My photography trip to Havasu Falls

    My Photography Trip to Havasu Falls - by Thomas Dawson

 Driving and Hiking

One of the places at the top of my list for doing landscape photography was Havasu Falls in Arizona, USA. If you've never heard of Havasu Falls, which is on the Havasupai Native land, it's like a paradise in the middle of Arizona and I'd like to share my experiences and offer some tips for if you're going there some day.

I'll quickly introduce myself. My name is Thomas Dawson and I'm a travel, nature and landscape photographer (among other things) who calls Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada home. I love to travel and have been to places such as China, Thailand, Guatemala, Australia, Colombia, Belize, Cambodia, several countries in Europe along with many different states in the US. You can view my other photos via the links at the bottom of this blog.

First off, it's not easy to get to the actual falls and to avoid confusion, it's not at the same spot as Lake Havasu City. Havasu Falls is a good couple of hours away from the city bearing the same name. Getting to the falls requires an out of the way drive and then a ten mile hike (one way)........ unless you have a lot of money in which case you can get a helicopter ride there and back, however, my opinion is that doing this would diminish the experience so I advise doing the full hike. I think that it's actually a good thing that the falls aren't really easy to get to because if they were it would be a zoo there and completely overrun by tourists.

My day began at the Grand Canyon where I took some early morning sunrise shots. By 9am I had arrived to the town of Williams which was where I filled up the gas tank and stocked up on food. Filling up with gas is a must because after a certain point there are no gas stations on the way out to the starting point of the Havasu hike. Also, if you're hiking to Havasu Falls it's essential to bring water for the hike in! 

From Williams I went through a tiny little town on Historic Route 66 named Seligman and from there it took me another 90 minutes or so to get to the trailhead which would mark the beginning of the hike. For specific instructions on how to get to Havasu Falls I'd advise that you just google them and then you can figure out exactly where you need to go according to your current location. After Seligman I drove West along Route 66 for approximately half an hour until seeing Indian Road 18 which is where I turned right. From there it's another 60 miles to the trailhead and there are mile markers all along the way.

The Havasupai Natives are, from what I understand, the only people who actually live within a branch of the Grand Canyon and the only way to get there after reaching the end of Indian Road 18 is via hiking, horse/mule or helicopter. There are no roads for vehicles! In other words, the people who live in the canyon get all their supplies via the aforementioned modes of transportation.

I arrived to the parking area, also named Hualapai (Walapai) Hilltop right at around noon on October 14, 2012. The skies were totally clear and it was quite warm. Upon arrival I still hadn't decided exactly what I was going to bring so I just did my best to think about what I'd need for a two or three day trip. My backpack was on old one that I hadn't used for probably 15 or so years and I knew that it wasn't going to be the most comfortable pack but it's what I had to work with. By the time I filled it up with the basic camera gear, including a tripod, food, a sleeping bag, small tarp, a one man tent and the other basics it was heavier than I expected. Uh oh!

There were a couple of guys walking by my car who had just returned from the falls and they were nice enough to stop when I asked if they wouldn't mind answering a couple of quick questions. As soon as they began speaking I could tell that these twenty something year old guys were from Europe. My guess was Sweden, Finland or Norway. Apparently, they began their return hike at 7am and it was currently 12:30pm so that meant that it took them 5 1/2 hours. They mentioned how they had hiked at a fairly good pace so the first thought that came into my mind was that if these younger, fit looking guys were taking 5 1/2 hours to do the hike then it would probably take me an hour or so more than it took them because although I'm fairly fit, etc, I was right on the verge of turning 50 years old in a couple more weeks. I was then thinking to myself that I better get moving because it was geting dark by 6:30pm at this point on the calendar. I also asked them about the drinking water situation and apparently there was a spring at the campground where people could get good drinking water that doesn't need any type of treatment. 

