagstaff,
Arizona. Flagstaff is where the Bowes
family lives for a while and Aunt Kelley went to college in Flagstaff.
Where are we
now? Oh Yeah. At the trail head of the Havasupai
Adventure.
Grandpa’s car was parked at the trailhead.
When Grandpa
did his hikes, there was nothing but a dirt parking lot at the hilltop. I, MELVIN ZWICK, have been told that the
Havasu Indians have built a store next to the parking lot.
There are no
photographs of Grandpa’s hike because I, MELVIN ZWICK, and the great photographers
Cassidy and Lydia were not along with him.
I, MELVIN ZWICK, know better than to walk 11 miles down hill and 11
miles up hill and Cassidy and Lydia were not born when Grandpa hiked the trail.
Therefore, I, MELVIN ZWICK, will describe the hike in general as told to me by
Grandpa the Adventurer.
The trail
drops about 2000 feet in the first mile from the trailhead.
A problem for
all you Kiddos. Grandpa covers about
five feet with every full step. That’s
from left foot to left foot. A mile is
5280 feet long. How many steps does
Grandpa have to take to cover the first mile?
Grandpa and
his best buddy Lee Kelley hiked the Havasu trail two times and Grandpa hiked it
a third time with a surprise guest, which will be revealed at the end of the
story. Grandpa camped out at Mooney
falls for three days the second time he hiked the trail.
Who in their
right mind would want to hike here? But
wait. Its gets better.
The trail can
be seen on the left center of the photo.
You can see that the first part of the hike is not very
interesting. It is nothing but gray
sandstone. Grandpa told me MELVIN ZWICK,
there is no water on the trail. The hike
can be very warm in the summer time so one has to carry lots of water. Grandpa says that people can go a long time
without food but it takes a lot of water a day to hike in the heat.
Wait a
minute. I, MELVIN ZWICK, thought that I
did not have a picture of Grandpa and me, MELVIN ZWICK, on the trail. So what are Grandpa and me doing in this
photo? Note that Grandpa is doing the
right thing and standing on the downhill side of the trail. I, MELVIN ZWICK, on the other hand am doing
the wrong thing sitting on the up hillside of the trail.
The Indians
insist that their mules are more valuable than the hikers are. That is why they want the hikers to stand on
the downhill side of the trail as the mules pass by. They would rather have a hiker fall off the
trail than one of their mules. Do not
forget, the Havasu Indians own the canyon, the land above the canyon and the
trail.
Grandpa
walked this trail after he climbed down the first mile. This part of the trail is about 2 miles long.
Grandpa had
to be very alert as he walked this trail.
Monster snakes live in the cracks of the sandstone cliffs. They are known to attack hikers that are not
on the lookout for them.
Oh boy Melvin
Zwick what a phony storyteller you are.
There are no monster snakes in the cracks of the cliffs. The only critters in the cliffs are ones the
Bowes Critter Getters could handle.
Eventually
the trail reaches the crystal clear water of the Supai River. I, MELVIN ZWICK, know what a river is and
this is no river. It’s called a river
but it is nothing more than a stream.
Grandpa walked over a wooden footbridge to cross the cool stream.
Just a thought
from the great MELVIN ZWICK. If Grandpa
cooled his feet in the stream what affect might that have on people who are
drinking the water downstream from Grandpa.
One has to ask them self if they would want to drink water Grandpa
washed his feet in especially after he hiked down the trail.
This is the
village of Supai where about 400 Havasupai Indians live. The Havasupai Indians have lived in this area
for centuries. It is a very pretty and
peaceful place to live. The Indians grow
their own crops and raise sheep and a few cows.
They all have horses as that is the only means of travel. Some Indians are concerned about the hikers
so they leave couches in front of their homes for them to sit
Melvin
Zwick I sure do not know where you get all these crazy ideas. The Indians do not leave couches in front of
their homes.
Well if they
don’t how did I, MELVIN ZWICK, get the above picture? How did I get it? Just tell me that Grandpa. How did I, MELVIN ZWICK, get it?
You got into
Grandpa’s Photo Shop again. A little cut
and paste and Grandpa is sitting on a couch in front of an Indian’s house.
