I did my own “death hike”…solo

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Oct 25, 2012
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my wife and i have been slowly planning to try to get down and do Havasu, looks absolutely beautiful

Do it! It’s great scenery. For $100 you can catch a helo out and save yourself the 10 mile pack out lol.

Start your hike in around 3:15-3:30 in the morning. You’ll beat the heat and get first dibs on available camp spots along the creek. A huge plus.

FYI, they still do the covid crap with masks if you go in the restaurant in the village. And overall, the locals are NOT friendly.

Other than that it’s a blast.

And skip the hike to the Colorado River. Not worth the 14 mile round trip and eats up the entire day.

There are big horn sheep that live in the canyon around beaver falls. Everyone we talked to saw them. Except us. lol

The best waterfalls for swimming wading are between the village and Mooney falls.

Beaver falls is worth the hand full of miles for sure.

Get the fried bread. It’s pretty good!

The night sky in the canyon is incredible. But go before first week of June bc it gets hot and takes a while to cool off at night.

Start your hike out around 3:30 am headed out to again beat the sun/heat!


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Hootey

FNG
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Jun 20, 2024
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Do it! It’s great scenery. For $100 you can catch a helo out and save yourself the 10 mile pack out lol.

Start your hike in around 3:15-3:30 in the morning. You’ll beat the heat and get first dibs on available camp spots along the creek. A huge plus.

FYI, they still do the covid crap with masks if you go in the restaurant in the village. And overall, the locals are NOT friendly.

Other than that it’s a blast.

And skip the hike to the Colorado River. Not worth the 14 mile round trip and eats up the entire day.

There are big horn sheep that live in the canyon around beaver falls. Everyone we talked to saw them. Except us. lol

The best waterfalls for swimming wading are between the village and Mooney falls.

Beaver falls is worth the hand full of miles for sure.

Get the fried bread. It’s pretty good!

The night sky in the canyon is incredible. But go before first week of June bc it gets hot and takes a while to cool off at night.

Start your hike out around 3:30 am headed out to again beat the sun/heat!


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awesome man, i appreciate the suggestions and information. we are definitely going to do it i just want to do it sooner than later haha
 

TaperPin

WKR
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That’s really awesome! Even if you never do something as long or challenging again, trips like that stick with a guy through the years. The ordinary hard trails don’t seem as bad.
 
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awesome man, i appreciate the suggestions and information. we are definitely going to do it i just want to do it sooner than later haha

Hit me up with any questions. It seems like a bit to figure out at first but isn’t bad. Permits are limited so be ready to snatch them up when they go on sale. They also just started some kind of lottery for them but I don’t know anything about it.


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Awesome thread and stories! I need to do something like this with my wife

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307

WKR
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We did Havasupai at the end of March. Had perfect conditions, cool at night and nice during the day. Very cool mini adventure.

Did you get down to the confluence with the Colorado? That was my favorite part.
 

307

WKR
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For anybody wanting to do Havasupai, it's awesome. The permits and logistics seem like a huge PIA at first but it's less difficult than it initially seems. Perfect adventure to do with a significant other who may not be into full backcountry sufferfest types of trips. IOW, it's enough to think you're a badass without requiring actual badassery.
 

BBob

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My pregnant wife and I just did Havasu falls in Arizona. 12 miles first day. 14 the second, 7 the third and 10 the 4th. Add in the walking around camp and fractional miles and we did just about 50 while swimming in 60 degree water and waterfalls. It’s a hella awesome experience!

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You certainly cheated death on that one with all the mysterious illness and death going on in that country lately 🤪

 
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We did Havasupai at the end of March. Had perfect conditions, cool at night and nice during the day. Very cool mini adventure.

Did you get down to the confluence with the Colorado? That was my favorite part.

Yup. Sure did. Paid a price for it too!

9d8ccaa5ec4a9f9dda11f33352f67d69.jpg



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You certainly cheated death on that one with all the mysterious illness and death going on in that country lately


No kidding!!!

Sure would like to know what the crap went on with all that


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4rcgoat

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My pregnant wife and I just did Havasu falls in Arizona. 12 miles first day. 14 the second, 7 the third and 10 the 4th. Add in the walking around camp and fractional miles and we did just about 50 while swimming in 60 degree water and waterfalls. It’s a hella awesome experience!

d2e6572687331a2bf21891bea899fcde.jpg



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Beautiful spot,was down there about 20 years ago, was $17 per person just to walk through the little village at the bottom......what's the price now?
 

Beendare

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Some of those meat packouts have felt like a death hike….

I think my worst was either that Kalalau valley trail coming out carrying both my pack and my buddy who wrecked his knee

Or the 26 total miles meat packout (13miles 2x) towing a pack horse with only a little bit of elk meat in our packs. Going in that far sounded good until we had 2 elk down…
 
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Beautiful spot,was down there about 20 years ago, was $17 per person just to walk through the little village at the bottom......what's the price now?

We paid about $500 per permit through their website


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307

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OP
awcopeland
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Apr 29, 2022
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Might have to add that to my list this year. @awcopeland what all did you pack for this?
I started with a 30lbs pack.
That included:
- Exo K3 4800
- ~6.5L of water (I’m in the desert where water is not plentiful)
- snacks + 2 freeze dried meals
- small stove, titanium cup, and an almost empty fuel canister
- first aid kit, TP, etc
- seek outside DCF floorless shelter
- thermarest neoair x therm
- katabatic gear flex 40 quilt
- couple set of sock, fresh pair of gym shorts, boxers, & sun shirt

I packed the sleeping set up and freeze dried meals in case I felt like I absolutely needed to camp. I figured the extra weight wasn’t extreme and was worth the weight penalty, plus the pack weight would be very close to my average day hunt pack weight. Knowing what I know now, for this same type of one day trip, I’d ditch the camp set up and bring more food. I was so hungry the last 8ish miles.
 
OP
awcopeland
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Apr 29, 2022
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Some of those meat packouts have felt like a death hike….

I think my worst was either that Kalalau valley trail coming out carrying both my pack and my buddy who wrecked his knee

Or the 26 total miles meat packout (13miles 2x) towing a pack horse with only a little bit of elk meat in our packs. Going in that far sounded good until we had 2 elk down…
I once helped some friends that killed elk back to back days. The second elk was 7 miles from the truck. We started packing out around 7pm IIRC and got back to camp around midnight. I had to work the next day so, I only helped with the first load. Made it home in time to shower and head straight to work. It was a suck fest but I’d do it again every year for the memories.
 

TaperPin

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I’ve never heard anyone who didn’t like the hike up Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It’s not as long as some of the hikes mentioned here, but at 16 miles, 5,000’ of vertical, and 12 -14 hours it’s a haul.

The cool thing is afternoon thunderstorms that hammer the high peaks force people to start and get down early, so leaving the trailhead at 3:00AM is common - it is nice to see the sun rise on the way up, the view at 14,000’ is amazing, then back down you go.
 
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