How to Havasupai: Experience and tips

Just a little shameless photography plug before my post: This is Alex. I just LOVE this picture of her and had to share! She was the brave soul that brought her camera and was nice enough to take pictures where ever we went. I have to say her photography is amazing!!!!!!!! I love it! Alex lives up in Utah Valley area so if anyone around there is looking for a photographer I would highly recommend her! I linked her website so you can check out her work:

 alexwrightphotography.com

(Thank you Alex)

I made it out alive!

The hike almost killed me.

Every muscle in my body hurts.

My skin is sunburned.

My toe nails are falling off.

And I don't think I will ever get rid of this dusty feeling.

But I had a blast!

(Thank you Jessica)

Havasupai was easily one of the most beautiful places I have been to! I am not going to lie, I did not take my camera down there so all of these pictures you are seeing were taken by other people in my group. 

(Thank you Alex)

(Thank you Alex)

(Thank you Ashley)

We had such a fun group of people! I loved getting to know all of them! Initially I only knew 4 people in the group. After we all endured the ten mile hike down, packs and all, we sat down around the table and introduced ourselves. After introducing myself, I pointed to my husband, who was a clearing a spot for our tent, and asked "Who is that guy?" We had a short laugh and then joked that I had paid for the deluxe Havasupai package, which provided a mountain man to carry my things, set up your tent, protect you from the wild life and keep you warm at night. Indeed, I had the best mountain man out there and he did his job well! 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting some good old one-on-one time with Mountain Man. I loved hiking and running the trails with him, pushing each other on the ten mile hike to just make it a little further and by far my favorite part was this:

Mountain Man even enjoyed reading the Elizabeth Smart story with me. Most of the time we laid there quietly and read together, but every once in a while I would sneak in the tent and read ahead a chapter or two. I loved seeing the look of disbelief on his face when I confessed I had read ahead. Seriously, that tells you that it's a good book, if this guy wants to read it as much as I do! One of my favorite memories will be the night we tried to turn on our head lamps and read. Light in the night, equals bugs galore!!!!! Finally, we got smart and zipped up our tent to keep any incoming bugs out. But the bugs that were already in the tent would not leave us alone. Desperate times call for desperate measures, people! Anytime a bug landed on the pages of our book while we were reading, I would slam the book shut. Not ideal for keeping your place while reading but between all the giggling and the homemade Venus Fly Trap we smooshed them all and were able to finish our late night reading session, bug free! There is probably a smashed bug on every page between chapters 21-24. What a fun trigger for a good memory!

Now that I have been through the Havasupai experience I have a few tips for those of you who may go in the future.

Here is the packing list my friend pulled from the internet and shared with us all. She got it HERE. There are some other great tips on this site also so go check it out.

CLOTHING Shorts Swim Suit Shirts Long sleeve shirt (one) Hiking Socks (one per day) Flip-flops Hat / Bandana Poncho or large garbage bag (for rain) Water shoes / Tevas / Old sneakers PERSONAL ITEMS Small Soap Deodorant Tooth brush Tooth paste Sunscreen Chapstick Blister-Aids Advil / Pain Killers Vaseline / Baby Powder Camera (Extra battery) Toilet paper 2 Large Zip lock bags (pack out trash) MP3 Player / Earphones Sun Glasses Small/Light Towel

EQUIPMENT & GEAR Backpack Sleeping bag Sleeping mat Pillow Case (put clothes in as pillow) LED Flashlight Spare batteries Camelback w/ Hydration bladder Aluminum pot Spoon Water filter (if you have one) Stove and Fuel (if you have one) FOOD & DRINKS PB & J sandwiches Trail Mix / Nuts / Pistachios MRE’s (“Mountain House” Brand) Candy Muffins Granola bars Gatorade powder Gatorade Grocery bag (food storage)

The other tips I would share with you are:

1. Rent the mule. The mule was a little less than $100 but can fit 3 to 4 packs (about 130lbs) on his back. The hike down was H.A.R.D.! Unless you are some incredible hiker who carries a pack around all the time like Mountain Man (C.J.'s new name) and even he was struggling for the last 2 miles. So rent the mule, you will not regret it!! The hike down took 5 long back-breaking hours. It was so tough, we decided that at the end of the week we would put everything heavy in Mountain Man's pack and put enough water and snacks in mine to make it through the hike. We split the cost of the mule with 3 other couples in our group that did the same thing. The hike back, even with the last 2 miles of steep inclines and switchbacks, only took us 2 hours and 45 minutes.