Grandpa you caught me again. I
guess I will just have to continue the story.
The Indians all have a horse as that is the only means of travel. It is common to see horse tied in front of the houses. There are no cars, motorcycles or bicycles in the canyon. Any items the Indians need from the outside world have to be delivered by mule down the trail or helicopter. There are no Wal-Marts nearby. The village does have a country story where hikers can buy things, that is, if they have lots of money.
I, MELVIN
ZWICK, have been told that there is now a restaurant and hotel in the village.
The two tall
slender delicately balanced sandstone pillars standing guard over the village
of Supai are called the "twin sisters.”
The Indians
grow fields of glisten corn and fruit around the village of Supai.
Every now and
then, an Indian on a horse passed Grandpa on the trail as he walked through the
village. Grandpa had to watch his step
to insure he did not step into some used hay left by the horses.
The trail
wonders past a few houses here and there.
Navajo falls,
the first falls after the village, comes into view after about a half-mile trek
from the village. The falls tumbles about 75 feet in a wide stream of clear
Havasu water. The water has picked up
copper salt and has taken on a powder blue color. The color of the water is so thick you cannot
see your hand placed 6 inches below the surface. The stream is like nothing else you have ever
seen.
By the
way. How does the Supai word Havasupai
translate? Havasu translates to blue
water and Pai translates to people. Havasupai
translates to blue water people. Now you
all can speak some Havasupai language.
Hey kiddos
how do you pronounce Havasupai. It is
pronounces just like it looks. Have a
soup and a piece of Valerie’s pie.
Come on
MELVIN ZWICK, so far you have been accurate.
However, have a soup and a piece of Valerie’s pie is a little
weird. I know that Valerie’s pie is on
our minds but the word is pronounced, “Have a soup pie.”
Grandpa
camped out at Havasu falls after about a seven mile hike and swam in the cool
pools of the stream.
And here we
temporally leave Grandpa with not a care in the world sleeping soundly in his
sleeping bag.
The rest of
the story will be told in part II of this story.
Oh by the way
Grandpa took about 1056 steps in the first mile of the hike. That is, a mile is 5280 feet divided by a 5
foot step equals 1056 steps.
When we left
Grandpa he was sound asleep in his sleeping bag at Havasu Falls campground.
Grandpa and
his buddy Lee Kelley awoke early and fixed themselves breakfast. There is nothing like steak and eggs with
biscuits first thing in the morning.
Coffee brewing in the pot over a campfire sends of an aroma that pleases
a person’s sense of smell. What a way to
wake up.
Melvin
Zwick you have apparently not been on many backpack camping trips. Let’s see where you went wrong.
Number one
there is no wood at the campground so there would be no campfire. Especially in a confined area like the Havasu
campground which is surrounded by sheer cliffs.
One would have to carry wood in their backpack if they plan on building
a campfire. Wood would add a lot of
weight to a person’s backpack.
Number two a
hiker does not carry eggs and steak when he is backpacking. That would require
ice to keep the steak and eggs from spoiling.
That would add extra weight to the backpack.
Number three
there is no way to bake biscuits. Even
the Bowes bakers could not bake any of their cookies on the trail. The most fire one might have is in a can of
Sterno. You know the little cans of fire
they use under food trays at weddings to keep food warm. There would not be
enough heat to bake biscuits and any utensils needed to bake hem would add
weight to the backpack.
The one thing
you do not want to have is a heavy backpack when going on a long hike.
The best
thing for breakfast is Granola bars or a handful of trail mix. Lee Kelley and I used to enjoy Constant comet
tea. The kind of tea that was not in tea
bags. The tea would be thrown into water
in an aluminum cup which was part of the Military style water canteen. Place the cup on a can of sterno and let the
water boil. When the tea leaves dropped
to the bottom of the water the tea was ready to drink.
So much for
your lack of knowledge Melvin Zwick. Get
on with the story.
OK
Grandpa. You caught me again.
When the boys
woke up they ate their Granola bars and drank their Constant Comet tea. Then it was back on the trail. After walking about two miles the sound of
Mooney Falls could be heard. The trail
comes out at the top of Monney Falls.
