Havasupai 2009 ... Post Flood

It's taken me awhile to get these up. I hope you enjoy. While there was damage from the flood last year, it was still well worth the trip. It is amazing what water can do. I now better understand how the Grand Canyon became to be. This year there was 52 in our group...more than twice the size of last year.

Are you ready for picture overload. What to post? What not to post?

Down there in the bottom of the canyon...that is the trail. What normally takes 2-2 1/2 hours to get to, the village is only 3 minutes in the helicopter. The ride in was a bit scary due to the bad winds.

The village from the helicopter.

While the flood took away 1 of the waterfalls (Navajo), it also created 2 new BEAUTIFUL waterfalls. This is the 1st of the new ones. We didn't see it until we were further down the trail the 1st day. The ground near it is very unstable and you can see the destruction in the 2nd picture. This used to all be a creek and surrounded by trees.

Just below the 1st new falls.

Next view. You can really see the canyon the water made in this one.

As the 2nd new falls appears (what we call "New Navajo Falls") It is just upstream from where Navajo Falls was (check out the pictures and video below of what it looks like now)

They discovered that they enjoy jumping off this falls better than Navajo. It is about as high from the jumping point and there is a place to put your stuff. Neither of these falls have been officially named. (Check out the video below of Brigham doing a flip off the falls.)

Just below the 2nd new waterfall looking down stream.

This is looking back at the 2nd new falls, but around the corner. You can see the 1st new fall in the distance. This is how we discovered the 1st one existed. A few of us went back into where Navajo Falls was. It was so eerie. The mud from the flood filled in all the pools. The only water left is from what is left of the pool in the picture below.

You can see the old rope hanging down right in the middle of the picture. This was used to get from the top of the falls down to the point you could jump off. It was so quiet back there. Felt sort of like a grave yard. From the top of Havasu Falls. Jason Needler was the one brave enough to get that close to it going over the top. First peek of the color of the milky water and new pools at Havasu Falls. Only part of the old falls is there.
What is left of the pools (some of which they are helping to build back up)

From the side coming down the trail.

Showing better what is left of Havasu Falls.

Havasu Falls from below.

Havasu pools being rebuilt. You can see the trees and sand bags in some places. The mineral deposits have already covered almost all of them. Probably by next year you won't be able to tell that is what they did to help build them back up.

Alisa walking across one of the smaller pools being built up. You can see a few sand bags.

What is left of the campground. There isn't many trees or shade left and what trees are left, most are dead.New picnic tables were built to replace the old ones that were lost in the flood.

There was a lot of debris left after the flood. Here is one of the old picnic benches.
Mooney Falls from the top.Looking down below Mooney Falls. The pools are gone and were filled in with mud and there is less water. The water goes over to the right now instead of filling all this in.Mooney Falls from below. Still looks the same from this angle.This is where we used to rope swing off a mini falls below Mooney Falls. There isn't a pool left to jump into, but it looks similar. The tree the rope swing was on is still there.Down below Mooney Falls. You can see yet another mini fall. There are many mini falls between Mooney and Beaver Falls.If this fall was there last year, I don't remember it. This is just after the previous picture, just looking down stream. It was pretty cool looking and you could totally stand underneath in this little cave on the left side. This is now where the awesome rope swing is. The pools are again filled in, but it doesn't mean we didn't figure out how to have fun there.A bit of improvising. They used to jump off the rock while hanging on the rope swing. The old angle and old pool used to allow a lot of space to do flips into the water and a lot of fun has been had. This year the pool was limited and only below the mini falls. This is how we did it this year. (Check out the video below of Alisa doing the full thing.)Kristin gets the best air after letting go.Tammy, Janelle, Aly and I at the rope swing. This is one of the only pictures I have of me on my camera. Always behind the camera...rarely in front of it.Blogger isn't cooperating. It won't let me move these pictures. These are of the 2nd new waterfall, but from the bottom of the fall.You can walk behind the whole waterfall. You can see Alisa about to go behind and Jason is already behind the waterfall. For those not willing to jump off the top, the lower jump is an option. For people like me...none of it is an option:)From the front.More destruction.

A few people are in this video jumping off. At the end of the video is Brigham's flip.

Navajo Falls Video

Just below Mooney Falls.

Alisa braving it and doing the rope swing the "new" way.

Video of below Havasu Falls.