[warning! amy says this post is way too long. so if you aren't interested in what i have to say about our vacation then please feel free to skip down and just look at the pretty pictures (taken unfortunately on a disposable fuji camera).]
amy and i have been trying for a 'big vacation' since medical school started. yet kids and schedules have not permitted exotic planning. two summers ago, our trip to russia ended up as a work/play trip that was a once in a lifetime trip with many poignant memories (thank you matt and angela for watching michael). our time with jonny, mom and dad will never be forgotten and always fondly remembered (we nearly named the twins olga and svetlana because of that trip:) however, russia is not a relaxing place (sorry jonny), and thus our quest continued. i was hoping for some tropical cruise to mexico, but our checkbook balked at this idea.
during medical school, a good friend of ours--devan griner--took several trips to a place he raved about. he talked about a tropical paradise in the desert. with the fresh sting of a cruise unrealized in my mind, i turned to the next best (even better?) thing. a tropical stop among the redrocks of the grand canyon.
and so we began our planning. we got online in january and the website run by the havasupai indian tribe mentioned april and may prime tourist months (june too hot. july and august with monsoons and flash floods). i jumped at the advice and scheduled vacation during april. my mother dearest graciously offered to take our kiddos and the trip was on.
after lots of planning, purchases and borrowing of camping equipment (thank you brian for outfitting us) the trip was upon us. the night before we left, ben sill called (another good friend from med school) and mentioned that we ought to go later in the year when the weather is hotter. we shrugged our shoulders realizing that he was probably right, but the die had been cast.
mom picked up the kiddos in st george with judy. our reunion with mom was one of the highlights of the trip for me. the kids were all so happy to see her as was i.
amy and i drove the 6 hours to peach springs that night, stayed in the hotel run by the havasupai indians (complete with native bird dancers) and drove an hour to the trailhead the next morning. there were some nerves before we started as i had never carried the amount of weight i had in my pack and amy had never hiked this far (let alone with the amount of weight she was carrying in her pack). however, from the smiles on our faces below you can see that the hike down was a good time for us. we were able to talk, avoid blisters and enjoy the increasingly beautiful redrock views.
we stopped in the village of havasupai on the way to the campground. much of what we had been told about the village was true. there is a post-office, grocery store, and cafe. however, that sentence does the place undue justice. there is a pack of wild, mangy dogs that terrorize (amy and i aren't dog lovers) yelping, nipping and copulating.
we made the 8 mile hike to the village in good time, sent out a postcard and thought we would enjoy some authentic native american food (ala my father's opinion that you should always sample the local cuisine when vacationing). well, that was a mistake. our 'indian taco' was a can of uncooked beans--bean juice and all--dumped over a greasy, soggy scone with imitation cheese, lettuce and tomato on top. we came away from the village slightly disturbed and hiked the last two miles in search of better things to come.
the falls did not disappoint. each is beautiful in its own way.
the first falls we visited (above and below) is havasu. in addition to the main waterfall, you can see the pools of water with 'minifalls'. these are all over the creek for miles. we took tubes down to topple over these small falls (at devan's suggestion), but it was too cold and we did not give it a try.
below is mooney falls. the furthest down the trail. the drop this falls makes is eye-catching. the decent to the bottom is as well. aj mentioned cliff jumping part-way up this wall, but we didn't have anyone there jumping off this wall to show us the ropes. next time we need to go down with a larger group of daredevils to show us the best places for cheap thrills...
the first disappointment of the trip was when we realized that i had forgotten the tent poles. we took a picture of the contraption we rigged after two hours of searching but it didn't turn out well. we basically ended up in a rock/dirt pile with lots of branches to which we tied the tent.
we swam only once. above you can see amy up on the rocks of navajo falls. any bets on whether she jumped in from there?
we're home now. the trip was great. thank you all who helped make the trip happen. and thank you for reading to the end of a post that was too long for its own good.
here's a poor picture of the tent matty:
