Havasu Falls, Sept 2013

This was my 4th time down to Havasu Falls. Every time has been a little different because of the forces of nature that occur between trips...mainly flooding. Erosion in the campground has reduced the number of good big campsites, but for those who have never seen it before it is still beautiful! On this trip I was accompanied by 11 old (and new) friends, including: Gladys and Lalo, Jimmy and Sarah, Brenda, Kerry, Kevin, Paul, Michael, Jim, and Curt. Five of us would stay 3 days and hike out on Sunday, while the other 7 planned to stay an extra day and hike out Monday. We started by driving to Seligman on Thursday and staying overnight there, then driving the remaining 90 miles early Friday morning to the trailhead. So Friday we hiked down and set up camp (just before an afternoon shower). Saturday was more hiking. Some of us only went as far as Beaver Falls (about 8 miles roundtrip from the campground), while others continued on all the way to the Colorado River (about 16 miles roundtrip from the campground). On Sunday, five of us hiked out, but near the end of the hike ( for me it was just about a half mile before the switchback climb to the trailhead) it started to rain...then proceeded to storm with thunder and lightning. The trail became a small river, and a pain in the butt to hike against on the way up the switchbacks. But we all made it out safely :) On the drive back to Seligman we hit wave after wave of heavy rain and we started worrying about the rest of our group that was still in the canyon. It turns out they were ordered to evacuate to the Native American village of Supai about 2 miles from the campground, and most ended up getting helicoptered out on Monday (although two in the group risked hiking and made it out safely). Wish I had their stories and pictures to add here...they were pretty dramatic.