Havasupai - Everything you need to know

today we're going to talk about Havasupai now if you don't know what Havasupai is it's a little strange you clicked on this video it is a beautiful Oasis uh destination hike in Arizona it goes down into the Grand Canyon it has this amazing blue gray water and five separate waterfalls lots of people see pictures of these waterfalls and they instantly say I want to go there because of course you do if you love The Outdoor especially I've been down there several times and decided to put this video together to give you as much information as I can from getting the permits where to stay the drive in the parking lot the hike all the waterfalls what to pack everything I could think of to make your visit to this amazing Place easier so that being said they're always changing things before I sat down to record this video I got an email from the tribe saying that they were introducing a new Lottery system I'll put a link to the tribe website in the description of the video make sure you go check that out there are also a bunch of have a supi related Facebook groups they are good resources for latest conditions and any changes might occur so that being said let's get into it most difficult part about hav supi is getting permits their permit system they go up on February 1st at 8:00 a.m. Arizona time by the way Arizona does not practice daylight savings make sure you know what time 8:00 a.m. Arizona time is before you go in there similarly you want to go into the website before February 1st set up your account get your password familiarize yourself with the website so that you know what you're looking at you do not want to go in there at 7:59 and start trying to set things up because there's no way you're going to get it set up and figure out where to go to get permits in time before they're all sold out the hiking season is 21 through the end of November they're closed December 1st to the end of January and when those permits go up I've seen them sell out in like 30 or 45 minutes for the whole year so you're going to have to be really fast you're going to have to be extremely flexible on your dates and you're going to have to have a little bit of luck to get them on February 1st when they go up other helpful things to have have your credit card ready have your driver's license ready have your car make model license plate have all that information there and ready because you can actually get the permits in the cart go to start filling stuff out and then realize oh I got to run out to the garage and get my license plate and then you come back in and somebody else has already got your spot be prepared back when I first got permits you had to call up it would just ring and ring and ring and I I don't need to get into that whole frustration because you don't have to deal with that now but I did try one year on the online and the website constantly crashed when I'd finally get through and find permits by the time I got entered it would either crash again or somebody would have them purchased so I've not been successful getting permits on the opening sale date for the full full year which leads me to one of my first tips which is check the page for cancellations obviously go in on the launch try and get the permits but if you don't win them then you can go in 8:00 a.m. every single day and they will put can cancellations on there and you can grab them there I was actually able to get three separate permits for 2023 by using the cancellation process it would take me several days and and when I was going for a specific time period few weeks but I was able to get what I wanted three times for the year that's probably going to be your best bet I mean people are catching on to it some idiots making a video about it and posting on YouTube so the word is going to get out but cancellations are your friend if you don't get it on February 1st don't give up hope just keep trying one of the things that I see online all the time it's kind of amusing is people are like hey I'm going to be in Arizona in a week and I want to go down to have a supy on Friday that's not going to happen you need to plan this well in advance and be very flexible on your dates you have your target dates that you want but ultimately you get the permits that you're able to get and then you just have to kind of roll with it they used to let you go for up to one night all the way up to I think 5 now it is 4 days three nights that's it no more no less that's all you can get you can leave early but you're going to pay for the fulltime when I went 2023 the cost was 355 a person for those 4 days in 2024 it is now already they've announced it's going up to 455 I know that's a lot lot of money but it is absolutely the definition of a bucket list location and I am just happy they're gracious enough to allow us to go visit what else about permits the limit is 12 and as far as cancellations I made the mistake of buying permits that I couldn't use they've fully refunded my money I forget how long it took but it didn't take very long pretty easy process that's how the permits get back on the cancellation I've seen some people say that they were able to transfer but formally on the website it says you cannot I've never had to myself so I wouldn't count on that they do allow you when you go in and set up your account to put an alternate party leader definitely recommend you do this and put some thought into who that person is going to be because they say that you have to have the party leader there to pick up the permits say you get sick say you have something happen in your life that you can't go and you have 10 of your friends that are going to go down there if if you don't have somebody listed as the alternate party leader according to their website you can't get your permits they list a phone number you can look up online I don't recommend you rely on that I think you would be lucky if you could get somebody on the phone they do give a help email that's listed on the website you can try that I haven't had to so I don't know how helpful or how responsive they are but you can do that if you have issues this is not like the Hilton where you get to leave a bad review on Yelp this is a village halfway down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon it does ask for the makeing model of your car like I said and license plate number I don't know how many vehicles are allowed to park in the parking lot if you get 12 permits under one person you're probably not all driving together so they probably let more than one go try and carpool as much as possible so you limit the amount that you need there and then ask when you pick up your permits what you do about the other cars and how you can park so ultimately you get your permit they will send an email with a bunch of instructions there's a lot of information they give you there and it's going to be really helpful make sure you read everything they send you permits that I just covered that is where the campsite that's when you bring in your tent you're backpacking it but when you go down you pass through the village and there is a lodge there that you can stay at as well the permits go up on February 1st