The hike to the base of Mooney Falls is an adventure people faint of
heart should not try.
From the top
of the falls the trail drops very steeply for about 200 feet. Grandpa had to pass through two tunnels in
the rock and descend on footholds in the cliff face while clutching slippery
wet chain.
The trail at
this point will even cause some concern to an experienced hiker. If you fall and break something you will be
in a world of hurt for a long time until a rescue team can get you out.
This is the entrance to the tunnels that take you to
the bottom of the falls.
The
surrounding cliffs are molded into strangely shaped limestone sculptures and
festooned with bright green mosses and ferns. You can see Mooney falls off and on
as you follow the trail.
The Havasupai
named this most sacred of waterfalls Mother of the Waters. The present name is
that of a prospector who died here in 1880. When assistants lowered Daniel
Mooney down the cliffs next to the falls, the rope jammed and Mooney hung
helpless as the rope frayed and broke. He fell to his death on the rocks below,
but 10 months passed before his companions could make their way down to reach
and bury the travertine-encrusted body. A rough trail descends beside the falls
along the same route hacked through the travertine by miners in those months
after Mooney's death. Grandpa passes through two tunnels and then eases down
with the aid of chains and iron stakes. At the bottom when Grandpa‘s knees stop
shaking he a swim in the large pool. Miners extracting silver, lead, zinc, and
vanadium from the drilled holes you see high on the canyon walls.
On Grandpa’s second trip he continued on the trail for about two miles to Beaver Falls.
The trail to
beaver falls is not as defined as the previous trail. The stream has to be crossed several
times. Beaver Falls is not as tall as
the other falls but the area is just as beautiful. Grandpa spent a short time here than started
the hike back to the Hualapai hill top.
And now on to
the special trip Grandpa made down the Havasupai trail.
Charlie Ester,
one of Grandpa’s friends wanted to go on an interesting hike. Grandpa suggested a hike down to Havasu Falls
with a night stay at the campground then back home. Charlie had a friend, Stan, who wanted to go
on the hike. All agreed that once at
Havasu Falls they would decide if a hike to Mooney Falls would be in
order. Each of the friends wanted to
take along a friend so Grandpa took along a friend. All members agreed that they would all stay
together. No one would break from the
pack.
So it was off
to Havasu falls on a nice warm summer day.
Everyone was fascinated by the beautiful scenery as they started their
walk through the canyon. All the party reached Havasu Falls in pretty good
shape. At least that is what Grandpa
thought.
I guess it is
time for me, MELVIN ZWICK, to tell you who Grandpa’s friend was.
You won’t believe it.
Grandpa and his two buddies each took their wives on the hike. Meemom went on the hike with Grandpa. That’s right.
Meemom your Grandma hiked the Havasupai trail. At the time of the hike Meemom was studying
karate and was in very good shape.
Unfortunately Stan and the other two wives were in not such good shape. Stan started to complain about a back
ache. Stan’s wife’s knees were giving
out. Charlie’s wife wore a tank top and
was suffering from severe sunburn.
During dinner
Charlie decided that he and his wife must hike out after dinner so his wife
would not have to walk out in the sun.
He and his wife would start the hike out immediately. Charlie and his wife were about to leave
us. Stan and Grandpa could stay or walk
out with Charlie. It was decided that
all would walk out after dinner. So much
for the promise of staying together.
Charlie had
to carry his wife’s back pack because her sunburn would not allow her to carry It. Stan’s wife’s knees made it
difficult to walk so Meemom carried her backpack. Stan‘s back was hurting so bad that he could
not carry his backpack so grandpa took it on.
Of
Of all the six hikers in the group Meemom and Grandpa were the only ones who made
it to the top in good order. Charlie and
the rest of the group were really suffering.
Meemom did exceptionally well.
She was a great hiker.
Sometime
later she and Robyn hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. On that trip she and Robyn walked out at
night because they were not carrying enough water. They made a good decision. Walking during the
day requires lots of water.
And there you
have it. The Havasupai adventure.
THE END
FOR NOW
.
