Going Down on the Biggest Hole In Arizona - Now With 10% More Camwhore!! (1625 hits)
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Submitted by Skinny Kenny (View user info) at 2005-08-25 14:31:49 EDT
No, this post isn't about your ex's mom (tha old hussy). The biggest hole in AZ is in fact the Grand Canyon, and this post recounts my backpacking vacation there, as well as the advertised camwhore.
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As promised, here are some pictures from my recent backpacking excursion to
the Havasupai Indian reservation, one of the most beautiful places God ever
created. Winding down Havasu Canyon on the south rim of the western end of
the Grand Canyon is Havasu Creek, one of the world's rare watercourses that
carries suspended in its currents and eddies a peculiar substance known as
travertine.
"Travertine is a product of the earth's water and carbon cycles. As carbon
dioxide-rich rainwater percolates through soil and stone, it slowly
dissolves tremendous quantities of limestone along underground fissures.
This water, now saturated with dissolved limestone, reemerges at the surface
at warm or hot springs and releases carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere
-- much like carbonated mineral water. Once the carbon dioxide is released,
the limestone can no longer remain in solution. It re-crystallizes,
typically as the water cascades over organic films made of bacteria, algae,
and mosses. A dense, banded carbonate stone is built up over time as new
material covers older layers. This process has continued at the Bagni di
Tivoli springs for at least 80,000 years. (This is the same process that
builds up the terraces around the springs at Yellowstone National Park in
the United States. The "yellow stone" there is fresh sulfurous travertine of
almost the exact same chemical composition as Bagni di Tivoli stone.)"
There is no access by road to Supai, the Havasupai village. The only way to
get there is by an age old trail which starts at the Hualapai Hilltop. This
is as far as you're going by motorized vehicle. From there, it's 8 grueling
miles down through the barren desert canyon from the hilltop to the lush and
fertile Havasupai village, and then another 2 mi. or so to the campground.
If you've got deep pockets (and a really rugged ass) you can get there by
horseback ($75/animal), a service provided by the natives. The only natives
who actually own horses (about 50% of them) are those willing to subdue and
tame the wild equestrians which freely roam their land, often at the cost of
broken bones or lost appendages.
The Havasupai are a relaxed and friendly people who have historically made
their living farming, mining uranium from the canyon walls, and lately
tourism.
The annual Peach Festival is held the second weekend of August and includes
a rodeo, traditional dancing, the Miss Havasupai, Teen and Baby Havasupai
contests. Many of the attendees are members of other Native American
tribes, and some of them bring along their own horses and livestock for the
rodeo. They make a big production out of driving the livestock down the
trail for the rodeo. The festival also features an appreciable PA system
blasting reggae all night long to cap off the festivities (they fly the PA
in by helicopter). It is said that Bob Marley played at the festival one
year in the 70s.
On the way from the village to the campground, you pass by Navajo Falls and Havasu Falls. The campground itself is situated along the creek between
Havasu and Mooney Falls, the largest of the three waterfalls. Mooney is
over 200' tall and is surrounded by beautiful rock "curtains" formed by the
travertine depositing on the living vegetation surrounding the falls over
thousands of years.
I hope you all enjoy looking at these pictures half as much as I did taking
them. I've included a bit of the USGS topographic map showing the region
for your edification although after resizing it doesn't really convey much.
The black kid is our hero from my post "Marcel Slows Down" -
http://www.ubersite.com/m/72909.
Enjoy!
User Reviews
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-12-30 14:34:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2005-12-30 12:34:23 (#)
Ranking: 2
nice hat. unfortunately after exposure to uber i can't help but think "asshat."
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Guess I can't blame you for that. Uber does that to people.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2005-12-30 12:34:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
nice hat. unfortunately after exposure to uber i can't help but think "asshat."
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2005-12-30 12:28:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome. I love posts like these. More travelling.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-12-15 19:58:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Whenever I hear Arizona, I keep thinking it's in South America.
Submitted by Kindred (user info) at 2005-12-15 19:45:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:18:37 (#)
Ranking: 2
This was a very informative and interesting post, by the way.
I think uber needs a network of individuals willing to allow people to stay in their homes so we can all do more inexpensive traveling. That would rule.
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Cool pics. As to the comment above, check this out http://www.couchsurfing.com/ . I've used. It's fucking fantastic.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-08-29 09:02:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
very cool
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-08-26 12:04:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
huh huhuhuhuh you said "hole".
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2005-08-26 11:20:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
great post
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-08-25 21:41:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Badass indeed.