just like the camping permits on the website it's another 4day three night stay and the cost is $2,277 per room sleeps four people so $ 500ish Dollar a piece if you're going to go solo I would not recommend the room that's going to be an expensive stay but um The Lodge is an option and you want to check again with everything else here the rules can change currently it's a 2 to5 p.m. check in and an 11:00 a.m. check out another thing that I've always wanted wondered about with the hotel is it is 2 miles from the village to the campsite the beginning of the campsite is where the first major waterfall havu Falls is wow so every day that you want to go down and check out the waterfalls in the creek you're going to probably walk about 2 miles at least to get to them and then 2 miles back which also has I want to say 6 to 800 ft of elevation gain so it's all uphill from the campgrounds to the lodge in the village so keep that in mind if you're going down there all right and the last second edition that I just received the notification from the tribe and an email they now are implementing a lottery system now obviously I haven't done this yet because it doesn't even start for a couple more days but what they say on the email is January 5th to January 18th you can enter this lottery for $15 you pick some dates that you want you pick a month that you want to go down there and get permits and you may or may not win the permits you want and you still have to pay the full price once you get selected but it lets you avoid that February 1st crowd if I was going to plan I would absolutely go in spend my $15 see if you get lucky they don't give that $15 back if you don't they don't say how many pre-registered l applications they're taking on January 26th they say they will select the lucky people they don't say how many people are going to get lucky but they will select some people you won the lottery here's your dates here's how much you owe us and then you don't have to worry about February 1st don't know how that's going to go but it's interesting okay so this is obviously a developing situation as I make the video they haven't done the pre-sale drawing yet but I've seen people online that are upset because they put down a month that they could go and they're concerned what if I win these dates that I you know I didn't pick of the three primary choices I just get a random date in the middle of the month I can't go so I don't know apparently they're going to charge your card if you win the full amount of the permits I I don't know how it's going to happen I would think you could just go through the normal cancellation process use your alternate party leader maybe pick somebody that's more flexible you could transfer it over to them not sure I wish I could tell you but like I said they haven't done it yet take that into account if you're going to try the pre-sale all right back to the video so once you've Lu out you've got your permits it's coming up to the big day of the hike you have to go pick up the permits at the Grand canion Cavern in now that is a hotel that is run by the tribe that is just just outside of Selman Arizona which is the closest town to the trail head it's older but it it's nice enough we got a room there when we went the last time did the trick and it got you as close as you could be to the trail head you used to be able to sleep in the parking lot they don't allow that anymore what we did and what I highly recommend you do is go in and pick up your permits the day before you're supposed to hike in they're open 6:00 a.m. until 700 p.m. we did get there at like 6:30 they were still open you do not need all your party members there but you need your party leader or your alternate party leader to pick up the permits you get wristbands you get a print out of the paperwork you get tags to put on your tent if you're camping if you have questions you could ask them we just went straight from picking up the permits driving up there after work getting the permits and then going to our hotel room woke up early the next day drove to the trail when we were there it was later we saw what looked like a gas station but it wasn't open when we were there and I don't even know if it is still operational sogman is the next closest place when you leave there make sure that you fill up your tank with gas because there is nothing from Selman and the Grand Canyon Caverns in all the way to the trail head you run out of gas you're out of luck any supplies those are your chances to grab them the Inn did have a small gift shop that had very basic camping supplies I think I saw some propane maybe cup of noodles that sort of thing if you don't want to stay at the Grand Canyon Caverns in I think it's about 20 to 30 miles to Seligman so it's going to add a little bit of time on your drive so the day of the hike you have a 65m drive any car can make this drive it is paved all the way including the trail head parking lot no signal from Grand Canyon Caverns in all the way to the trail head now on your way there there is now as of 2023 checkpoint where they check your wristbands they check your permits I think they would have the right to search through all of your stuff if they wanted remember this is the reservation they have their own rules and regulations and police force so read up because there are a lot of things that you're not allowed to have guns alcohol drugs drones when we went they didn't go through all of our stuff they just checked for our paperwork and let us go I did not see anywhere where they list the hours for the checkpoint and I actually went once last year when it was kind of late at night and they have a trailer there they just put a cone in the middle of the road and nobody came out of the trailer and you're just kind of out of luck you got to turn around and go back the other way and come back at a different time so when you pick up your permit I would ask when they have the checkpoint open so you can continue through to the trail head another thing worth noting is if you are going with a larger group you're going to have to make plans to meet ahead and get all the paperwork to anyone else who's driving up in a separate vehicle or they're not going to let you through well they'll let the people with the permits but they won't let the other people in your party through I did see specifically that they said do not wait at the checkpoint for other people so I would recommend that you meet at the in that's the closest place that has a large parking lot that and is a good Landmark that you can meet used to you could drive all the way to the trail head park in the parking lot no problems and that's back to me saying you should read everything they give you they tell you all that information I had it all I didn't read it I got there and I was you know I was out of luck I had to turn around and go back and wait until I was supposed to go through but you're watching this video so you won't have that problem all right so we get through the checkpoint a little bit further down the road and you are at the parking lot fairly straightforward where you're supposed to park they do have parking for the locals only tribal members and then they have