Chapter 7... Havasupai Reservation

The 4th…
After spending a week in Salt Lake City, the time was upon us to head down to the Havasupai Reservation. Mats and Steve had arrived in the city by hitch hiking from Boulder Colorado. While I was packing up my bag she went and picked them up of the side of the road. It was great to once again reunite with mats and finally meet Steve.
When I was in Boulder, while hanging out with Sam and Mats, they spoke of their friend Steve who just got into a critical bike wreck. He supposedly broke his jaw, lost a bunch of teeth and flesh off his lips. So it was nice to finally put a face onto this person they spoke of.
I immediately felt comfortable around Steve and was anxious to get to know him in the Reservation. Kerri arrived and while Sam finished up packing, her roommate Rick went over to his work to get food for us before we departed. We had a feast of 3 pizzas, and 3 sandwiches, and eventually we were ready to get on the road an hour before the 4th of August.
Five backpacks just barely fit in the trunk, and the five of us just barely fit in Sam’s Ford Focus. Packed tight shoulder to shoulder, we were all ready for the supposed 10 hour drive. It took us almost an hour to get out of the city. We all had a slight buzz from the gin and food we consumed before departing. There was a frantic run around the city to get things such as coffee, gas and cigarettes. It felt like hours, but eventually we got on the highway heading south towards Vegas.
From here on out I couldn’t tell you much about the drive. Sam cranked out most of the drive. Her and Kerri took the front seats to blast MIA, Justin Timberlake and Ani Difranco singing at the top of their lungs. It seemed like we stopped often for coffee, gas, and food. After about 7 hours of driving and no sleep from any of us, we went over the pass and saw the bright city of Las Vegas. We refueled and watch the sun rise over the surrounding mountains of Vegas. From there it was the Hoover Dam, and the desolate desert from the dam to where we would arrive 4 hours later at the parking lot before the Res. We did stop once to get booze for our enjoyment.
We were all so anxious to get out of the car. I had now been up for 26 hours, 12 of them spent crammed in a tiny uncomfortable space. I felt incredibly sick, and over exhausted. I stood and stared at the beautiful canyon before me. This is when it clicked that no matter how sick I felt, I was about to hike 10 miles down this canyon carrying a 30 pound backpack, wearing Chaco sandals on my feet. I could have easily vomited over the edge of this 250 foot cliff in front of me, but I held it in.


With our packs strapped tight, and our feet moving down the first section of the decline, we were stopped by the natives. There was a herd of cattle and horses that had to pass down an 8 foot wide switchback we were standing on. It was a mess. The most bizarre intro to Havasupai Reservation we could have asked for. My head was spinning like I were coming down from an acid trip, and here I was staring at two cows barreling down a cliff. They escaped their herd and fell to their death. I was staring at this moment in awe, as one of the cows almost landed on a hiker down the trail. A minute later, there were cows and horses all over the place moving this way and that, blood on the rocks, natives frantically trying to take control of the situation, and all I wanted was to get out of the herd and hike down in safety. Our group sat still while all the madness cleared out, and we were then in the clear to proceed down the steep slope, and into the safety of the canyon.



From here on out I started to feel better. We walked fast, making good time down the canyon. It slowly proceeded from hot, desert climate, to a jungle oasis as we got closer to the springs.
Walking around a turn, we saw the sign for the village. My excitement was quickly shut down as the smell took over. Just to the left of the sign was a burning carcass. A horse that looked like the flames just went out lay there, under the village welcome sign. It was quite the sight. There was a quickening of our pace. It was at first due to our vision of the dead horse, than it quickly evolved into the sound of water. There it was, the beginning of the spring. The first sight of the tropical blue colored water was in front of us. Immediately I removed my sandals, through my pack off and was in the water within seconds. The cold crystal clear water engulfed my new formed blisters. It felt like a new day. We were a mile from the village.
Upon arriving into the village, we stopped at a general store and grabbed a snack and drink. We took a rest as the sun blazed above us. It would be another 2 miles to the campsite, so we decided to finish it up before we all crashed right there on site. I was about to collapse, my feet were starting to bleed, my shoulders felt bruised, and my knees were feeling the 10 mile hike downhill and there it was. The Havasu falls, white water falling 120 feet down to the deepest blue water my eyes have ever seen. It quickly reminded me why pagans are pagan, why activists act, why revolutionaries monkey wrench.



We found a site to camp. It was right on the bed of the river with a small set of falls a dozen yards up stream, and a rope swing a dozen yards down stream. Camp was set up quickly. Now being awake for 30 plus hours, we cooked a huge meal and sipped on our different selection of liqueurs. Needless to say, we had an early night, falling asleep to the sound of the falls as the sun set around the canyon. It was the easiest I had fallen asleep in a very long time.


