Birthday Boy

Tahoe turned 5 years old this week. We are the same age because he's 35 in dog years! This is a picture of him when I adopted him, and he was only 6 months old. I remember how his ears used to droop.

Look at him now.

Grand Canyon

I finally got a permit to hike down to Havasupai. The trail begins at a place called the Hilltop and descends 11 miles into the south rim of the Grand Canyon. This particular section is not part of the Grand Canyon National Park; it is home to the Hualapi Tribe.

The first two miles are switchbacks, and then the trail flattens out and follows the creekbed.

You just follow the smooch in the gravel.

Sacred datura - one of my favorites.

Trail to Supai

After the first few miles, the trail narrowed and turned cooler.

The horsemen charge up the canyon every day to pick up supplies for the town or luxury items for campers. The dogs sometimes follow along too, all the way to the top. I couldn't believe what people wanted hauled down the canyon - large family size tents, cots, and coolers full of ice and soda.

This is a typical scene in Supai. Small board housed are nestled throughout the valley. The helicopter comes and goes all day long. It deposits goods and wealthy tourists to the helipad in the center of town.

The Falls of Havasupai

The flash flood of August 2008 dramatically changed some of the fwateralls. Navajo Falls moved further down from the village. This is "New Navajo Falls."

Rock Falls is a new waterfall. You can walk along the sandstone shelf behind the falls.

The flood brought with it a wall of silty mud that raged down the falls, adding to the already mud covered precipices. The turquoise color of the water is due to the high calcium content which is created when the water percolates through limestone.

Havasu Falls used to be a double spout, but the left spout was clogged during the flood. This is truly a unique sight.

Mooney Falls

The campground runs between Havasupai and Mooney Falls, and it's about a mile in length. There are lots of pretty campsites, and October is the perfect time to go with the great weather.

The trails consists of a series of caves, ladders, and chains leading down 200 feet. The lower section of the trail is continuously sprayed by the waterfall, so it's slippery as well. There is only enough room for 1 person at a time, so you must watch to see if anyone is coming.

It is much easier to ascend than descend.

Mooney Falls is 200 feet of sheer splendor. I actually preferred this fall over Havasu, the more popular of the two.

Havasu Creek Hike

Havasu Creek runs through Supai Village, the campground, and continues to its confluence with the Colorado River.

It winds through the canyon and crosses the river numerous times.

This is truly paradise! I can't imagine a prettier spot.

The trail cut right through this thicket of vines.

Beaver Falls

Then, the trail heads further down Havasu Canyon to its intersection with Beaver Canyon. About two miles in, I came upon a series of terraced travertine waterfalls known as Beaver Falls. They are gorgeous!

This lovely trail turned out to be my favorite part of the entire trip. It was so diverse and tropical with many suprises along the way. There are various trails down the canyon, and they are usually not more than 30 feet apart and end up in the same place eventually, so there is no right or wrong way; you simply follow the river. At one point, I got stuck. I couldn't go back the way I had come because I jumped off a cliff. That meant I had to cross the river. This was not easy since the canyon was narrow here, and perilous Beaver Falls lay 100 feet down the river. I took off my pants and tried to walk across holding this log. It was way too deep, so I ended up straddling this log, and scooching myself across. It wouldn't have been so bad except at the very moment I entered the water, a man appeared on the other side of the river and watched, open-mouthed, as the crazy woman crossed the river in her panties.

I found a massive nest and couldn't imagine what gigantic animals would do that. I soon found out.

Big Horn Sheep

I was walking along the trail to Beaver Falls, when I turned a corner and ran into this large ram. I was completely shocked! I have only ever seen big horns perched on two inch ledges on the sides of mountains, and I really didn't know what to do because this situation is so rare. I decided to slowly back up and hide behind a tree.

He wandered over to the vines and began munching and didn't seem too bothered to have an audience.

Shortly later, I discovered he was not alone. There was a mother and her baby and a young male.

It just kept getting better! I ran into another huge male. This one was sitting on a cliff above Beaver Falls, surveying his kingdom while chewing on some grass. I was so insignificant to him that he didn't even bother to turn his head; he just glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. I have never been this close to big horns, and in one day I discovered eight of them, living in this canyon. This surprise was almost better than the waterfalls.

Tahoe Tatertot

Tahoe had a vet appointment to get his teeth cleaned, and they discovered that two of his teeth were fractured so bad that they needed to be pulled. Two others had to be sealed due to smaller cracks. Needless to say, he is not allowed to have bones anymore.

He was so dopey when he came home that he was walking into walls, and his tongue was hanging out.