November 11, 2012

Havasupai

We went on our epic adventure to Havasupai in August with Jesse and Alice, Landon and Holly, and ourselves. It was a difficult, but extremely rewarding trip!

Havasupai is at the base of the Grand Canyon, and it took us about 15 hours to drive there. Bryce and I headed out at about 9:00 in the morning to pick up the others, and we didn't arrive at the trail head until midnight. We all got our gear on and were headed out on the long journey.



 It was an extremely hard hike into the reservation. It was mostly downhill, but it was about 11 miles and we were all so tired from the drive. We made it to the reservation to check in when the sun started coming up. Then, after we checked in, we had another 2 or 3 miles to the campground. Once we got to the campground we all set up our tents and slept for as long as we could, but it got too hot to sleep too long. We got camp all set up and then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the water. Havasu Falls was right by our campground so it was a really nice place to hang out and swim.




There were a bunch of small pools you could hang out in, and a few small waterfalls you could jump off. The boys enjoyed climbing up the wall at the base of Havasu Falls and jumping off. It was a little too intense for us girls, but it was fun to watch. That was where we bathed and hung out most of the time. We even played a little game of Bocce Ball with some gords that we found by the campground. Landon and Holly were the winners of the tournament, but it was so much fun.





We hiked down to Mooney Falls and Beaver Falls the second day we were there. The hike to Mooney was pretty short and easy, but we had to climb through a tunnel and down a really sketchy slope with chains to hold on too. It was quite a process, but Mooney Falls was incredible to see. It was a huge waterfall with gorgeous blue water at the bottom. It was one of my favorites that we saw.










Once we got down to Mooney and relaxed for a bit, we headed to Beaver Falls. It was about 3 miles hiking through a river to get there. We had a lot of fun in the water, and we even found some cute little critters along the way. We found one pool that was deep enough to jump into and had fun there. Once we got to Beaver Falls there was a huge group of people jumping off this massive cliff. The boys were brave enough to jump it, and even Holly did it. Alice and I were not stupid enough to try it out. We had a little lunch and then started on the hike back to camp.







The hike back to camp was a little more difficult because we didn't want to walk upstream. We had to wind through the trees and through the water in order to get back. It was really fun to find ourselves in the middle of a field of grapes. It was massive, and we just walked through a trail. We got some fun pictures of us going through it.




 The next day we decided to use our blow up tubes and float down the river. It was really scary at parts where we had to climb down, rather than ride the rapids on our tubes. Landon popped his tube a few times, but was able to patch it up and keep going. We came across a really cool waterfall that you could jump right off the top of. It was the funnest jump we had done so far.






The last day we just hung out at Havasu Falls and the boys went to explore and old mine. It was pretty scary, so I am glad the girls stayed behind. They came back with fun pictures and even a few treasures that they found along the way. 





The animals there were pretty sad looking, but very nice. There were a bunch of wild dogs that would just wander around the campgrounds. They didn't want to be touched, they just wanted to hang out with us. We had some unfortunate luck with the squirrels. They chewed holes in the Nelson's tent and also the Michael's tent. I don't know how Bryce and I lucked out, but they didn't touch ours. The boys got their vengeance by killing the critter and leaving it behind. We also came across an awesome looking snake and even a few taranchulas.


The hike out was a lot easier for us for some reason. I think it was because we were well rested and we headed out right as the sun was going down. We made it to the car in half the time it took us to get there. It was the most difficult hike I have ever done, but we had such a great time it was worth it. We stopped at Denny's and had an amazing breakfast at like 2 in the morning. It was Fantastic! The trip was a success, and we will never forget the amazing adventure at Havasupai.


November 07, 2012

Welcome to the World Baby Norah
















Norah Michele Weinert was born on August 6th at 12:23 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs and measured at 19 inches. Tara was so nice to let me and my mom be there to witness the miracle of birth. It was seriously the absolute coolest thing I have ever seen! Norah is so adorable and perfect, I am one proud Aunt!