the helipad but it's pretty clear you're not supposed to go over there there is a regular parking lot up right at the trail head and that is always full and overflows to where you park alongside the road further and further away from the trail head I recommend if you're able to don't park next to the cliff if you park against the cliff you do run the risk of rocks fall falling off the cliff I I've seen pictures of people that had a big boulder that came down through their windshield while they were down camping I've seen plenty of evidence of rockfall off of that Cliff that's what insurance is for it hopefully you can get a spot that's not right up against it the other thing I've seen is a lot of people that are concerned about break-ins I have never had any issues with break-ins I've never seen any broken side windows or evidence of break-ins I've heard a few stories but not that many that's just part of leaving a vehicle is it can be damaged it can be broken into can't worry about everything all the time but as far as safe it is as safe as any other parking lot I've left my vehicle there several times for many days and never had a problem I do recommend that you have all the supplies to change a flat tire and to jump a dead battery and maybe some tools for some basic repairs in case something like that happens I I would hate to go down there and then climb all the way out get back to my car be ready to go home and find out my battery was dead or my tire was flat so you know just something to think about now that I've told you not to worry so as far as the hike in it's about 10 mi from the parking lot to the campsite the village is about 2 mi less so about 8 mil to the Village 10 Mi to the campsite around 2400 ft of elevation loss from the trail head to the campsite first thing you see is a bunch of switchbacks I think it drops at least 1,000 ft in the first half mile going in keep that in mind because when you're coming out that's what you got to do right at the end is those switchbacks that are brutal and a lot of people underestimate that you spent the whole 4 days down there hanging out you're tired you're coming out you get to the very end you got to climb that Hill it's a decent hike and I know way too many people that have never backpacked before they see pictures of waterfalls they think it looks beautiful because it does they slap together some backpacking gear and they go don't do that get your gear ahead of time go out find something that you can hike do some overnight camping trips test your gear out if you're brand new to backpacking this is not the place to learn it has helicopters and mules and cafes and stuff that normal backpacking trips don't have but as you'll find out later in the video you can't count on all that stuff you should be able to get yourself in and get yourself out with all of your gear that you need for a 4-day trip go out and practice don't underestimate it way too many people do now along the trail there is not a lot of shade I mean it is in a valley so if you hit it super early in the morning later in the afternoon you can get some shadows and get some shade there's no reliable water source I've seen some puddles down there sometimes and I'll cover this in the weather but Arizona it gets brutally hot out here in the summer one of the biggest risks down there and I think the most trouble that people get in is they don't bring enough water and they underestimate how hot it is practice train take it seriously and be very aware of the weather especially In the Heat of the summer and bring water so no pets are allowed on the trail there's good reason for that they have pack mules that run in and out on that trail for the better part of the day along with that they have dogs that run with the horses and mules they can't have these dogs that are off leash dealing with other dogs they don't want you spooking the animal so no pets allowed and um be wary of mules because you need to step aside they don't wait they go down there they're not all tied together in a chain like if you're at the Grand Canyon they are loose they know the route they do it every day there will be one tribe member that is guiding four five six of these mules and horses and they're just running along doing their Trail they know what they're doing but it's your job to stay out of their way so you see coming step off to the side now I had a little bit of conflicting information on the website I saw where it said the trail was open 24 hours day and then I also said where it said to not hike at night my recommendation is when you pick up your permits find out the earliest you can get through the checkpoint go there then start your hike uh when you're hiking out take into account if you're in the hotter months I left in the dark and and have hiked out because you get to those switch packs you've hiked for 10 miles Sun starts coming up it gets really hot and the cooler months I have been able to go in and actually hike it during the day which was great because it's a beautiful Trail it all kind of depends when you go what works best for your trip your travel plans if you're out of state or something like that I would just plan on going in early you get more time to spend down there on your first day and then hike out when it works out for you so after about 8 Miles and around 2,000 ft of elevation loss you come to Supai vill they don't allow any photography or videography in the village so I don't have any footage to show you here this is where these people live imagine if you had 400 or so tourists come through your home every single day give them their privacy obey their rules stay on the path going through the village it's clearly marked which way you're supposed to go they do have a cafe there they have a general store that you're more than welcome to use the store itself it's got some Basics applies it doesn't have a lot of camping gear or food I did pack a lot lighter on the food when I went down there the last couple of times because I knew that in a pinch I could go to the store I could go to the cafe and I always overpack food if you are at the campgrounds remember again that's 2 miles that you've got to walk each way just to get there so you're going to want to stock up and not make a ton of visits up there it is nice there's not many places that I backpack that you can stop by and get a nice hot fresh cup of coffee while you're hiking in Camp now you can check online for the hours for the cafe in the store right now it says Cafe is 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the store is 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. I wouldn't cut anything close when it comes to office hours down there they even have it on their Navajo taco stand that they make fun of you know we're open at 9:00 unless we're there at 10:00 they're on their own hours they have a helipad that I'll come back to later and there's a Welcome Center the only other thing I can think of at the village is I've had people say you know it's safe it's like any other place that you're not used to it would probably be better if you are with other people if it's after dark I've gone through there a couple of times by myself at night and no issues I don't know that I'd recommend that it's people so be smart about it so after you get through the village you have another 2 miles to get to the campgrounds 4 or 500 ft of elevation loss along the way will pass 50ft Falls which you can't see from the trail little Navajo fall which you can see from the trail and then right before the campground you come up to havu Falls which is I think about 150 ft waterfall amazing it just kind of sets that stage for getting excited getting psyched that hey we're down here this is where we're going to be hanging out Trail drops down the 150 ft to the base of havu Falls and then you're pretty much at the campsite the campsite itself is about a mile long and it starts right around havu Falls and it ends right at the top of Mooney Falls there are campsites they're not designated they're just kind of apparent there's clear areas where you can see somebody's camped it's first come for serve there used to be and there sometimes are bridges that cross the creek so when you're coming in you've got the creek to your right looking down Canyon most of the campsites at the beginning are on that side of the creek you get further down if you keep an eye open and there will be campsites on the other side I've camped on the other side of the creek before but it kind of occurred to me after that that it flash floods down there sometimes I don't know what you do if you're on the other side of the creek and it flashes I don't even know if that whole area gets underwater so if you're worried about flash floods and stuff you might want to stay on the other side of the creek so when you first get to the campsite maybe 1 200 yd in if you're looking down Canyon there will be a spring on your left there's signage pointing out where it is that is the only source of water in the entire hike reliable water you don't want to drink out of the creek there's a ton of minerals that makes it that bluish green color so you you want to drink from the spring it's coming right out of the rock it's probably all filtered personally I would recommend that you bring some type of filtration system it's just better to be safe than sorry you don't want to get sick while you're down there in the bottom of the Grand Canyon there are composting toilets down there that you can use I know that there's some at the beginning of the campground and there's some towards the end I can't remember if there's some in the middle the main thing to know about the toilets is they're there they're gross and bring your own toilet paper you're lucky you have toilets down there most of the time when you backpack you got to dig a hole and don't Camp too close to them either because they smell I've seen a lot of comments and questions asking if there are trees that you can hammock Camp there absolutely are see plenty of people camping in hammocks I've brought some just to hang out in the day it's great so cam camping it's no problem they have picnic tables and they have buckets with lids on them that you could store food in it flash floods so those picnic tables get washed away all the buckets that I'd seen before the last time I was down there they were all gone they all got washed away and the time before when I was there people just filled them up with trash I think the intention of the tribe was hey you can store your food in here but then people abused that they probably just washed away and the tribe was like I'm not going to put them back cuz I'm not the garbage man down here they also have bridges that go across the creek one time I was down there they were all intact and the next time they were all gone it changes all the time all it takes is one flash flood and it's all Downstream down at the bottom of the Colorado I've always brought camping chairs and hammock and just kind of PL and to not have anything no amenities tables that sort of thing maybe you'll luck out most of the time I have but don't count on it going back to the buckets when I went there back in like 2017 the squirrels were man they were like on steroids like those things were getting into everything people were hanging their packs not hanging them high enough the squirrels were jumping from hammocks and trees onto the packs and the packs are swinging as the squirrels getting into them getting them food I didn't see any really I think I saw one the the last two times I went there are Critters down there it is camping I would recommend at the very least bring a good bit of rope or twine or what's the word I'm looking for I'm just going to stick with rope cuz that's what I can think of you then hang your bag with your food I wouldn't put it in the tent I wouldn't put it in my backpack because you run the risk of a critter chewing through your expensive backpack or your tent and getting to it obviously a bare canister is going to work bare bag would probably work very well but those things are heavy and bulky I just took a trash bag tied a rope around it threw a rock over a tree branch pulled it up real high got it out of the way and uh didn't have any problems at night they have quiet hours you want to be respectful of your neighbors they're trying to enjoy it everybody does seem to turn in early there's no Wi-fi down there no signal although I did notice up at the top of havu Falls which is not that far away from the campground I could get some limited signal and I could send some texts out so you can pretty much count on it in the village you may get lucky in some spots between the village and the campground to get signal but none whatsoever in the campgrounds or Downstream from it so there's no campfires allowed in the campground I have seen people bring these portable campfires radiate portable campfire other than that it says check in at the camp ground is 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every time I've gone down there nobody checks you in you don't have to check in with anybody you've already got your permit you already got your tag for your tent go in find a spot set up camp you're good to go they will come around and check on your campsite sometimes to make sure you got that tag on your tent so make sure you do that can't think of much else about the campgrounds one one good tip though is if you go down there and you get a spot and you don't love it people are always leaving and coming in so you can keep an eye open and a better sight may open up while you're down there so you spend the first night in one spot you don't like you see a spot that's great that just open up move your sight get a better place okay so we can finally talk some waterfalls now there are five main waterfalls down in have a Supai I'm going to go from Upstream to Downstream so the first waterfall is 50 foot falls and it is 50t tall Now 50 ft as I said earlier is the first one closest to the village and you can't see it from the trail it's a little bit difficult to find I'll put coordinates to it in the description there's a trail that comes out off of the trail that goes from the village to the campgrounds and if you go down that and you kind of look to your right Downstream that will get you towards Little Navajo Falls if you look upstream and go left that will take you up to 50ft Falls both of those waterfalls are the least visited there personally I really like 50ft Falls that was one of my favorite ones so anyway it's going to change a lot the trail to both of these because they're down in the canyon and when it floods it changes everything down there so it changes the hikes and the trails to them last time I was down at 50ft Falls I came up and the trail looked like it went into the creek I didn't want to get my feet wet so I continued on on what looked like a trail on the side of the creek and that was a bad decision cross through the stream and you'll go through do a little bit of bushwhacking because it's not a well-maintained trail it it's not signed there's nothing that really tells you where it is eventually if you're persistent you'll find 50ft Falls definitely worth checking out now right around the same area just shortly Downstream from 50t is little Navajo you can see that one from the trail between the village and the campground so it's a lot more apparent the trail to get there though first couple of times I went it was closed because of flash flooding and washed it away last time I went it was very Steep and loose in some sections nothing to be worried about but it's just little bit more adventurous to get to in my opinion they're both worth it so put coordinates for both of them in the description go check those out now havu Falls it's it's impossible to miss it is kind of the big wow moment that first thing that you really see that tells you that you're in the land of these Blu gray Waters and waterfalls pretty self-explanatory now a couple of things I do want to point out about havu Falls outside of just being the easiest to access and therefore probably the most popular waterfall down there it still is not super crowded so it's a great option to hang out when you want to relax and have some downtime it's also a great spot for night photography so if you want to go down there and get a good photo of mky way or something over the waterfalls this is the waterfall to do it in another thing I noticed the last time I was down there is if you're looking at the waterfall on your right tight up against The Cliff face that has the ramp that you came down to come in there's a path that you can go around and through this tunnel and come out the other side and see see havit Falls I just thought it was really neat and I haven't seen anybody with video or anything and and like I said I've been down there several times and checked out those that fall for hours and never noticed it before but now you know where it is further Downstream from havu Falls at the end of the campgrounds there is a 200t cliff which is where Mooney Falls is Mooney Falls is my favorite waterfall down there just because it's the most impressive and the hike the bottom of it is the most adventurous portion of the trail starts off innocently enough but very soon the trail have some exposure and I've seen people firsthand get a little turned around personally I've gone the wrong way for a little bit so when you're going down Mooney at the beginning go slow make sure that you're not cliffing yourself out and getting off the trail and if you take your time and just hang out and look and pay attention you won't have any problems with wave finding when you come down to one point where the first cave is that you have to go through that's where I've seen people get confused because it doesn't look like there's anywhere you can go but there's this really cool cave that you get to go through then there's this section with a great reveal of Mooney and then another section of cave then you're at the top of the chains now the chains are as sketchy as everybody says they are they are not really super wellmaintained and there's ladders in some section I've been down there when the ladders were not tied off I've grabbed on to pieces of the chain that were loose you really want to test things as you grab them and climb down don't just blindly trust it because this is not like something like OSHA is down there inspecting these things still I didn't think it was that dangerous I really like that kind of stuff I actually really enjoyed the climb be smart about it try to maintain the three points of contact gloves really help because the chains are are all wet with spray from the waterfall and along the same lines we got down there and we're behind someone we were kind of stuck in that mist and it was later in the year and it was cold I also had my nice camera with me which I knew that this was going to happen so I had taken it off put it in my backpack put it in a dry bag to keep it dry but uh a rain jacket or something it would be nice at that section depending on the time of year if it's cold but just know that you could get on that portion and get stuck there for a little while while you're waiting for people to come up or go down and get everything soaked so just another obstacle to deal with anyway once you get to the bottom check out Mooney Falls it's amazing there is a rope swing that is generally hanging from the tree just Downstream from Mooney Falls so there's that place you can check out once you're done at Mooney it's time to head on Downstream to the last waterfall Beaver Falls so to get to Beaver Falls the trail picks up pretty much at the base of the ladders when you climb down to Mooney you don't cross the stream stay on the same side at the beginning it's kind of worn and there's not a clear Trail but 50 yards or so you get down there you'll see the trail alongside the stream it does Branch off in several locations at the beginning people have wandered down to the creek keep an eye out for other people have it marked on your GPS it's really not that hard to find I mean it's it's Canyon walking it's really tough to accidentally walk out of the canyon I think it's about 3 Mi One Way negligible elevation change there are a couple of stream Crossings but nothing that really gets up maybe to your waist there are a couple of sections where you have ladders you have steps you've got to deal with but if you made it down Mooney you're not going to Blink at these it's not a big deal and it's just a beautiful hike there are sections where there's vins that it looks like Jurassic Park is what everybody says and also seen a lot of big horn sheep down there the last few times that I went after about 2 or 3 miles from the base of Mooney Falls you will see a sign for Beaver Falls you'll see the falls down on your left looking down Canyon more ladders to get down to the base it's worth getting into the water and swimming down here for sure there is a portion of the waterfall that you can get up underneath there's a little cave there it's really cool to go into and then if you're looking up Canyon at the waterfall on your right I've seen some steps and handlines that people go up and they don't allow cliff diving but this is more like 5T 10 ft up above the water I think people jump in from there personally have not done that but it's worth keeping an eye out for if you want to spend the day hang out and be a little more adventurous so the last hike I want to talk about is the Confluence and the Confluence is where where Havasu Creek meets the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon it is an amazing hike it's beautiful but it is a serious hike it's about 8 to 9 miles each way from the base of Mooney down to the Confluence my GPS said it was about 2,000 ft of elevation loss and it's an adventure all to itself I have a video that explains that hike in detail that I'll put a link in the description you can check that out if you want to do it I feel like the best way to do it is to go day one hike in hang out check out the Falls day two or day three do the Confluence probably day two so you've got time to relax and rest up before you have to hike out but that hike beautiful get to see the bottom of the Grand Canyon it actually at the base just after the base of Mooney Falls it changes from have a suit by reservation into the Grand Canyon National Park no additional permits needed to do the hike if you have the time and you have the way finding skills and the experience hiking go for it but it is a step above in Wilderness experience from the rest of hav Supai so that's it for the permits the hike the campgrounds get into some other things as far as food goes Cafe the store those are in town if you're at the campground they are about 2 mies each way so a 4 mile walk to go get food from there it's not really practical there is a Navajo taco stand that used to be down by the campground last couple of times I was there it was at the top of havu Falls their Navajo tacos are phenomenal especially when you're out in a backpacking Wilderness experience you're not expecting that kind of hot meal it's great if they're open every single time I'm here the Fred bread stand is closed personally I just bring regular backpacking food dehydrated meals I have my stove propane that I can heat those up rehydrate them I like to bring the supplies to be self-sufficient just in case but it's really up to you and what works best for you I'm going to go on a little rant here because this really bothers me it says all over on the science down there on the website pack it in pack it out leave no Trace just because there are people living down there they're not your Maids they're not the trash men everything you bring in bring it out that includes like throwing it away in the village there are no roads going into subai Village you can walk in take a horse in you take a helicopter that's the only way you can get there so the trash that has to come out you figure 400 people every day dropping off trash in the village the expense and the trouble to clean that up is enormous so pack everything out it is just out of hand down there and I've heard people with these defenses that it's like well look at the Village they're not super clean and that's their place they can do what they want that's not an excuse the other thing I saw is there are a lot of supplies we say supplies the people they say they're leaving them behind for others to use ton of propane gloves at the top of Mooney Falls and people argue they're like well I use those gloves no they clearly state it in the rules that you're not supposed to leave anything there if you don't want to respect the people who live there and abide by their rules and be thankful that they let you go then I would put it this way don't go into the Wilderness expecting things to be there for you you're going to get yourself in trouble say you go down there and you don't bring any propane and you bring nothing but dehydrated meals because you heard there's a bunch of propane canisters on a picnic table what happens if you get down there the day that they decided to clean them all up Wilderness experience is about self-sufficiency it's not an excuse that I'm helping others out with this Clearly say it it's their land pack it in pack it out okay I'm done to rant over now as far as Horses and mules I haven't used them you can spend I think it's $400 in 2024 round trip $200 each way that you can book a mule to bring your packs in you have to rent one mule completely it will fit up to four packs they give very specific rules and on the size and the weight to keep it to where it's manageable for the mules and the horses to carry it's kind of restricting and you're kind of at the mercy of their schedule like they have a drop off at the top of the trail head if you want to drop your pack and hike in you're just going to have to trust that it's going to be fine and nobody's going to mess with it and then you're going to have to figure out where they're dropping it off it used to be down by the campsite but because flash floods had washed out the bridge Bridge they could not get the horses and the mules down to that spot so they stopped Upstream of where that bridge was so if you're going to get that service to get in or get out just make sure that you read up on the latest conditions so you know exactly what's going on with that they are very clear that you need to drop off at a certain time and if you miss that time you've missed your opportunity so read up on everything say you go down there and you're just beat up and you're like I don't think I can carry this out I need help I want to reserve a mule to carry my my pack out I didn't see where it said that you could do that but I have seen online where people say that they have done that if you are in that situation where you get down there and you realize you B off more than you could chew and you want some help getting your pack out stop by the Welcome Center and ask them cuz they're going to know I will also add that I've never seen anyone except tribe members riding horses I don't think you can reserve a horse or a mule to actually ride down r out hey man want to give me a ride out of [Music] here they also have a helicopter service I've never taken the helicopter in but you can reserve it if you Google have a supi helicopter it will give you information a phone number and I believe a website for air West that is the airline that runs the helicopters I would recommend if you want to reserve a helicopter going in look online call that number and ask them how you can set that up but I have taken a helicopter out and it is tricky they're only flying on certain days and the days have changed when I was down there again this is something that you want to search the latest and greatest right now it's I believe Sunday Monday Thursday and Friday starting at 9:00 a.m. that could be different it was different for me in the past what has remained constant is the helicopters are a first come for serve basis if you want to get out so you go down there you can't reserve you can't put your name on the list what I've always done is you go wait at the helipad I have gone down there and people have told me to wait somewhere else that devolved into chaos every time well all two times that I've gotten the helicopter I waited right by there was a little Podium that is by the helipad helipad straight across from the clinic it's just a concrete square in the middle of a field when you walk into the village you can't really miss it eventually someone will come out the last time I was there they came out and he started it was chaos the helicopter comes in the guy starts yelling cash cash cash who's up who's up we were first