That was good news because I didn't want to have to lug several bottles of water along with me on what I knew was going to be a bit of a challenging hike. Although I brought along a couple days worth of food I wasn't too concerned about the food supply because there are a couple of places where people can eat in the Havasupai Village, however, I had read that it wasn't the greatest food, however, it would certainly be better than nothing.

It was then time to go! I had previously read about the big hill with all the switchbacks at the start of the hike and thank goodness it went downwards first rather than the other way around. The hill begins immediately and it offers a great view as one is descending down into the canyon. It was mid day so I encountered plenty of people doing the return trip and the ones who were on their way up the hill were walking awfully slowly and many looked quite worn out from it. That didn't look like something to look forward to!

There were also frequent groups of horses (at least I think they were horses rather than mules) passing by and kicking up a lot of orange coloured dust and for every group of horses there were one or two of the Native people atop them who were bringing either supplies for their village or the camping gear for visitors. 

As I passed by a young girl who was near the top of her return hike I asked if she had used the horses to carry her gear and she replied that her and her other three friends had done so. I then asked how much it cost them for the round trip and she said $395. Wow! I definitely wasn't going to be using that service, however, it appeared as though a fair amount of people did. 

If I was to take a guess at how many vehicles were in the parking lot I'd say at least fifty and I passed by people going the opposite way towards the hilltop on a fairly regular basis while hiking. My basic plan for the hike was to go at a comfortable but steady pace. Now I guess that it must have been from hiking at 10 - 12,000 feet in altitude in the Sierra Mountains a few days previous but I found that I had pretty good stamina during the hike and in fact I even ended up passing several people going the same direction as I was. So okay,........ I'll admit it. I was a little proud of that fact but I like to think that I have earned my healthy condition. I don't smoke or drink alcohol, I eat fairly wisely and I don't even drink coffee, plus I do regular exercise.

The hike was quite beautiful and it reminded me of being at Zion National Park, albeit a scaled down version. If you're going to do this trip I would advise that you wear either hiking boots or good walking shoes rather than something like sandals because the trail has a lot of  rocks sticking up at various angles and during some stretches it gets more sandy so it's like walking along a beach. The 'big hill' has a lot of 'stairs' but they are anything but evenly cut. I was wearing Gortex running shoes because I like lighter weight footwear. 

Whether you like it or not you're going to get a lot of orange coloured dust on the lower half of your body from doing the hike. The dirt is so dry that it's going to get on your clothes, shoes or socks so that's just the way it goes. You will also quickly discover that there will be a lot, and I really mean A LOT of horse crap all the way along the trail so you're bound to get some of that on your footwear too.

After going down the first big hill, which I think takes up the first mile (or just over a kilometer) or so, the trail flattens out and there really isn't anything terribly difficult abou the hike. It's more the length of the hike, in addition to the weight of a person's backpack, that will wear a person down as opposed to the level of difficulty. 

Because the weight distribution of my pack wasn't very good it didn't take long before my trapezoid muscles were extremely sore so I was constantly having to lift on the bottom of my backpack in order to alleviate the strain. I could've stopped a bunch of times in order to rest the trap muscles, however, I really didn't want to do that because I didn't want to get in to the camping area too late, and besides, my legs and cardio were holding out quite well so I just kept trekking along. 

It was around the mid point of my hike when I noticed yet another large group of horses coming from behind me with their usual trail of dust. The fellow leading the group of horses then stopped his horse 'train' right next to where I was and as he hopped off his horse I was wondering what was up. He then asked if I wouldn't mind holding the reins of the lead horse. "Sure" I said. He then asked me where I was from as he cinched up some straps that were holding some supplies on the back of a horse. We chatted as he continued tightening up whatever had come loose and then before long he hopped back up on the horse I was holding and off he went. I have to admit that I was halfways hoping that he was going to say; "hey pardner, you've got a big pack there. Why don't you hop up on the back of one of my horses and you can ride the rest of the way." It wasn't to be though.