2. Timing of your hike- The time of day that you hike down is really important! We went to Havasupai at the end of May so the heat wasn't excruciating. If you are going mid summer it is going to be H.O.T! Hike in early in the morning. We started our hike at 4:00a.m. Less heat also means carrying less water to keep your body cool, which also means a lighter pack! There was an employee that told us we couldn't start the hike till the first of daylight (but there is no one there to stop you either)so we went ahead and followed suit with a couple other groups who decided to start their descent early. Starting early also gives you more time in the day to explore Havasupai once you get down there!

3. Lounge pool floaties. In the list above it states that you should bring a sleeping pad. I would change this to the long pool floaties you blow up and use in the pool. Those sleeping mats are not soft! They only give you an inch or 2 of hard cushioning between you and the ground! The pool floaties feel more like an air mattress and you can give them to someone else or pop them when you leave so you don't have to pack them again. They are only about $2.00 a piece at Walmart.  Plus they can double as an actual floating device in the water. Crazy, huh? I would bring extra though, Mountain Man and I brought four and lined the bottom of the tent with them and slept across them. By the second day, 2 of them had popped and we were sleeping on 1 each. 

4. Trash bag. Bring a trash bag to put your food in and hang it in a tree. There are no bears or large animals that will threaten to eat you or your food but there are some vicious squirrels! The sooner you get it in the tree and they realize there is no food there for them, the sooner they will leave you alone. I know this sounds weird cause they are just squirrels but DON'T feed the wildlife! They will keep coming back for more and they will find any food they can reach. I am speaking from experience here. They chewed a hole in Mountain Man's pack and stole a Costco muffin so he put all the food in the tent. Then they chewed a hole in our tent and had a Thanksgiving feast! They ate half a loaf of un-opened bread (grandma sycamores), EVERY almond and cashew and yogurt chip out of an un-opened bag of trail mix, as well as 2 more Costco muffins, and they took samples of just about everything else we had.

5. Wipes. There are bathrooms down there so all you women don't need to worry about peeing in the woods. On the list above it tells you to bring toilet paper, I would change this to a small bag of wipes. Your toilet paper is provided in the bathrooms they have down there, but I loved using the wipes to clean my hands after meals and wash the dust and mud off my feet before getting into bed each night.

6. Pack Light. Again if you are taking a mule this will not matter. If you do decided to pack everything in on your own, which is actually what most people do because they don't realize how difficult the hike will be, it is essential to pack light! I know that when you are packing your thinking but this is so light!! And again when you put that pack on your pack and think Oh, I can handle this. Believe me, by the end, I was thinking OH! I SHOULDN'T HAVE PACKED THAT EXTRA TAMPON!!! 

7. Cash for Local Food. I would also suggest bringing some cash. At mile 8 there is Supai Village and they have a tiny cafe that you can eat at. A lot of weight in your pack will be food. If you’re using the mules you won’t have to worry about this, but if you are packing it in, then buying food once you get down there is a great idea. They also have a place you can buy snacks from and a shack right there in camp that makes fry bread and sells cold drinks and snacks. They are very reasonably priced at the shack and cafe so don't worry too much about being taken advantage of. In fact ,I think the snacks in the village were pretty close to gas station prices. 

8. Cooking. Freeze dried meals are nice and light and an easy way to get a meal in.  We used the Mountain House brand and we were actually pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted. They are about $7 dollars a pack but if you get the packs that feed 2 people you can make your dollar stretch a little more. You just have to boil some water and pour it in. For boiling water, I would highly suggest getting a Jet Boil or any other backpacking stove. We used a friends the entire time and LOVED it! It was fast and nice and light at the same time. It also beats packing in a camping stove! You can find a Jet Boil HERE or if you get on camofire.com, they come up every once in a while and you can find some pretty good deals on them.

