From March 27th to April 1st, 1999, twenty Scouts and eleven Scouters from Troop 285 enjoyed the 1999 50 Miler Hike in the Havasu Creek area of the Grand Canyon. We loaded up at our meeting hall on Saturday, the 27th at 7AM and began the long haul to Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The five hundred miles were pretty uneventful, but we all had tired setters by the end of the day, when we settled in for a Ranger presentation and a taco salad dinner.

Sunday, we started early again for the 150 mile drive to the Hualapai Hilltop, which is the trailhead for our hike. Break camp, eat a quick breakfast, and pile into the vehicles. By the time we arrive at the Hilltop, it's 12:30 and we're anxious to get on the trail. We don't even stop there for lunch - we'll catch it on the trail.

Starting from the trailhead at Hualapai Hilltop, we hiked about 10 miles down to the Havasupi campgrounds about halfway down the canyon. Boy, it was hot even though it was March! Lunch was under a rock overhang about 2 miles down from the rim. It's getting hotter! Another mile or so and the canyon walls start to close in on us and give us some shade. Watch out for the horses which the Havasupi Indians use to haul equipment, food, mail, and even people down to the village. Not us, though; we're hiking all the way!

By about 5 PM, we've reached Supai village. That's not the end of our hike though. It seems the campground is another two miles on down the canyon. Well, saddle up, guys, lets get moving again. Finally, we get to the campground, and find we have to ford Havasu Creek to get to some open campsites.

Monday, other sites open up on the "dry" side of the creek, so we relocate right after breakfast. We hit the Havasu waterfall and pools for a quick (and cold) dip right before lunch.

Tuesday, about ten Scouts and six Scouters head for the Colorado River through the Lower Havasu canyon. Its almost eight miles to the river, past two waterfalls (Mooney and Beaver), one of which requires us to climb down almost 200 feet of cliff using old miner's chains, rock bolts, and a short tunnel. Fording the creek ten times and climbing a short stretch of rope gets us to the river. We wolf down lunch, filter enough water for the hike back, try to toss rocks over the river (Jerry S. almost made it!) and then start back. Somehow, we make it back up in less time than it took to go down - maybe we're getting better at locating the sometimes faint trail!

Wednesday, we take another "easy" day. Photographers head back to Mooney Falls for another set of pictures. Towards nightfall, a pack check is held to make sure everyone is ready to set out back up to the rim early Thursday. What's that stuff? Hey, it's raining on us, in a spot where only 6" of rain a year falls. That figures. Fortunately, it's only a light sprinkle.

Thursday starts early. Alarm clocks start ringing at 5:00 AM, as we're going to be ready to hit the trail in the pre-dawn light at 5:30. Two miles back up to the Supai village, and we get a break for breakfast. Nope, no one brought any milk, so the cereal gets eaten dry from the individual boxes. Then, back on the trail so we can make most of the hike in the shadows before the sun starts cutting down into the canyons. By 10:30, its time for a lunch break just before the hard part - the switchbacks leading up the last 500 feet of height (about 3/4 of a mile walking distance). By 11:00 most of us are back up in the parking lot at the Hualapai Hilltop. Wow, we almost made it up in the same time that it took to hike down! We're getting good, guys!

What's that? There's a rumor floating around that, even though it's seventy degrees here with clear skys, there's two feet of snow in Flagstaff, where we plan to turn as we head back to Grand Canyon Village for Thursday night. They're pulling our legs, most people agree, but just in case, we pledge to check the weather reports when we hit the booming metropolis of Seligman (probably about 300 people on a good day), which is an hour's drive away. Even before we get there, though, storm clouds start dropping in on our caravan and we get some flurries. Sure enough, the Highway Patrol reports say that, although the roads are still clear, there is a couple of feet of snow in Flagstaff! Some quick decision making leads us to abandon the overnight camping at the South Rim (its even higher than Flagstaff), and to carefully drive back to Albuquerque that afternoon and night. It's going to be a long evening! Fortunately, a snack break in Williams, Arizona, and a steak dinner in Gallup, New Mexico about 6:30 that evening held everyone over until we could drag back into Albuquerque (a day early) at about 10:30 PM. We saw an overturned semi-truck in Arizona where winds had hit 104 mph on Wednesday, and were chased by more snow almost all the way back home. Good thing we "got outta Dodge" when we did, as Flagstaff got another 24" of snow Thursday evening, and roads got snow packed and icy.

