Havasupai!

Exactly a week ago I headed out to meet my death. But death did not come. Instead we made memories that will last a lifetime. My mom, my sister, and sister-in-law all joined me in the thrill of backpacking to Havasupai in Arizona. We were joined by 18 other ladies - some we haven't seen for 20 years, some that we haven't seen for a few years, and some that we've never met.

We started out early Friday morning.
My mom insisted on carrying a chair.
More power to her!

About 8 miles and a few hours later we arrived
in the remote Supai village. The only way in or out
is by foot, on horseback, or by helicopter.
We brought extra cash just in case we needed
a helicopter ride out!

Two miles from the village we caught our
first glimpse of Havasu Falls. It made the
10 miles of hiking well worth it!
These pictures do not do the blue-green water justice.
When we saw this 100 foot waterfall in person
we were even more astonished that my brother Sterling
jumped from the top of the waterfall three years before.
Perry's one instruction to me before I left was
"No Cliff Jumping!"

Sorry Perry. I just couldn't resist!
(The "cliff" was really only 4 feet high)

After we played in the water for a bit it started
to rain. We ran back to camp to make sure
all of the rain flies for our tents were in place.
The tents that we really didn't want to pack in
came in very handy. We had dinner under
a tarp and then explored some more.

Saturday morning we went to explore
Mooney Falls. The only explanation we could get
from others who had been before was that it
was "precarious." Hmmm....

More like treacherous!
Holding on to chains and
climbing down rocks is not
my idea of fun! Adrenaline rush,
but not "fun."

I did it anyway.
And lived to tell about it.

Once again, the reward at the bottom
was worth the struggle.

We hiked in and out of the river below Mooney Falls for a couple hours.

When we heard the thunder roll we
knew we needed to hurry out
before the rocks became too wet to climb.
It was a hard climb out but...
WE CONQUERED!

Mom stayed back at camp and was
able to pack up our tent so we weren't
hiking the 10 miles out with
soaking packs. Since it was raining
we started our hike out around 2:30pm
instead of 6pm. The cloud cover made
afternoon hiking conditions perfect!

Our last glimpse of the blue-green paradise
before arriving in the village.

We hiked all afternoon and into the evening.
Our goal was to make it to the top before
we needed to use our headlamps.

Going down was a lot easier than up.
The last two miles took well over two hours.
I hung back with my mom while
Jo went ahead. I mentioned to my mom
that "if they were nice they'd get to the top
and come back for your pack." She laughed.
Who would want to do the switchbacks again?

Apparently Jo wanted to. She came
back to carry my mom's pack the last
quarter mile. And others went to
rescue those still struggling at the bottom
after sundown. We had our own
little pioneer moment. I smiled.

WE DID IT!

It was so much fun to get away and spend time
with these crazy gals from my childhood.
I feel so blessed that in spite of packing around
some extra weight I had health and strength
enough to enjoy a little bit of paradise.

Many thanks to my friend Julie for organizing the

trip and for the great time! I had a blast!

God's gifts truly put man's best dreams to shame!