9. Food. Take food that is light weight. Fresh food weighs a ton because it contains so much water. However, if you bring dried fruit, popcorn, puffed snacks and other light weight foods, your back and legs will be much happier. If you are packing any sort of condiments like peanut butter, jelly, ketchup, mayo, mustard, Neutella and such, one of my genius friends used the method of saving Popsicle wrappers filling them with your desired condiment and then re-sealing them using the heat from her flat iron. Genius, I know!

10.Water- There is a piped spring at the camp site that clean water constantly runs from. The Ranger on site told us that it is tested twice a week to make sure it is clean. He also said "Don't boil it. Don't filter it. You will ruin it." When you are packing only bring enough water for the hike down. For your stay bring empty milk jugs or any other light containers. Having less water in your pack will really lighten your load. Once you actually get down there you can use the water from the spigot.

11.Homemade Lantern- Having light in the evenings is really nice. Everyone in my group grabbed head lamps and wore them around but this makes for a lot of moving lanterns, shining lights in people eyes and bugs flying in your face trying to get to your light. One of the girls in my group had a great idea. Instead of packing down a lantern she filled up her milk jug of water and put her head lamp around the jug. This illuminates the water inside the jug to create a homemade lantern. It didn't give off a really bright light but two was enough to light up the table we all sat around. 

12. Down time- Once you get down to Havasupai you can fill your schedule till it bursts with hikes and other fun things to do or you can just lounge around the campsite and swim in the falls that are near by. Let me tell you, after a 10 mile hike with a 30 lb pack on my back I was not going to take another step once I got there. The day we hiked down no one really wanted to move anymore than they had to so we hung around camp, napped and explored the falls right there in camp. The second day we hiked about a mile to Mooney falls and the third day We finally got up enough strength to hike to Beaver falls which is an 8 mile round trip hike. For the days that you choose to have more down time you will want to bring a book or some card games to keep yourself form getting restless.

Now having given you all the tips I can think of to make your trip more enjoyable I have to say that Havasupai, although THE toughest and most physically exhausting hike I have ever done was an incredible experience and one I would never trade for anything less demanding. I loved it and had so much fun with Mountain Man and the rest of the group!If you ever have a chance to do it I hope you will take the opportunity!

Memorial Day Vacation

Guess where I am going!!!!!

Havasupai!!!

I am not going to lie. This sounds like we are really going to be roughing it. We have a 10 mile hike in and we have to carry EVERYTHING. Food, water, personals, shelter. If you need it you carry it.

This is all I am taking for the whole weekend.

Got all the essentials for food. Costco muffins, deer jerky, popcorn, apple crisps, PB&J, a couple MRE's and of course some High Chews!

 A lot of people rent a pack mule to carry their things and let me tell you, I picked out THE CUTEST mule you have ever seen and I know he will do the best job of carrying my things down. I even snapped a picture of him! Meet my ass, Calvin. (What the bible says it.) ;)

JK, I will be carrying my own load down.

But Shhhhhh. Dont tell my ass because when he wasnt looking, I shoved a few more essentials in his pack.

A half eaten box of Lorna Doone cookies (cause it doesn't weigh as much if it's half eaten...that's why I ate half of it!... Duh) and a good book to read! 

Wish me Luck! I will be missing my Sunday post because believe it or not, I am not taking my computer down there!!!! I know, I feel a little naked but it's dead weight (I thought about sneaking it in C.J.'s pack but I thought he  

would notice for sure! They don't have any internet service anyway. I will post on Monday when I get back! Hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

Best $5

While I was out garage saleing on Saturday I came across a woman that was selling a balance beam. Her daughter had out grown it so she was trying to get rid of it. I did gymnastics as a kid and always dreamed of putting my girls in gymnastics myself but I thought that the women would ask a fortune for the beam so I walked away. As I got closer to my car I thought, Just see how much she wants for it. I doesn't hurt to ask. So I turned around and asked about the beam. Her answer, $5 dollars! I am sure I looked like this when she gave me the price!

Source

but then I was like SOLD!....to me!

Source

I brought it home and surprised my girls with it. They were so excited to play on it, So we ran and got our leotards on and started "practice" as they called it.