What I noticed during my hike was that some of the Native fellas who were leading the groups of horse were friendly and some didn't say anything at all, nor did they look at me as they went by. I'd later find the same theme after arriving to the village area.

To make a bit of a long story short in regards to the hike in, I ended up doing the entire hike to the campground in a total of 3 3/4 hours. I only took one two minute water break and that's it, however, by the time I reached my tent site, my legs were really burnt out and my trap muscles were extremely sore, however, after seeing some of the waterfalls I knew that it was going to be well worth the effort!

The Havasupai Village and Fees

Basically, things work like this: You hike eight miles in order to get to the village and upon arrival it's mandatory for you to check in at the guest office (you'll see a sign and it's a small building on the left) where you pay for entrance and camping fees. The entrance fee at the time of writing was $35.US. and then there was a $5. "environmental" fee. I decided to stay for two nights in the campground which cost $17. for each night and then there was a 10% tax on the total, so the end amount was $81.40. To be honest, I think that's a little steep for just two nights in what is an extremely basic campground, however, the way I view it is that the Havasupai people could just as easily stop allowing people to come altogether, but then again, that would mean the loss of a lot of money for them. Anyhow, it is what it is and people can chose to go or not go.

Going through the small village was like going back in time a little bit. There are no 7-11's, no McDonald's, no neon signs and no cars and I loved it. The people who live there use ATV's but that was about it for motorized vehicles. All the roads are dirt and there is no pavement. There are no high rises. Only small, basic, single story structures (see photo below for an example), which again is something that I really liked. In fact, it kinda reminded me of the tiny towns that I grew up in, Cobble Hill and Shawnigan Lake. All I saw while walking along the main road were people's homes, a small Church, a school that had a basketball court, a couple of places to eat, along with a small general store which is where I think people were getting their ice cream cones. 

A home in the Havasupai Village

The houses weren't all bunched together like your typical, lovely modern suburban areas........ and yes, that's sarcasm. I hate the way homes are built right next to each other! The people in the village all seemed to have a little bit of property which is nice. The one thing I couldn't help but to notice that bothered me a little bit were how underfed some of the horses appeared to be. I'm anything but a horse expert, however, I did grow up on acreage in Cobble Hill and my Uncle next door had horses that I rode and some of the horses in the Havasupai Village looked quite skinny and their ribs were showing. It appeared as though the packing horses I saw along the trail were more healthy looking though.

As far as the local people were concerned, some were really friendly and they'd either say hello first or they'd respond to my hello's, whereas others didn't look too happy about us tourists walking down what was akin to their main street upon their land. In fact, I remember seeing two really large Native guys who looked like brothers and I'm guessing they were close to 300 pounds each and maybe in their early twenties age-wise. I said hello to them but they wouldn't even look at me. Based on their expressions, I got the feeling that they really resented us tourists being there but the way I see it, it's really up to them as to how they react to it all. They might want to remember how much money is being brought in that wouldn't be there if it wasn't for us tourists going there. When I was leaving two days later I saw one of the brothers again so I tried again to give a friendly hello but I got the same result as before. He wouldn't look at me or respond. Oh well.

The facts are, however, that one will get less than friendly responses to cheerful hellos in any town or big city no matter where it is.

I'd be really interested to learn more about whether or not the money brought in from tourism is distributed to all the people or if it's just the people who are directly involved who get most, if not all of it. Remember how much I paid and that was just for one person and then remember how much those girls paid for their packs to be brought in by horse which I'm sure is brought along with other supplies that the people of the village need anyhow. It seems like they've got quite a good thing going. Then there's the helicopter option. I saw those whirlybirds pass by several times as I hiked to the village so there's another bunch of money there too.  

There is also a lodge where guests can stay in the village and I have read that it's $145. per night so there's even more money being brought in and I have heard that it's not exactly fancy.

