SLO BACKPACKERS MEETUP GROUP: Kudos to Dave and Gregg for organizing this backpack for our meetup group. On most trips that I go on, I am the primary organizer, so I know how much fun planning trips can be! It was an incredible luxury to go on a trip that somebody else planned - all I had to do was show up! Thanks to my buddy Mark Mac for being such a great person for sharing such an adventure, and to my wife Sue for letting me back out of another trip that I was organizing (Overland Expo, Flagstaff, Arizona) at the same time!
ORIENTATION OF THE HIKE IN AND THE CANYON: (Need to confirm all mileage listed here and elevation changes listed here - so far, this info should be considered TENTATIVE).
The trailhead is located at a large asphalt parking lot known as "Hualapai Hilltop" (Hualapai is pronounced as WALLA-PIE). The hike from the Hilltop to the town of Supai is supposedly 8 miles (need to confirm). The hike stars out on a well-developed switchback trail that quickly descends 1,200 feet into a side canyon to the main Havasu Canyon called Havasupai Canyon. From Supai, it is another 2 miles to the campground.
WHERE TO STAY: (1) THE HAVASU CAMPGROUND (2) HAVASU LODGE: The vast majority of tourists stay at the campground, located between Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls. Apparently, there is also a hotel where tourists can stay; none of our group stayed there, and I'm not sure that I even saw it or know where it is located (or how much it costs).
MODES OF TRANSPORTATION TO HAVASU FALLS CAMPGROUND: There are numerous options for a tourist to get
GENERAL LOGISTICAL FACTS: Basic facts for the uninitiated.
- No campfires allowed in the Supai campground (note that we found signs of unauthorized campfires everywhere; there is tons of downed wood that could be used to make a fire, and apparently many have done so (against the rules).
- No camping anywhere except in the campground.
- Packing out all your trash is NOT mandatory. Mark and I packed up all the trash left in our camp, plus collected a bunch more, and was able to give it to the ranger at the corral just above the upper end of the campground. We did NOT have to pack out our trash, though I suspect that they tell people that in hopes that most or all of the tourists will pack out their trash. Note to the Supai: I think having trash collection for the tourists is a good idea, as I believe that most of the illegal campfires were to burn trash. Many backpackers are used to burning trash, and don't like packing it out if they don't have to. If you collect trash, people will not burn it with illegal campfires, IMHO.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS (WEATHER): Dave put out this weather forecast on our meetup website before the trip:
Weather Forecast on May 12 for:
Thursday, May 15, 2014: 83 / 48
Friday, May 16, 2014: 89 / 53
Saturday, May 17, 2014: 91 / 53
Sunday, May 18, 2014: 86 / 52
The high temps forecast appeared to have been accurate, but I'm not sure about those lows. What i do know is that I did not need my 3 pound, REI 20 degree, synthetic sleeping bag. On most (if not all) nights, it was too hot when to do anything but lie on top of my sleeping bag and on top of my bivy sack - it was just too hot. I never touched my fleece jacket or my shell windbreaker on the entire 5 days of the trip. I would have been fine with one of those summer sleeping bag / bag liners - a 1lb or less sleeping bag shell/liner. I still would have brought the bivy sack in case there were biting bugs, which there we not. It may have gotten down into the 50's at night, but it would have hit that mark at 2 or 3 am. That is the time when I switched from wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and socks and slept on top of my sleeping bag and bivy sack, to actually getting inside the sleeping bag for a few hours. Since I wasn't getting bit by bugs all night, I eventually gave up on ever zipping my bivy sack closed, because it was just too hot. Note that for the first 2/3 of the night, it was too hot to zip the bivy sack closed, no matter how little I was wearing.
RECOMMENDATION (CLOTHING/SLEEPING GEAR): For a forecast similar to the above, I would have brought my windbreaker shell (9 oz.), a sleeping bag liner (I don't own one, but this would be what u want), bivy sack (REI sack 14oz - use in case of biting bugs or rain), and my regular sleeping pad. I would have left my fleece and sleeping bag in the car, and would have saved about 3.5 pounds of pack weight.
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