Here's a photo gallery of some of the highlights of the hike! Click on a photo for the enlarged version. If other photographers have pictures that would fill in any gaps, please loan them to the Webmaster, and we'll get them on-line here!

Starting Out

The Havasupai 50 Miler group. From the left, front row: Katie C., James H., James W., Kyle S., Joel G., Wesley S., Tommy M., Mrs. Olesnivich, Mr. Shulke, Mr. Cox, Rocky J., and Bobby J. Back row: Mrs. Cox, Danny M., Ian O., Curtis H., Dan R., Jonathan S., Andrew C., Jerry S., Mr. Prentice, Mr. Cook, Mr. Olesnivich, Mr. Nigrey, Derek M., Mr. Coles and Mr. Jones

Map of the Hike Area

The Official National Park Service Map

Upper Havasu Canyon

The Havasupai 50 Miler grannies, standing on the canyon rim. From the left: Gary Shulke, Lee Jones, Mike Cox, Ed Olesnivich, Paul Nigrey, Sally Olesnivich, Roy Cook and Nancy Tecumseh.	The trail just below the rim is the steepest and carved out of the limestone rock. By Lee Jones	A horse pack train heading down to the village.
Red rock in the upper canyon.	Havasu Canyon, from about one mile below (north of) the Hilltop and the canyon rim.	Lunch break on the way into the canyon. From the left: Mrs. Tecumseh, Mrs. Olesnivich, Mrs. Cox, Tommy M., Mr. Cox, Mr. Pucetti, Curtis H., James H. (in red), Wesley S., Rocky J. By Lee Jones
The long trail into the canyon. By Lee Jones	The mesa at Westcogame Point. By Lee Jones	Four canyon hikers resting under a blooming tree: Mr. Nigrey, Jonathan S., Andrew C. and Robert T.
A square corner in the blocky sandstone formations.	Deeper in the canyon, but the rim is still visible. By Lee Jones	Another one of those purple blooming trees.

Havasu Falls and Campground

Havasu Falls, which are about 90 feet high, and end in some beautiful emerald green pools. By Lee Jones	Hooking up a Porta-pottie to a helicopter for an airlift out of the canyon. This ought to be exciting! Want a ride? By Lee Jones	The Porta-pottie once it's airborne. Never seen one fly before? We hadn't either! By Lee Jones
Carbonate dams catch the water at the base of Havasu Falls.	Ready to take a dip in the pool at Havasu Falls: Bobby J., (unknown), Curtis H., Wesley S., and Dan R.	Ian O. in the pool, staying cool, no one's fool.

Lower Havasu Canyon

Mooney Falls, about 190 feet high. By Lee Jones	Mooney Falls sparkles brilliantly when it hits the pool at the base. By Lee Jones	Travertine deposits laid down over eons of time at Mooney Falls. The calcium carbonate dissolved in the creek water precipitates on the rock walls. By Lee Jones
Chains and climbing bars set into the cliff make a steep stairway alongside Mooney Falls. By Lee Jones	Descending the stairway. It's hard, but it helps to have another person spotting good foot holds for you. By Lee Jones	A great group, on the rock below Mooney Falls; from left: Bobby J., Curtis H., Mr. Lee Jones, Katie C., Mr. Mike Cox, James H., Dan P., Wesley S., Rocky J., and Robert T.
An island in Havasu Creek, just under Mooney Falls. By Lee Jones		(soon)

Colorado River and Grand Canyon

An ominous sign at the top of the descent at Mooney Falls! Photo by Gary Schulke	One of the ten fords of Havasupai Creek on the trail down to the river. This is one of the shallow ones; some fords were up to our shorts. Photo by Gary Schulke	One ford was mainly a careful walk across a log, over a pool about six feet deep. The milky blue color is just what you see in the creek, due to dissolved carbonate in the water that has been seeping through ancient limestone formations. Photo by Gary Schulke
The confluence of Havasupai Creek and the Colorado River! Photo by Gary Schulke	Troop 285 river rats - almost all of the crew that treked the 8 miles to the river: James H., Jerry S., Bobby J., Andrew C., Dan R., James W., Mr. Nigrey, Mr. Cox, Mr. Schulke, Mr. Coles, Curtis H., and Mr. Pucetti. Photo by Nancy Tecumseh, with camera by Gary Schulke

Last Updated - 1999-04-27

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