While I think of it, and just for your information, there are no toilets or outhouses along the trail to the village, however, there are a couple of outhouses at the hilltop by the parking lot, so you might want to bring along a little bit of toilet paper for just in case you really need it. I have read that there are occasional vendors selling basics on the hilltop by the lot but I didn't notice any when I was there.

I think it would be a good idea for the Havasupai to place more mile markers along the trail so people can see their progress and have a better idea for how much further they need to go. All I saw were two markers during the entire hike.

The Campground and the Waterfalls

The campground is another two miles past the village so it's a bit of a drag to have to put on a heavy backpack and walk even futher after registering at the guest office. You definitely start to perk up, however, when you see the first waterfalls which feature a beautiful turquoise water colour. First up was Upper Navajo Falls, soon followed by what I believe was Lower Navajo Falls. Another ten or so minutes after that is the main attraction, Havasu Falls. Without question, it's a beautiful spot! As you walk down the hill towards the campground a swim in the pools below the falls will likely be the first thing on your mind after the long walk. 

Upper Navajo Falls

Lower Navajo Falls

As mentioned previously, the campground is very basic. You choose whatever spot is available (first come first serve) and on most of the small plots are picnic tables but that's it; no electricity and no running water to each spot. I'm not complaining, however. A small area to pitch my tent was all I needed.

I hadn't used my one man tent since doing a bike trip to Oahu, Hawaii many years before so it took me a while to figure out how to put it up and by the time it was done there was only time for a quick swim before dark descended upon the canyon. I don't know what the temperature of the water is like during mid summer but it was anything but warm when I was there. It's not as cold as the rivers we have up here in British Columbia but not too far off either. The great thing about these falls is that they're spring fed so the water level doesn't get super low at any point during the year as do most typical waterfalls during a dry season.

Havasu Falls (upper view)

There are approximately six outhouses in the area of the campground where I pitched my tent and I was at the grounds nearest to Havasu Falls. The falls were literally a two minute walk away and I could easily hear them from my tent location which was great. The outhouses are a type of composting outhouse. Basically, you have to walk up a full flight of wooden stairs in order to get to the outhouses and below is an area where the waste can be (and apparently is) re-utilized. To be quite honest, I think that there could stand to be a little more in the way of better services in the campgrounds considering the amount that we tourists have to pay.

For example, there weren't even any sinks for brushing teeth or for washing hands. All that one really gets for the fees are a spot of dirt and a place to use the bathroom and the toilet paper is supplied. One of the doors on one of the outhouses didn't even have a lock on it, just a sign outside the door saying "knock before entering." I think that they should at least fix things like that. 

I had hoped to have time to do some shooting before dark but it wasn't to be on day one. On day two, I got up early and went to Havasu Falls before anyone else was there in order to get my shots. Once at the campground it's totally fine to wear sandals and sandals come in handy for going in the water.

Because the skies were cloudless it really limited what I could get done during the day. The sun makes for too much harsh contrast and if I was to take photos with a lot of sun and shadow they'd be unusable so I did what I normally do on sunny days which is to scout out the area for potential compositions for once the light is good.

For all you amateur photographers out there I'd like to offer a tip when shooting places such as waterfalls. It's better to wait until the waterfalls and surrounding scenery are all in shadow and then take your photos. I know that scenes such as Havsu Falls look prettier to the human eye when the sun is on them, however, photos will look better with consistent, even light rather than harsh sun and shadow.

Next, I walked up to Navajo Falls and found trails leading to the bottom of the falls and after that I went the other direction and saw Mooney Falls. Mooney Falls is the spot where one has to go down a bunch of steps carved out of the rock and dirt and in some spots, there are some really steep steps with nothing but a metal chain to hold on to. You even have to duck while going into a couple small caves in order to get to the base of the falls. People of all ages make the descent to the base of Mooney Falls, however, one is well advised to take their time in doing so because one slip could result in serious injury or worse. 