Let's fucking hear it for Awesome Post Thursday!! What a glorious day for Uber.
Oh, and ETS had a great idea there, with the cheap travel and such.
Submitted by Mister (user info) at 2005-08-25 20:34:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Badass.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-08-25 20:30:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-08-25 19:06:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
COOL
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-08-25 18:56:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-25 17:16:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ah DAMN I should have showed him list post BEFORE I put a comment on here about how I was going to get my way on this
Now I'm going to have to copy-paste this whole thing into Word or some shit.
damnit damnit all to hell
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-25 17:13:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good point
I've seen pictures of people swimming in the water there so I figured it couldn't be all that cold. It looks just amazing. I'm going to use this post to make the point with Sam that we simply must do this. Normally, I get my way with this sort of thing. I think it's odd how few people realize that there are waterfalls down there. Hell, I have a picture on my wall of the river from one of the bridges at the bottom. People don't believe me when I tell them that it's the GC, they'll never believe it when they see the waterfalls.
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 17:00:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-08-25 16:36:50 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:46:36 (#)
Ranking: 2
nice
Here I am on the South Rim at Plateau Point. http://www.ubersite.com/m/68881
I've had Havasupai on the list for some time, but have not gotten around to it. Was the water cold? Because the Colorado in the bottom of this damn hole is freezing in an ice cream headache sort of way.
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Not too bad, and very refreshing after spening a few hours in the 90-100 degree heat. It's not very deep, so I think that helps. Plus, the Colorado comes off the BOTTOM of Lake Powell, which is VERY deep, and therefore very cold.
GLALL - Big South Fork is great, isn't it? Been there a few times myself, and had friends who used to do milti-day rafting trips there. I also used to ride dirtbikes in Kopper's Wildlife Reserve right at the exit where you get off I-75 to go to Big South Fork.
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Oh, absolutely. I'm quite and outdoors kind of guy, and Ohio is sparse with any good national parks. I wish I had a dirtbike, done it a few times and loved it; used to own a three-wheeler. I'm sure there are lots of great riding spots in the south.
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-08-25 16:36:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:46:36 (#)
Ranking: 2
nice
Here I am on the South Rim at Plateau Point. http://www.ubersite.com/m/68881
I've had Havasupai on the list for some time, but have not gotten around to it. Was the water cold? Because the Colorado in the bottom of this damn hole is freezing in an ice cream headache sort of way.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not too bad, and very refreshing after spening a few hours in the 90-100 degree heat. It's not very deep, so I think that helps. Plus, the Colorado comes off the BOTTOM of Lake Powell, which is VERY deep, and therefore very cold.
GLALL - Big South Fork is great, isn't it? Been there a few times myself, and had friends who used to do milti-day rafting trips there. I also used to ride dirtbikes in Kopper's Wildlife Reserve right at the exit where you get off I-75 to go to Big South Fork.
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-08-25 16:36:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:46:36 (#)
Ranking: 2
nice
Here I am on the South Rim at Plateau Point. http://www.ubersite.com/m/68881
I've had Havasupai on the list for some time, but have not gotten around to it. Was the water cold? Because the Colorado in the bottom of this damn hole is freezing in an ice cream headache sort of way.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not too bad, and very refreshing after spening a few hours in the 90-100 degree heat. It's not very deep, so I think that helps. Plus, the Colorado comes off the BOTTOM of L
GLALL - Big South Fork is great, isn't it? Been there a few times myself, and had friends who used to do milti-day rafting trips there. I also used to ride dirtbikes in Kopper's Wildlife Reserve right at the exit where you get off I-75 to go to Big South Fork.
Submitted by Barnymeinhoff (user info) at 2005-08-25 16:26:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
2 for the doggy
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:59:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, but it was close to six years ago, stayed around Big South Fork National River for some fishing from what I can remember, wanted to go back but to a different area for quite sometime.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:49:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
GLALL - so you've been to the Gorge? Moonrock...Smoke Top?
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:46:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice
Here I am on the South Rim at Plateau Point. http://www.ubersite.com/m/68881
I've had Havasupai on the list for some time, but have not gotten around to it. Was the water cold? Because the Colorado in the bottom of this damn hole is freezing in an ice cream headache sort of way.
Submitted by Xcuses (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:43:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by PokeyPecker (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:42:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
I think uber needs a network of individuals willing to allow people to stay in their homes so we can all do more inexpensive traveling. That would rule.