 I loved watching this girl inch to the edge of the beam, and very seriously count to some random number. As she would squat down to give her legs the best spring she was capable of her eyes would get wide with anticipation of take off. As she took flight the biggest grin stowed across her face as if she were flying. I love sitting out in my rocking chair just watching how much fun she has.

 Now this girl takes her "practice" VERY seriously. She has been enrolled in gymnastics classes before and knows exactly what it is she is supposed to be doing. She is a pro!

Getting her to stand still and smile for my camera was torture for her.

The take off... her form looks great.

And the landing!

  Nailed it!!! That's a future gold medalist right there!

Best $5 I have ever spent!

Happy Mother's Day!!

(We wont make this picture extra large hahaha talk about a bitter beer face and mouse with rabies.)love you Heidi but this is an UGLY picture of us! I mean that in the nicest way :)

As a Mother isn't it funny how on Mother's Day all we really want is a BREAK!!!! This weekend my sweet husband took the munchkins and let me escape to a quick weekend girl’s trip.

I have a little humorous Mother's Day post for you all. But I must give you a disclaimer: If you are looking for something sweet and beautiful that will make you grateful to be a mom, this is not it. CLICK HERE TO READ MY "LESSON OF MOTHERHOOD" POST WHICH WILL BE MORE FOR YOUR LIKING. MAKE SURE TO READ THE POEM AT THE END.

Do any of you mothers remember what it was like when you didn't have children? And how all you dreamed about was how blissful and complete your life would be if you had a baby? Ya, me neither. All the piles of dirty diapers and mountains of laundry seem to block those memories from my mind.

As a mother you know what I can't stand? All those single individuals and couples who ignorantly judge my parenting while thinking "oh, I will never be that kind of mom;" Or how about those old people who have SOMEHOW forgotten what it is like to be a parent! HOW IN THE WORLD COULD YOU FORGET?! Or that perfect looking mother with perfectly behaved children that judges the way you do things because she, of course, parents perfectly ALL THE TIME (I bet she turns into a beast at home. Why else would her children obey her every command if it weren't out of complete fear?). I know you all know those types of people. You have probably had several experiences with them yourselves. I have come to realize I have a long list of judgmental parenting pet peeves.

1. When I am walking into the grocery store with my three year old screaming bloody murder behind me because I won’t actually carry her into the store, don’t give me the stink face. She's 3! She's practically half my size! Besides, she has two legs that work perfectly, why wouldn’t I give her the chance to use them? If you're so appalled, why don't YOU try carrying her. Oh, and I am not consoling her because OBVIOUSLY she is inconsolable. 

2. When I am marching into Costco carrying my crying child tucked up under my arm, like a football, arms and legs dangling because she just peed EVERYWHERE don’t give me the wide eyed, what-the-heck-is-she-doing look. Can’t you see I have my don't-mess-with-me, I-am-potty-training-face on! Just wait till you have to try to explain to a 2 year old why they have to use unknown muscles to keep their bodily fluids from leaking out. And actually teaching them how to do it successfully?...you might as well try to stop a flood with a sponge.

3. Or how about the "I have to go NOW,” I-will-not-make-it-to-the-bathroom dance. Oh, look at that dried up bush it looks like it needs some fluid, and this is an emergency! Believe me lady, who has her mouth gapping open, I don't care where she pees, as long as it's not in her pants, we are going to call it a success! Don't you know that early potty training calls for drastic measures?

 4. What do you do when you have a child who has a chronic runny nose? Sir, I know that my kid has two rivers of snot flowing so quickly that it seems like they are racing to see which can cross the upper lip finish line first, and no, I am not going to wipe it yet. I want to see which nostril wins. I have money on the left one. ha ha jk

 5. When I am just having a cat poop sandwich of a day, (thank you Greg)  and I am in the store trying to teach my child to behave like a normal human being in public, please don’t make comments to your boyfriend under your breath about my parenting. I am a mother, I have superwomen ultra-sensitive hearing receptors and I CAN HEAR WHAT YOU JUST SAID! Not sure what you’re talking about “being calm” cause THIS IS CALM but if you want I will let the green parenting monster ooze out of my pores in a moment. Your "poor child" sympathy sure makes YOU feel better about yourself, but just you wait till you have children of your own. Take a good look at my face and memorize it, because one day you’ll do the same thing that I am doing and it will flash in your mind.

