Havasu Canyon, June 1988 (Or, Another Tale from the Trail)

Here's another look back in time. This time it's June 1988 and Troop 363's epic trip to Havasu Canyon, under the capable leadership of Scoutmaster Hawkins and Assistant Scoutmaster Gillespie.








Supai, the village seen partly above, is located in a little Edenic spot in the Grand Canyon. It is home to the Havasupai Indians, who own the land and have a thriving tourist business.

Some of us rode in this old green Ford van that Ron Ford let us use. The most memorable thing about the van is that it had an oil leak like you wouldn't believe. We had to stop every 75 miles and add 2 quarts of oil! We bought a case in Flagstaff after going through 4 quarts from Kanab! We all smelled like oil when we arrived at the trailhead at Hualapai Hilltop.

Sidetrail: Bonus points given for the identification of the above individual adding oil to the van.

The lovely blue waters and travertine pools as seen from above Havasu Falls. My understanding is that this has changed somewhat since a huge flood roared down the canyon several years ago.



Another sidetrail: I first hiked into Havasu in 1970 (I think, it might've been '69) with a scout group. Ron Glover was our leader and Dad also came along. We were playing around in the pools at the base of Havasu Falls and John Franklin found a Bic pen encased in a layer of travertine. He broke the crust off around the trip and tried writing with it. It worked! Then he chucked it back into the water. We all thought he should've sent it in to Bic and maybe they would use it in an advertisement. At at the time they were running an ad showing a Bic pen shot out of a gun into a plank and still writing (kind of a takeoff on the Timex Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking campaign).

Andy cliff-jumping into the clear blue water.

Yet Another Sidetrail! It's like I have a memory for everthing. I must be getting older. We jumped off this same ledge on the trip in 1970. A year later when I came back with my family I ran up and jumped off the same place......into about 3 feet of water! The place had silted up apparently and I was lucky not to have broken anything. But, when I returned with this group, it once again had a nice, deep pool to jump into.

The descent down Mooney Falls is a steep one, involving chains, tunnels, and a precarious trail.

Another view. You can see some boys going up on the left side.

Jared, Andy, Shea, and Dustin.

A few more scouts, and Royce.

Doesn't this look like too much fun?

We stopped at the store in Supai on the way out to pick up a tasty beverage.

We did the hike out in two parts, camping halfway out along the side of the trail. Our Scoutmaster (and current bishop) is front and center in this photo.

Happy trails, Jared!