After seeing what I had to do in order to get to the base I decided to turn around and just take it easy until the sun became lower in the sky. There was no point going to the base of Mooney Falls when I couldn't even take photos. 

I'd like to add that most of the camping spots were alongside, or really near to the river, which continued on via Navajo and Havasu Falls. There were two areas beyond my camping area and they had a couple of outhouses each as well so the campgrounds stretched all the way from just past Havasu Falls to just before where one has to go down to Mooney Falls. From one falls to the other was approximately a ten to fifteen minute walk. There didn't appear to be any shortage of camping spots and I'm guessing that there was probably enough spots for a hundred or so campers. 

Havasu Falls (lower view)

The items that I brought for food were several small sub sandwiches, trail mix, oranges, apples, bananas, muffins and a package of baby carrots and that was enough to last me for the two days. If I could make a recommendation for your length of stay (and you're not worried about getting super quality photos during certain times of day) then two days would suffice, however, three days would be better.

From my particular camp spot, the Spring for getting drinking water was only a couple minutes walk in the direction towards Mooney Falls and I used this water without any issues at all and it tasted fine.

My spot was basically within eye sight of the outhouses and there were no issues with smell from the outhouse, however, there was definitely an issue with horse crap smell. As I mentioned before, there is horse crap all the way along the trail to the village and it also continues all the way to the campsites. Fortunately, however, it's not an overwhelming smell and I didn't consider it to be a horrible smell but it isn't pleasant either and the odour is ever present until you get part way into the campgrounds. 

If you have a camera be sure to keep it in a case as often as possible because there will be the occassional ATV motoring through the campground and they kick up a lot of dust plus I already told you what it's like along the main hiking trail. Obviously, you don't want dust to get in your camera or on your lens. Oddly enough, I lost my black, neoprene camera cover while at Navajo Falls later on that day so if you ever notice a Canon 5d Mark ll cover floating down the river or lodged in some rocks you'll know who's it was :-).

After scouting out some shooting locations I put my plan into action as the sun crept lower behind the canyon walls. First, I did the climb down to the base of Mooney Falls. I was actually hoping to make it further down stream to another nice waterfall, however, after talking to a couple of girls they said that it was further away than what I expected and it would be too far for me to get there and back before dark. After hearing that info I decided to go downstream in hopes of finding some smaller waterfalls and nice scenes, which I did. 

Mooney Falls

After an hour or so of crisscrossing the river and capturing some lovely scenes I slowly made my way back to Mooney Falls and the light was finally good for getting some shots of the highest waterfall in the area. I then raced over towards Navajo Falls where I got a few more good shots before it got dark. I was hoping to get some final shots of Havasu from the upper view point but it had to wait until morning. 

Both days were quite warm at around 80 degrees F, which is approximately 25 degrees C, however, there was a big difference in temperature between being in the sunlight or in a shadowy area plus the nights were a little on the chilly side, however, after experiencing sub zero temperatures in the Sierra Mountains around Bishop, CA, it was all quite pleasant.

The Return Hike

 

I can't say that I was looking forward to the return hike, however, I had at least lightened the pack load due to eating the food I had plus I decided to carry my tripod in hand which actually helped quite a bit. It was another warm, cloudless day and my legs were still a little worn down from the hike in, however, they sure felt a lot better than they did after day one.

After getting up quite early in order to get my Havasu Falls shots I had firmly made up my mind that I'd stop as many times as I felt like on the way back. The hike back definitely has more uphill parts to it than the hike in but it's that last mile that's the real leg burner. Once again, to make a long story short, I took several five minute breaks during the return hike, however, this soon to be fifty year old still did the hike in less time than the younger guys I met at the beginning of my little journey. It took me exactly five hours to hike back to my car. As expected, the big hill was quite tough for anyone who had a full backpack and it was certainly no different for me. I was so happy to finally get to my car and although it wasn't the easiest hike I'd certainly do it again and if you ever have the chance to go there, do it! 

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