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I'm all over that. People can stay in my apartment here in Ann Arbor if you hit Michigan.
(such as it is).
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sweet- new roomate
*packs bags*
Submitted by PokeyPecker (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:42:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think uber needs a network of individuals willing to allow people to stay in their homes so we can all do more inexpensive traveling. That would rule.
=============================================================================
I'm all over that. People can stay in my apartment here in Ann Arbor if you hit Michigan.
(such as it is).
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:37:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:36:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:27:53 (#)
Ranking: 2
if you all hit Mammouth and then we swing down to kentucky for The Red River Gorge I am in.
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I definitely wouldn't fight you on that one, I fucking love Daniel Boone National....I seriously need to start planning this out.
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:29:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:08:11 (#)
Ranking: 2
GLALL: Since you live in Ohio, if you go to the Smokies, Mammoth Cave is on the way. You could stop by there too. Also, in Southern Illinois there is Shawnee National Forest and Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods is pretty kickass for this region anyway.
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There is also a Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.
Submitted by PokeyPecker (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:29:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:27:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
if you all hit Mammouth and then we swing down to kentucky for The Red River Gorge I am in.
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:22:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've heard Mammoth Caves is awesome, ETS. Never heard of Garden of the Gods, I'll have to google it and get some information on it. Interested in making a trip anytime soon? I hate traveling alone.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:18:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was a very informative and interesting post, by the way.
I think uber needs a network of individuals willing to allow people to stay in their homes so we can all do more inexpensive traveling. That would rule.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:12:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:56:10 (#)
Ranking: 2
Great pics. Looks like you had a blast!
Keep your eyes open for another regional 'big hole' post from me next week...
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I'm waiting for a Boston "big hole" post...
Oh, wait, we had several.
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:09:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Beautiful pics.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:08:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
GLALL: Since you live in Ohio, if you go to the Smokies, Mammoth Cave is on the way. You could stop by there too. Also, in Southern Illinois there is Shawnee National Forest and Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods is pretty kickass for this region anyway.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:06:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent photos.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:05:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:50:31 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:44:19 (#)
Ranking: 2
This was fantastic, no doubt. I've got vacation time built up and have been unsure of what/where to go. This looks like something that is right up my alley. Very informative. Thanks a lot. Any other recommendations on some good places to go for hiking/oudoor activities?
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Having grown up in East Tennessee, the Smokey Mountains are one of my personal favorites.
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In Kentucky smack in the center of the Daniel Boone National Forest is The Natural Bridge State Park/ The Red River Gorge...great hiking, campin, climbing, rapelling, and spellunking. At 10 on a scale of 10...all should check it out.
Submitted by miss_tila (user info) at 2005-08-25 15:03:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Honestly, I didn't read the post. But the pics are amazing.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:56:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great pics. Looks like you had a blast!
Keep your eyes open for another regional 'big hole' post from me next week...
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:50:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:44:19 (#)
Ranking: 2
This was fantastic, no doubt. I've got vacation time built up and have been unsure of what/where to go. This looks like something that is right up my alley. Very informative. Thanks a lot. Any other recommendations on some good places to go for hiking/oudoor activities?
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Having grown up in East Tennessee, the Smokey Mountains are one of my personal favorites.
Submitted by WhatTheHell (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:48:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, nice hole.
Submitted by Sassmasterr (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:48:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i wouldn't say skinny.
i was just in zion national park in the southern part of Utah. that place was pretty cool. i was stuck in a walking boot with a bum ankle. i wish i would have been able to go exploring. <sigh>
Submitted by Xcuses (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:45:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I was so ready to -2this just knowing that the post would be some stupid <insert big vagina joke here> but alas...
great pics and great post
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:44:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was fantastic, no doubt. I've got vacation time built up and have been unsure of what/where to go. This looks like something that is right up my alley. Very informative. Thanks a lot. Any other recommendations on some good places to go for hiking/oudoor activities?
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:40:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good shit Kinney but like 10% more camwhore would mean that you had like 20 camwhores already....ah shit nevermind I suck at math.
Submitted by ChannelDunlap (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:40:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Thats cool as hell
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:39:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
So...you went down on the Beaver?
<crickets chirping>
Ahem...
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:36:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for ANTI-SHIT POST THURSDAY!
Submitted by userpete86 (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:36:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Mike00295 (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:33:56 (#)
Ranking: 2
BADASS
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:36:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fucking cool pics, man! I bet that trip was pwesome!
Submitted by Mike00295 (user info) at 2005-08-25 14:33:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
BADASS