The 5th…
I awoke early and got started on breakfast. It was the normal routine every morning. Oatmeal was cooked first thing, then a trip to the bathroom, followed by a rope swing into the river to cool off. We all sat and joked around, kicked a hacky sack around, then headed back up trail to the Havasu falls. We spent a few hours kicking around in the water. There were endless things to explore, and endless walls to jump off of. Playing around in the water all day, we quickly got hungry.


Arriving back at camp, it became apparent the amount of squirrels with obvious military training that were present. They didn’t eat much of our food, but it became our mission to get back at them. Steve and Mats set up a few traps. Over in the distance, our neighbors backpack was being ripped open by squirrel. Mats set up a lassoed rope, and waited for the squirrels return. It was close to success. When the squirrel returned, mats pulled tightly on the rope and caught the back legs of the frantic squirrel and had him leashed for a good ten seconds. We all laughed uncontrollably about it for quite sometime.



We cooked up an early meal and started drinking. We played a couple drinking games and quickly caught a buzz. Before we knew it the sun set and it was time for the 5 of us to drunkenly sprawl the narrow canyon. We scrambled up to a ledge just above the Mooney Falls. Turning off our head lamps, our eyes slowly adjusted to what was in front of us. I was still unaware as to what the Mooney falls looked like, having not yet seen it during the day, but the mist of it during the night was a magical sight. We hung out on the warm cliff for a short while until it became aware to us our final destination for the evening. We would cross back through camp, take another swig of our preferred liquor, then hike back up to the Havasu Falls.
Half the party seemed it was so late at night, a nude hike up was appropriate. Mats and I however were certain many people would still be up walking around. Sure enough, with Sam, Kerri and Steve running ahead in the nude people everywhere were reacting in many fashions. Once at the falls, all of us were eventually naked swimming under the stars and falling water. We explored the nearby caves to keep active in the cool nights air. We were sliding all over the place in the mud, and on rocks, all the while laughing and enjoying everything that engulfed our lives in the moment.
Mats and I laid out in the sand, smoked cigs staring at the stars and spoke about traveling and where we would end up. It was here that I still had no idea what I was out looking for, and what my travels were all about. But it was also here that I realized to erase all of that thought, because I had never been happier than when I have nothing but the present. So there we sat, in the moment, watching 3 naked bodies lit up by headlamps exploring the near by cliff side.
We all walked back to camp in the nude. Taking our time as the buzz was no longer taking its effects. We sat by our tents for a bit before retiring in our tents or hammocks. Once again falling asleep to the sound of the falls.

The 6th…
After the normal morning routime, we set out for Mooney falls. The hike down was amaizing, it went through tunnels and had such a steep decline that chains were necessary for the descent. We swam around and played in the water for an hour. My knee started hurting so I stuck around the falls while Mats, Sam and Steve hiked down the canyon for some exploration. Kerri stuck around with me for a good chat. Once again, the thought of my future was on my mind, so we talked about that a bit. Kerri is an amaizing person to talk to. This was the first one on one chat we had together, and it was extremely comforting.





Once the five of us were back together we hiked back to camp, swam some more, and cooked food. With one bag of wine left, we decided to play a game we refer to back home as “smack the tit”. In other words, the 5 of us drank 4 bottles of wine in a half hour and had a dance party in the sand. Sam got out here ipod speakers, and we all danced, wrestled and caused havoc for a while. I can recall at one point we realized it was 3 in the afternoon, and here we were, all buzzed on wine and tequila running around loudly in our campsite. We conversed with scouts, and everybody that passed. With our site right on the trail, it was impossible for people to pass and not know what we were up too. So everybody laughed and passed, or joined in on our party.








I think it started when Sam and I wrestled our way to eventually throwing each other in the river. Then we all rolled around in the sand, and lassoed each other with the rope. Played jump rope. Danced. Sang. Smacked the shit out of each other. Danced more. Wrestled more. Sang louder.
After a while, I couldn’t handle it anymore, I retired before the sun even set. Leaving the other four to run around nude again, and keep going tell it was dark. Another day in the Reservation down.

