Havasupai, AZ on the cheap

I've been reading around and trying to plan a trip to visit Havasupai this year. I have a couple of questions though.

I hear that it is pretty busy from May to August? If I go around the end of august will it be colder? (the water)


I guess that there was a lot of flooding last year, and it wiped out a waterfall but created a new one right?? Would it still be worth it to go down? Or wait a year?

I have read a couple TR's about hiking down, most do it in the day, but i have heard of some that do it around midnight with a full moon. Which is better?

And Lastly, i would like to do this on the cheap. I realize that there is an entrance fee, and camping fee, and daily night stay fee, and all other sort of fees, How could we do these for the least amount of money? Any way to skirt the camping fee and camp off in the wilderness?

Thanks

water is a constant, it is spring fed. september and october are plenty warm, still crowded though.

it's been flooding regularly the last few years. how long do you want to wait? the travertine will not look like the postcards, thats for sure.

hike down when it's comfortable. it's a long hike down and back in a day, but easily doable. camping is sweet, but costs money. if you camp way downriver from the falls, you might be able to get a backcountry national park permit, but that will cost money as well, and the camping may not be awesome, from what i remember.

no matter how you cut it, it ain't "cheap..." not by camping standards, at least.

Once you get down there, you definitely won't want to be hiking out in the same day. You'll want to take some time to enjoy at least the 2 major waterfalls.

We used to go 1 week before Spring Break, @ mid April when things start to turn green. The air was just barely starting to warm up but still a bit chilly at night. Like Carpey said, the water is the same temp year 'round.

One of my first trips down there:

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20168

I might point out that camping fees are a big source of income for the reservation.

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Originally Posted by Sagebrusher

I might point out that camping fees are a big source of income for the reservation.

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and I've heard that harassing females is a popular past time of a few locals

Yeah - what beech said about not wanting to rush back out. It may be expensive in comparison to other backpacking destinations but if you take the effort to get there you should allow time to enjoy it. I recommend the hike all the way to the confluence, for example, as another good use of a day down there.

Cool, thanks for all the comments.

We are probably looking to go around end of July or August then. I guess there is no way around the fees huh? I've actually dug a little to see if I had a little cherokee indian in me! :)

I did it for the first time last year in September and in the canyon it was just too hot. I brought a fleece blanket and it didn't get used at all, except for an added layer of padding. All of us slept outside our bags.

One thing that helped at sleeping at night was soaking in the river right before bed - therefore your body was much much cooler, which made falling asleep easier.

New Navajo Falls are a blast to play in, as well "cliff" jumping from there as well.

Havasu Falls are another great one to play in...so fun! Mooney Falls you can't really soak there as it is mostly filled in with sand, but there is a fun tire swing below it.

The village is about two miles away and I'd definitely buy everything there (if needs be) at one time rather than making multiple trips.

If you go in August, the hike will be much to hot to hike out during the day - so either fork over $80/person for a heliride which will take you to the top in about 5 mins OR start hiking out late in the evening to avoid the heat and most importantly to avoid water evaporation, since 8 miles all up hill can drain a camelback pretty easily.

I'll be down there in 2 weeks (so excited!)... and there really isn't a cheap way to do it.

I know it's a bit expensive, but trust me, it's completely worth it. There really is no place like it anywhere on this Earth. :) You'll enjoy it.