in line we basically just threw money at him and just walked towards the helicopter we'd been talking to the people behind us and trying to work out a plan cuz some of them had cash some of them had credit cards and figure out some Logistics of how we could help each other out but when it came time to get on the helicopter that guy yelled they said drop your bag we dropped our bags didn't know when they were coming up to the top with us they didn't get on the same helicopter as us but uh we were lucky to get on the the first helicopter it was $100 per person including your backpack 15 minutes we flew and we were out of the Grand Canyon back at the parking lot I've gotten some grief from people from the videos of those trips that say you know why are you taking a helicopter the hike out's not so bad and it's fine I've done the I've done the hike out before but for $1 to ride a helicopter out of the Grand Canyon that's just awesome that's a great deal and it's a lot of fun but you can't count on it the time before last where we ended up waiting in the wrong spot people got out of line they started pushing I just didn't like that scene so even though I'd waited for like 4 hours for the helicopter I just picked up my backpack and hiked out if you can catch it great but if you miss it you're going to be walking and you better be able to couple other things about it is tribal members go first you can get there at 4:00 a.m. get in line sit there for 5 hours till 9:00 about 5 minutes before they show up 20 members of the tribe walk up those 20 people are going to fly in and out before you get to get on the helicopter and you just wait eventually the helicopter just stops running and if you're in line and there were too many things coming into or going out of the village for you know supplies that's the way they get all their supplies for the entire Village too many other hikers in front of you you're out of luck you're walking helicopter's great I do highly recommend it bring cash and be able to walk out if you have to getting into wayfinding it's really straightforward personally I use guia on my iPhone that's an app even though it's on your iPhone it works off a satellite get some type of satellite GPS get familiar with it know how to use it if you're worried about way finding as far as gear goes I'm not going to go through the whole load out I'll go through some things that are specific for have a supy that are helpful there are plenty of other resources that it will tell you what kind of gear you want for a backpacking trip the one thing I do want to say is don't buy a bunch of new gear and the first thing you do is have a sup bu with it if you're not familiar with backpacking go out find something local that's short and easy to do practice spend the night with your gear test it out tweak it and have your kit dialed in you want to make sure you bring cash they do take cards at even down at the uh taco stand again the helicopter I needed cash for that it's nice to have you never know when the Wi-Fi or the internet may be down there this is the Grand Canyon so I think it's uh like 10° for every th000 ft you go down it gets 10° hotter something like that but it can be cold up top and it can be hot down at Camp bring lots of layers look up the weather up at the rim and look up the weather down in the village for when you're there but just come prepared for pretty wide temperature swings and then the last thing that I think most people get caught up on are water shoes now I've gone down there with regular hiking shoes and water shoes before but what I've kind of come to do over the years is I will have breathable Trail Runners I have Ultra Olympus that I really like non-waterproof hiking shoes or hiking boots don't have a ton of padding and have like lighter fabric that can dry out I'll put on wool socks my hiking shoes and I will just walk right through the walk I'll bring a pair of flipflops or you can bring Crocs or something you know light for a camp shoe when you get back to camp at the end of going down and swimming and hanging out in the waterfalls all day take off your socks take off your shoes set them out to dry and then put on your Camp shoes generally if you have the the breathable type of shoe it will dry overnight if you really want to take the water shoes you do get in the water plenty buddy mine takes Crocs he swears on them and you can use those as water shoes so as far as weather goes it snows up there in the winter time the water is Springfed it obviously starts picking up the ambient temperature the further Downstream you are from the spring and it doesn't freeze over but it can be very cold in the winter you can't have a campfire so you're going to have to have gear that will keep you warm without an external heat Source in the summer time that is more of the concern that it is just hot like it can get to be 110 120° down there even at Camp you'll just be sitting there if you're in August or July and it's just going to be brutally hot the hike out and the hike in even but more so the hike out where you've got all the elevation gain can be fatal so you need to plan accordingly if you're going in the summer months outside of that you have monsoon season which later summer earlier fall out here in Arizona the monsoons roll in typically in the afternoon but can at any time and can produce flash flooding like I said before ideally you would go like April May or late September to early November but again permits are hard to get so you're going to probably go when you can get the permit not necessarily your ideal time of year as far as animals go I've seen snakes I've seen tarantulas I've seen big horn sheep I've seen squirrels got raccoons down there that's about it even the big horn sheep just walked right up the trail next to me they're wild animals don't feed them don't pester them stay out of their way be smart about it but don't be afraid I mean there's not a big danger from animals down there main danger is a squirrel eating through your tent I do want to take some time and go through some typical questions that have seen online a lot here we go number one can I bring my kids I don't know your kids I'm going to probably be a little snarky on some of these but you know really people ask this all the time and the answer is can your kids do this hike you you know your kids better than anybody this is a major hike it is not a walk in the park it's not easy I've seen people down there with everything from Toddlers to teenagers some of them were having a miserable time and some of them were having a blast it all depends on your kids can they walk 10 miles with a pack and gain 2600 ft or 2500 ft of elevation and enjoy it if the answer is yes bring your kids next question can I bring a suitcase yes you can I have seen suitcases down there people rolling the rolling suitcases through the dirt down at the campground I do not advise it I'm assuming that they brought those in on the mules and didn't carry them themselves or with the helicopter keep in mind where you are in relation to where your bag is going to be picked up and dropped off if you're at the lodge it may make a lot more sense if you're down at the campground