The trail from Hilltop descends sharply for the first mile and a half, then levels out. The flat stretch initially winds through arid plains on the Canyon's floor featuring low-lying rock formations before the terrain transforms into Havasupai Canyon, a rusty red canyon-within-a-canyon. Havasupai Canyon starts out curving gently before the rounded walls give way to geometrically-hewn cliffs.
In total, hikers lose 3,000 feet of elevation from the beginning to the end of this hike. The Grand Canyon is not quite as deep here as it is at the skywalk.
Though far from treacherous, the hike is not easy. It's dusty and the ground varies from rock pebbles to sand, making it occasionally difficult to maintain your footing. Visitors embarking on the down-and-back climb are instructed to carry a gallon of water apiece and concentrate their hiking in the earlier hours of the day before the burning sun becomes too hot.
There are also horses and mules clomping up and down the trail, requiring hikers to constantly listen for the stomp of hooves and be prepared to step to the side of the trail to let the traffic pass. Supai village is one of two places in America where the postal service still delivers mail by mule (the other being Phantom Ranch, also in the Grand Canyon).
Our hike began at a little after 9:30 in the morning and we reached the village of Supai at around 1 p.m. There's not much in the way of food in the agriculture and tourism-oriented village. The two small cafes both close by early evening so after a quick lunch of burgers, burritos, and nachos we picked up peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches later that night.
After checking in to the lodge, we made our way to a series of waterfalls just outside the village. The Upper and Lower Navajo Falls spill rushing turquoise water about a mile west of the village. A mile further north along the trail to the Colorado River the Havasu Falls do the same. The water gets its blue green color from lime deposits in the rocks. I swam in the pools below both falls although our expedition did not make it even farther up the trail to Mooney or Beaver Falls.
Sleep that night came easily after a dinner of PB and Js on picnic tables in the lodge's courtyard. While we ate, a swarm of tiny bats careened overhead devouring insects for their dinner. We woke for our hike out of the Canyon at 6:00 the next morning, stopping briefly for coffee and a light breakfast at the same cafe where we'd eaten lunch the day before.
Strangely, the hike out of the Canyon felt shorter than the hike down (perhaps because the route was familiar) and only took us fifteen minutes longer. It's tough going for the steep, final mile up the side of the Canyon but our whole party was back at the Hilltop by 10:45 a.m. after leaving the cafe less than four hours earlier.
Following the combined 20 miles of hiking that morning and the day before, we hopped back on Route 66 and exhaustedly made our way to Sedona. For lunch on the way, we stopped at the Roadkill Cafe in Seligman where I enjoyed a veggie burger (without the ironic optional bacon).
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