Havasupai, Havasu Falls, Mooney Falls, Beaver Falls

This was the hike of a lifetime! You hike in 10 miles and either pack in your camping equipment or arrange for a mule to carry it for you. We did both. Hiking in was fairly easy since it was mostly downhill. You do have to have reservations and you have to get them in advance since they fill up. I hiked in with a hiking group of about 75 people. We went in May so it was cool for hiking but a little cold for all the swimming we did. Still it was amazing!

Starting off with some of our group (someone else's photo)

Hiking in with some of our group

We stopped at Havasupai village to register and eat

Then it's another 2 miles to the campground. On the way you pass Navajo Falls. I wish we would have had time to check this out

Havasu Falls- our campground was just below this. We swam here the first evening

Tip- pack your swimming suit in your backpack so you can swim while you wait for the mules

On the second day we hiked down Mooney Falls and on Beaver Falls which was a 4 mile hike

Mooney Falls

Looking up from Mooney Falls and part of it is a cave you climb through

Leaving Mooney Falls to hike to Beaver Falls

You follow Havasu Creek all the way and the trail criss crosses over the creek so it was great to have my Chacos!

Part of the trail weaves through wild grape vines and it feels like you are in a jungle

Beaver Falls

There was a little space under the water fall that we ducked into. I had to hold on pretty hard to not get swept away but then I made it. It's only a space of a few feet but you are completely behind the waterfall and then when you are ready, you swim out and let the current take you away from the waterfall. It was pretty cool

I went with my mission buddy Melissa

And I made some new friends

I jumped and it was fun but getting there was hard. I had to climb over the swift moving water from the right side because you couldn't get to it from the left. It was actually pretty scary so I only did it once. I look like I am falling but I am pushing off. Didn't want to connect with the rock below me.

Hiking back there were so many place where the creek was just so picturesque

Going back through the grapevines

This is looking down the canyon from the top of Mooney Falls

Mooney Falls

Most of our group at Mooney Falls (someone else's photo)

Arches National Park Photography Retreat with UVU and Bryan Niven

This was basically a camping trip with other photographers for the weekend. I went in April so it was cool weather but nice. It did rain one night and caused some of the campers some distress but I slept through it and was snug and cozy. The food was dutch oven and fantastic and Bryan was really good and lots of fun. There were about 15 of us all together including cooks and personnel from UVU. I would highly recommend it!

Courthouse Wash Rock Art- The first place we stopped was at some really cool hieroglyphs. There were 3 different kinds or styles. The first was the Fremont

Then there was the pictograph style of Barrier Canyon and then the Utes all right there together.

The first hike was the Park Avenue hike which is 1 mile 1-way. 

At the end of this hike you see the three ladies

And we saw this baby when we got to the parking lot.

Reflection fun

I picked a nice protected spot for my tent. Some of the others got blown down in the night

There were these cool fingers we could climb on by the campground

And Broken Arch was just next door

Delicate Arch was our hike for the first evening

This is the standard shot that everybody gets

Ed from Houston was on the trip and he and his wife turned out to be good friends with my cousin Deanna and her husband Dave. I think sometimes that if I just talk to a person long enough I will find some kind of connection. It happens a lot

But we climbed down into the bowl to get this shot

And then up the other side to get this shot. To get here we climbed on the backside of delicate arch where there were old spikes in the rocks that we could use to hang on too. They use to have chains for people to go that way but took them down. Most people just stayed up on the other side.

We even got this cool shot

From this rock ledge

We did some night/light shots

And we went back to Broken Arch in the morning to get these cool ones

From the inside of Broken Arch

We actually climbed up on top of Sand Dunes Arch but none of those pictures turned out. This is from the inside of the Arch

South Window Arch through North Window Arch

Double Arch

Landscape Arch

A hale storm came through while we were looking at Landscape Arch and we found an overhang to stand under. It was really cool and when we got back to the bus everyone wanted to know how we were still dry!

A mini flood came through after the hale storm passed

Fiery Furnace viewpoint