 6. When my child is throwing a tornado of a tantrum in public, don't stop and stare. This is not a street show! Move along friend, there is nothing here to see. Oh and don't stop to try to console my child without talking to me or even making the slightest bit of eye contact with me. Don't you think I know my child better than you do?! I know that you, a total stranger, think you can correct my inefficient parenting skills and make all the difference in my child's life, but It's NOT helping! You're just feeding into the I-hate-my-mommy pheromones. If you want to help, I am the one who needs consoling! 

 7. What about the disgusted look you get when you realize your child closely resembles the homeless man you just passed on the corner. Grandma, who has her phone out probably dialing CPS, I know it doesn't look like it, but I promise you I literally just bathed them an hour ago. Trying to keep a kid clean is like trying to drink water from a fire hose. It will win every time!

8. What do you do when your 2 year olds emotional stability is dependent on a binky, bottle, blankey, thumb sucking, or any other comfort object? Your enjoyment of precious quietness and your child's calmness is interrupted by that judgey-faced mom, who just can't believe you haven’t taken that object away from them yet. Perfect looking mom, I dare you to take this binky out of my kid’s mouth and see the furry that is unleashed. There is a place and a time and THIS, my dear, is not it.

9. Whose kid isn’t absolutely obsessed with the movie Frozen right now? When my girls are dancing as they sing “Let it Go” while I stand in line at the bank, don't cross your arms, purse your lips and tap your toe at me. I am sorry if your childhood was not filled with fond memories of Elsa, Anna and a cute little snowman named Olaf but just because you are bitter about it doesn't mean every other child should be bitter for you.

10. How about when you have had an exhausting day and couldn't manage the energy to cook dinner? You head to your favorite restaurant, the one that has the best comfort food to make you feel better. The only thing that is keeping your child happy at the moment is a toy that makes noises that sounds like soft lullaby’s to him. Oh sorry, you’re annoyed by those soft lullaby’s? OH! You complained to the manager about the overall volume of my table? Well why don't you take it away from him and then see if the overall volume of his crying soothes your need for absolute silence. For heaven’s sake we are not eating in a library!

11. How about when you are working really hard to teach your child the importance of hard work, being able to pay for things and responsibility? Your child has worked all week to earn their money, but they forgot it on their way out the door. When my kid asks for a candy bar in line at the grocery store and I ask if she brought her money, don't grab the candy bar she wanted, wrap it up in a dollar bill and hand it to her. She is not deprived of happiness and love, nor is there a recent shortage of candy bars in this country. She doesn't need one right this second. And to all the people waiting in line behind Willy Wonka, who think he is some sort of candy saint, don't you know there is an epidemic of unstable, instantly gratified children in this world who have no idea what the word wait means? Excuse me if I am trying to teach my daughter the long lost art of having patience. Plus Mr. Willy Wonka here is just fueling the American childhood obesity rate by paying for little kid’s candy bars.

And just in case this post didnt make you feel like an awesome parent and like it's everything you ever wanted in life here are some epic parent fails that will....

Love the Mother who runs for the camera at this point!

Wait for it....Wait for it.... yep that's a leg there.

HAHAHAHA! This is one of my favorites by far!

I am pretty sure my Dad did this one to me when I was a kid.

I love the older sister that is just standing there smiling like everything is fine and dandy. HA HA HA! Thats karma, little brother!

Human energy efficiency

Oh, wait these are illegal? Shoooooot, I better quit using them.

At least it's not a bear. The most harm that raccoon can do is scratch his eyes out. What little kid needs those?!

HAHAHAHA is this for real???

Just a little less roomy than she anicipated

I hope all of your husbands are working really hard to spoil you rotten and give you that long awaited break you have been needing! But seriously, in all honesty, (I think we are getting gypped) ONE day a year?!?! Come on! It should be AT LEAST once a week! :) 
Enjoy your Mother's Day!!!