{three of my brothers and my dad}
Every year my dad and brothers plan a Mens Invitational. Yes, men only. I think the point is to prove their manliness to each other. This year the Third Annual Mens Invitational was to hike Havasupai in Arizona. Unfortunately Aaron and Gregg could not make it {and Dallin is on a mission} so I was invited to go.
Now I know what a mens invitaional is all about!!
Nate and I catching our breath in the shade after hiking into the canyon 8 miles. It was 94 degrees that day.
Did you know you could get helicoptered in? Why didn't we do that??
We made it to the village. The craziest thing about this hike is that about eight miles in you come to this little village of Havasu Indians. About 500 of them live down there. There was a school, LDS chapel, convenients store, post office {I sent myself a post card...it hasn't come in the mail yet}, and lots of run down houses. The boys said it was like walking the run down streets of Brazil.
Oh, yes, that is a skirt I am wearing. I figured since it was the Mens Invitational I should bring some style to the trail.
Another interesting thing about this canyon/hike is that in August of 2008 there was a large flash flood that totally altered the flow of the river and the waterfalls. The falls pictured above do not have a name because they are new falls that formed in 2008 after the flash flood. The famous "Navajo Falls" are now dry because of the alterations in the flow of the river.
Ant, Nate and McKay jumping out from behind of No Name falls.
This was a welcomed view after hiking 10+ miles. Havasu Falls which are 200 feel taller then Niagara falls. The water is SO clear and a beautiful aqua color. It is because there is travertine and limestone forming at the bottom of the falls and pools.
ahhh...we made it {after about 4 hours of hiking}. Time to relax and cool off!
The bathrooms...not bad. I had to post this picture for our friend Jennifer who did this hike in 2007 and warned us of the awful toilet situation. These 'bathrooms' were awesome for being in the wilderness. I am guessing they were built after the flood sometime in late 2008- 2009.
Time to make some dinner.
My dad planned the best meals considering we were backpacking. Who has fajitas with fresh peppers and tortillas when they are backpacking?
And pancakes with sausage and syrup for breakfast! Yummy!
Breakfast! I love how we look in this picture TIRED even though we just woke up! I will admit I could barley move the second day I was so sore. I popped some ibuprofen and we hiked another 8 miles.
It is so hard to describe the hike to the lower falls.
Mooney Falls. I tried to take pictures, but they don't do it justice. It was sketchy to say the least.
Mooney Falls.
Some little boy scout took this picture of us. We made it!
Getting ready to hike down the river another 4 miles.
McKay and Anthony "hiking" or swimming down the river.
We found this awesome pool of water to play in. It was about 95 degrees so we were hot! The water was so refreshing to swim in.
Nate doing a back flip and McKay cliff jumping.
The Men.
Don't ask. They were getting goofy at this point.
I was invited to be in one of the Men's photos...I think they were trying to forget there was a girl with them.
By the second to last morning my hair looked like this - they thought it was pretty funny.
Resting.
The last morning we got up at 4 AM to break down camp and head out. By 5 AM we were on the trail hiking out, UP HILL the entire way. The first two mile were hard - then it leveled out for a bit. The last 2 miles were killer. I am not going to lie. I was slow and steady getting out of there. My brothers definitely left me in the dust eating their dust. I think we hiked a total of about 35 miles.
There were a lot of funny stories/ incidents that happened along the way. I don't think they would make much sense if I typed them out. It's one of those "had to be there" things. Some of those memories that I don't want to forget include;
McKay peeing ALL the time, the alpha female across the river, Nate getting the name and number of the alpha female across the river {!}, the ice cream Anthony owes Nate for getting the name and number of the alpha female across the river, cheese fries, the guy from Flagstaff that asked if I was a 'nosy neighbor', Anthony packing down the heaviest most delicious brownies I have ever had and McKay pointing out that it was definitely worth it, the 'extra' pajama pants Anthony conveniently found in his sleeping bag the first night {thanks to my dad's 11-year old scout who left them there when he borrowed the sleeping bag}, the girl in the camp next to us who changed her clothes four times a day and proceeded to shave her legs and arms before she hiked out {oh, and change her clothes one last time}.
And THANK YOU Anthony, Nathan, McKay and dad for letting me crash your Men's Invitational!
PS- Does this mean I am invited to the Fourth Annual Men's Invitational next year in Hawaii!