and and you bring a roll suitcase that you think you're going to drag down there if the bridge is washed out now you've got to drag that thing up to a mile and a half with 4 500 ft of elevation loss and gain I wouldn't recommend it but it's possible someone like me will be making fun of you if you're rolling a suitcase through the campground though uh another question I see a lot is how do you train the best way to train is to get your backpacking gear put it in your backpack and Go backpack something that is similar in length and elevation change barring that put on your backpack go out and Hike something that's shorter go to the gym climb stairs walk around your block do something I do not recommend drinking beer all the way up till the night before and laying on the couch for 5 years and never exercising I have seen people do it they did not look happy the best training for backpacking and Hiking is to backpack and Hike can I make it down the climb to Mooney all all depends on your personal abilities no point in going down there and making yourself terrified but I do recommend you try it to see if you can make it because it's worth it I would feel ripped off if I went down there and didn't see all the way down to at least Beaver Falls but if you can't do it you can't do it don't get too far out of your comfort zone be safe but give it a try what pack what shoes What tent what etc etc gear should I get there's not a real good answer on that because it all depends on you personally the one that really gets me is shoes people say what shoes should I get everybody's foot is different I can't stand merils they're too narrow for my foot I love Ultra I like ke because they have a wide tool box but they give me blisters I do recommend if you have an REI that's nearby or some similar type of Outfitters go into the store touch the stuff grab it wear it try it out see what seems to work right for you and go from there when I started backpacking I went out I bought a bunch of really cheap gear I had a bunch of really old gear cobbled together this Frankenstein backpacking kit went out and backpacked immediately was like I need to replace the backpack I need to replace the shoes and then I just kind of tested and adjusted from there some of the cheap and old gear that I had I kept for years some of it I replaced a immediately but if you run out take some stranger advice on the internet like myself I say you need to get Ultra Olympus if you got narrow feet you go try them on you're going to say I hate these things so it's going to depend on you there are Gear review channels out there that you can watch as well just don't wait till the last minute look into it and make sure that you've got everything you need H how are the bugs personally I haven't had any issues with them down there don't hold me to that now there I don't know there could be some weird plague of bugs that come down while you're there myself I haven't had any issues oh I love this one can I stand up paddle board in the narrows at the Confluence probably seen that picture of that person paddle boarding down the Narrows I will tell you right now the Narrows of the Confluence are about 50 yard long and then they dump directly into the Colorado River it is not a paddle boarding destination it's a cool picture if you really want it you're going to have to carry that stand up paddle board or that kayak or whatever you want for probably 40 miles you really got to want that picture I do not recommend it I hear the tribe members hate tourists I'm sure some of them do I mean this is not Disneyland where everybody's an employee of the have a Supai backpacking experience people live here and they probably don't want anything to do with 400 strangers a day walking through their home I've never had any of them be mean to me I've never had any of them be rude to me but there have been some times where they made it clear that it's like they just want to go about their business they don't want to be bothered by all of us my advice there is don't worry about it be respectful it's their land and when you're going through the village especially that's their home be respectful and you'll be fine do I have to share campsites there are lots of areas that are wider and more open and can accommodate multiple tents it gets crowded you're going to have neighbors but I have been able to find sort of SE Ed campsites where we had privacy and you could see tints off to the side but nobody was right next to you so it all depends on what you want to do if you want to get to know your neighbors and hang out make a bunch of friends spots for that if you want to be left alone there's spots for that too should I bring neoprene I wouldn't you don't want to swim in neoprene I mean it's not snorkeling so it's not worth the extra weight don't bring it maybe neoprene socks if it's really cold for the stream Crossings but that that would be it should I bring my camera this sounds like a joke but it's not I made the Confluence video because I just gotten a brand new camera and I wanted to take it down there and I couldn't find anything that said do I have to swim to get there so I was worried about ruining my camera and if you're going to do a bunch of swimming you're going to go all the way down to the Confluence stuff like that you need to seriously think about okay what am I going to do to protect my camera I bought a waterproof camera bag but you also have to think if you want to go hang out and swim at the base of the falls all day where's your camera going to be because you're around 399 strangers and there is no way I would have left my Cannon sitting in my tent or unattended I had that thing on my person at all times I would think of it more from that standpoint than anything of uh what am I going to do to keep it secure that does remind me in one thing a lot of people ask should I bring a day pack what kind of day pack should I bring and is it's very helpful for reasons just like that or if you want a Day hike to Beaver Falls and spend most of the day you want to bring your snacks and water you got something to carry the stuff there most of my backpacks actually have a day pack that's inside them either the brain on the backpack or they're down at the the water reservoir so if your backpack has one of those that's great if not you should probably bring something light that you can bring things around in last question I'm flying in and can't bring propane is there somewhere I can buy it Selman probably has it I saw it at the Grand Canyon Cavern in little shop off to the side of reception I don't remember seeing it in the store down in the village and worst case there were a ton sitting there spare that people didn't want to carry out but again you can't count on that I think between the Inn Seligman and the the shop down in the village you'll be fine that's it that is guide to have a supie if you have any other questions something that I missed leave a comment down below and I'll try and answer it and hopefully you found this video helpful that's all I got

Channel: Jerry Arizona

Views: 43,917

Keywords:

Id: 3Arwr0EWDFE

Length: 59min 3sec (3543 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 17 2024