The big camera couldn’t make the trip because of the weight, so welcome to the FIRST FULLY IPHONE BLOG!

The hike to Havasupai in Arizona is one I’ve wanted to do for a while. I was taking off a month from work (a luxury of freelancing) and figured that rather than waiting for the stars to align for someone else to go with, I’d just go by myself during that free month. So I planned the whole thing pretty last second. While I have camped before with friends who knew what they were doing, I’ve never led the charge myself, much less done it alone. So I went to REI and just asked a bunch of questions, bought some stuff, watched a couple YouTube videos and just went.

The whole process of getting there leading up to the start of the hike honestly sucked and made me wonder what the heck I was doing there. I flew into Vegas and drove about 3 hours to Arizona to a little motel in the middle of nowhere. This motel is where you checked in with the tribe for the hike. My timing must have been weird because I didn’t really see anyone else there, which was spooky. That night I prepped my backpacking bag and realized it was WAY too heavy once the water was in there, so had to take out any little thing that was not essential and leave it in the car. My bag still ended up being close to 30lbs I would guess, which felt like a bag of concrete. One of the drawbacks of going alone is that you can’t split carrying gear that you both could share, you gotta carry it all. This meant I had to leave my big camera in the car, which made me sad, but deep down I was relieved and ended up not regretting it.

The morning of the hike I woke up at around 2:30am and drove to the trailhead. This was the eeriest part of the whole experience. You have to drive down this country road that is about 1.5 hrs in the dark with tons of wildlife constantly darting out in the road. For an hour I saw two cars, but out of nowhere there were 6 cars right behind me when I was pulling up to the trailhead parking lot. I was anxious about finding a parking spot close enough (you could end up parking a mile away from the trailhead if no spots). I also wanted to find a group to hike along with since I didn’t know what to expect yet. A prayer was answered because I found a spot in the main lot right next to a lovely family who greeted me when I parked and got out of the car. I ended up hiking with them but split maybe 1.5-2 hrs in when it was light out and there were now lots of people on the trail.

The trail itself wasn’t so bad on its own — the challenge is doing it with the super heavy pack for 10 miles up and down switchbacks (2500 feet elevation change). I ended up getting a great campsite pretty close to the front of the campground. While I was there I chilled more than I normally do. I ended up just doing Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls, and walked towards Beaver Falls but never made it all the way there. I was more focused on swimming at the waterfalls or random spots in the creek vs always being on the go. If I went back, I would go to Beaver Falls though. I also enjoyed being around the campsite as you can still go in the creek at some parts. I’m convinced that Havasu Creek and the waterfalls are the greatest natural swimming places ever.

The day I hiked out, I woke up at 12:30am to pack up my tent. I went to the front of the campsite by 1am and sat in the dark with the bats waiting for a group. With zero light pollution, the stars were extraordinary. Around 2am a group passed by and it ended up being the same family from a few days ago! They were the absolute best and I felt so lucky. We ended up getting a little lost in the village a couple times because the trails weren’t totally clear in the dark. With that said, I would NOT recommend doing this hike alone in the dark as it would have been super sketchy ending up down the wrong road alone at that hour.

Overall, it was a glorious adventure and I’m so happy I did it. The thought of going alone was more intimidating than it actually was. I never felt isolated or alone once I started the hike itself, and I never felt unsafe at the campsite. The hiking community is the best and I met lots of real nice, like-minded people every day. If I went back though, I’d probably rather go with someone. I usually am sad to leave places and want to linger, but this time I was so preoccupied with finding a group to hike out with that I wasn’t thinking about relaxing more. In the summer, you have to leave ass early to hike out because getting caught in the day’s heat is brutal at best, lethal at worst.

If you do go, remember to leave no trace, this means packing out 100% of the trash you use while there, don’t leave anything behind, don’t take anything from nature, and stay on the trails so you don’t damage the environment. And make sure you pack only what you can confidently carry in and out. I did not use the mules or helicopter but some people did. I personally feel bad for the mules so would not want them to have to carry my stuff. Havasupai is an Indian Reservation so it’s important to be very respectful of the environment and their home – it’s our privilege to visit to witness this beauty, so people should be highly respectful and conscientious.

There are few things like the soft hues of the desert sunrise and sunset. We ended our road trip at a super swanky inn in Tuscon, Arizona and it was undoubtedly one of most incredible places I’ve ever stayed.  I can’t speak enough to the attention to detail in all the spaces, the way they brought the outdoors in and reflected the desert lifestyle in every corner. The property itself was in the middle of the desert, so without really leaving, we could walk around a few little nature trails.  Neither of us are early morning people, but for some reason while we were in the desert, we were both awake and ready to go at sunrise almost daily. This rhythm feels impossible at home but it honestly felt SO good.  So right. There’s something pure about being outside while all the animals wake up as the sun rises and all is calm. We were only about 5 minutes from Saguaro National Park, so we drove through the incredibly scenic Gates Pass many times and took a couple of hikes through the park and saw nobody.  So grateful for this beautiful experience! 

Highlights: Gates Pass, Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Where we stayed (and would stay again): Joshua Tree House (JTH) Tuscon – Agave Suite & Cholla Room

The land of Arizona is truly special. There’s a striking, unconventional beauty about it, especially when shades of desert green dance across the red surface, and jewel-toned water runs through it, reminding the enormous walls what carved their existence. Much more elegant than the obnoxious red clay in North Carolina that stains everything (if ya know ya know). Horseshoe Bend and Sedona were two pretty quick stops on our road trip, but they were incredibly memorable.

Horseshoe Bend is located in Page, Arizona, and was something we quickly stopped at on our drive from Zion to Sedona. We had planned to go to Antelope Canyon which is also in Page, but got rained out, lucky for us though because the rain itself delayed our trip so we would have missed our booking anyway. Lake Powell is also there, so you really could make a full day out of it if you wanted. The Colorado River is what cuts through Horseshoe Bend, and we saw some people kayaking there, which looked really cool.

Sedona was so fun and cute. It’s pretty quaint and swanky having some high end spa resorts. They had some really amazing hikes, and so many of them! We definitely only scratched the surface. It’s definitely a place I could go back to for a long weekend for some hikes, four wheeling, shopping and spa time. Overall when I think back to being in Sedona, I just remember feeling really happy and healthy there. Zam and I felt like we “got in shape” after all the Zion hikes and we were just flying through the hikes all day in Sedona.

An American staple of the wild west, the Grand Canyon! We were in awe as we approached its rim, overcome with the vastness of what was just a fraction of its colossal size. It’s hard to even comprehend how far the other side is, but it’s just about as far away as you can see. What’s even harder to wrap my head around is the magnitude of time and force that it took to form this. Mind-blowing to say the least.

We were only here for a few hours since it was a stopping point on our way to Zion National Park, where we spent most of our time. After walking the rim for a bit, we hiked the South Kaibab trail for about two hours before hitting the road north. This trail was striking and certainly worth experiencing rather than staying up at the rim, which has pretty much the same view from each point. If I went back here, I’d like to maybe do some kind of kayak or white water rafting trip, as that would be super immersive and take many days. Otherwise, for us just seeing it in a day was enough time.