The 7th…
I awoke trying my hardest to go through the normal routine. My head pounded, and all I could do was sit in one place and watch the river roll by. This is exactly what I did all day it seemed like. There was the occasional movement to cool off in the river or use the restroom, but you wouldn’t catch me outside of the campground.
At one point we got a visitor from the tribe that approached. I’m guessing we were closely related in age. He spoke in a very subtle tone, telling us stories of about travelers he has encountered while growing up on the reservation. We asked a few questions such as the population (800-900), and if anybody has ever jumped off the waterfalls. His answer was very straight forward, “there have been a few, but they didn’t leave without a wheelchair below them, or a body bag around them”. He told stories of a man who was on LSD and believed he could fly, another who lost their step crossing the river just above the falls, or others falling cliff side all falling to their deaths. While talking, he occasionally ripped hits from his pipe telling us how much the locals loved pot, or occasionally pulling out a slingshot and coming damn close to removing the heads of squirrels. He was my favorite part of the day.
The native told us of the peach festival taking place in the village. The whole crew wanted to go check it out, but being hung over and needing serious rest time for my leg injury I took a nap in the hammock. I couldn’t tell you when it started or how it happened, but over the course of a few days my knee continuously worked its way into sheer pain. Every step I took was hell, with the leg injury, the bruises from wrestling with Sam, and the endless blisters that were in every location my Chaco ribbons touched my feet.
I awoke from the hammock as the sun shown over me. The heat forced me into the river. I sat back down after being cooled off and started tacking leaves together with thorns. It was a great relaxation tool, but every time I got up to collect leaves and thorns the pain all came back to me. If it weren’t for the gorgeous atmosphere, I would have been extremely miserable. Leaf upon leaf I pinned them together until the crew came back from the village. They helped me launch the green leaf snake into its disaster. I wanted to see if it could make it over this small fall behind the hammock… needless to say it was a failed attempt.



It was another early night for me. I retired at sunset after a very filling meal. I was glad to be feeling normal again, and that the alcohol was gone. There was one more full day ahead of me, and I would like to feel good for it.
The 8th…
I believe this was the first day everybody woke up together. There was a community breakfast and talk of hiking down to Beaver falls. Beaver falls was a series of falls that was about 3 miles from the campsite, heading towards the Grand Canyon. Although my feet were in just as much pain as my knee, I couldn’t turn this down, and it was my last day, so I had to check this out and explore as much as possible before out departure.
The hike went well. It was an absolutely beautiful trail. We passed by Mooney falls, then while crossing the river a few times, there were endless falls, pools, and tropical plants. Everybody looked really good this day. I can remember watching the folks in our group walk through the flat lands of plants, and thinking to myself how much I loved these new found friends.





Feeling good, I hiked, and then around a turn I see Mats sitting on a boulder looking down. I hopped up on to the boulder and there it was… The series of falls that make up Beaver Falls. The sun was shining down. We were the only people there and so we swam, ate a snack and laid in the sun until it went away and the clouds rolled in.






As the clouds rolled in, so did a few groups of people that were there to see the falls. We decided to head out. The raindrops started to hit and our pace quickened. While we were about to cross the river for the first time on our way back, a helicopter flew over with natives inside. They were holding up a note card sized piece of paper that not one of us could read and were pointing all over the place. We just stood there as the helicopter flew down to what looked like beaver falls then back. This time there was a letter sized piece of paper that said “FLOOD!!!” on it. They were motioning for high ground. So we crossed the river and headed up to high ground.
Awaiting the helicopters return, we all came to the conclusion to keep moving. The rain stopped, the river looked the same so we moved on in a quick pace. My knee was in extreme pain at this point. As we approached low ground and the next section of the river we needed to cross we watched as the tropical blue water was engulfed by a wave of brown water. The river started rising so we ran back to high ground and waited once more. The helicopters passed over several more times over the course of what seemed to be hours. We were impatient. The river rose a couple feet, but no more. We decided once again to finish the hike. We were starved, and knowing how close we camped to the riverbed, we were anxious to see if our shit was flooded. I took my time. Walking in and out of the cold river made my knee weaker and weaker. I limped the next two miles back to camp.


As we arrived back, we noticed that some kind souls moved our tents, tied up our backpacks, and saved our stuff from the flood. It turns out it was the native who we spoke to the previous day, and a few other campers he gathered up to take on the task. We ate in celebration, re-set up our tents, and fell asleep for the last time in the Havasupai reservation.
The 9th…
We woke early and packed everything up. I already knew I wouldn’t be joining our group to hike out. My knee was in pain. We all hiked the 2 miles to the village. Every step of the way it continuously got worse. In the village we ate breakfast together. Eggs, hashbrowns and bacon tasted like heaven. As the rest of the group finished their meal, I went over and paid for a helicopter ride out. They all moved on, and I went and sat waiting for the helicopter to arrive.
The ride over the canyon was beautiful. It was a great finish to the trip. I limped my way through the lot, through the pack off my body, and fell asleep in the back of Sam’s car. I awoke a few hours later to everyone back at the vehicle. Everyone was so anxious to get on the road it didn’t take much to pack up the car.
And there we were, the five of us crammed back in the tiny Ford, heading back to Salt Lake City….