The next morning, Mike and Richard opt to hang out at Havasu Falls. Mike's boots had shrunk from our Zion Narrows hike a year before and his feet were hurting. You would think he would have learned from my experience at our Thanksgiving '99 hike, but I guess my losing the toenails from both of my big toes didn't mean much to him! Matt and I leave for the Colorado River - 7 miles downstream.

Ever Wonder How Mooney Falls Got Its Name??? From Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon, the best selling book at Grand Canyon National Park! "Formerly a sailor...Mooney too had been bitten by the lure of mineral riches. Bitten hard. Mooney and a few others...felt teased by the mystery of what might lay below the biggest falls along the last seven miles to the Colorado. This mystery tortured Mooney. "The Havasupai people apparently never traveled downstream of this point, and for good reason: the falls dropped 196 feet and offered only the most hellishly exposed, expert-only climbing route. "On a fateful last trip, Mooney took a rope down into the canyon and, trusting his sailor's experience with ropes and rope climbing, let himself down over the falls. Once he was over the falls, the others in the party lost sight of him and the roar of water precluded any verbal communication. Soon they felt the rope slacken and, running around to the side of the falls, they saw the rope dangling nearly half way down. Mooney lay on the rocks below. Unable to reach him, all they could do was leave."

We come to Mooney Falls, 200 foot drop. The only way down is through a series of tunnels blasted into the travertine rock by miners. Chains help greatly, as the path is wet from the spray. Once down, there are a couple of beautiful swimming holes, with one having a rope suspended from a tree. We resist the temptation and press on!

The trail is actually several trails made by hikers over the years. We don't always pick the best path, but we keep on heading in the right direction! We go through several fields of grapevines, cross the stream multiple times, and then around the halfway point, come to our first challenge: a near vertical ascent of 20 feet or so.

Fortunately, ropes are in place to help you up. I am a little nervous about using ropes not my own, but not being any kind of a rock climber, don't have much choice. We make it up safely, and then continue on through a lot of prickly pear and other cactus (very prickly!). We descend back to the river, pass several small waterfalls, and eventually start seeing hikers.

They are from a rafting trip! We finally get to a narrow area, play around for a while, and then keep on going. It doesn't look good for keeping our packs dry, so we cache them and continue on. The final 100 yards we have to swim, but we reach the Colorado. And what a contrast - clear blue water from Havasu meets (cold) chocolate brown Colorado River water! We get out of the stream and walk along the edge of the Colorado, meeting some other hikers from Havasu Falls. Then we learn that we missed a trail that would have kept us dry. True, but would they remember the rock scramble to the Colorado? I head back to grab the packs while Matt relaxes. Upon my return, we see another rafting group arriving, getting my first decent pictures since the start of our hike. One of the guides is a woman with massive shoulders - if I ever raft the Colorado, I want to be in her boat!

After lunch, we reluctantly head back with the other group, stopping for pictures and play time. We finally see Beaver Falls - the section requiring the climb up the 20' cliff detoured around it. I later learn that you can swim behind Beaver Falls, descend about 7', go through a large hole for about 8' then ascend the 7' to a small cavern. (Careful - there's a stalactite that ends not too far above surface level - be very careful ascending!) It's called the Green Room, because of the color of the light that passes through the water and is apparently quite beautiful with ferns surrounding you. Next time! We make it back around 6:30 PM, just in time for another dip at Havasu Falls and a hearty dinner of pasta with pesto, pancetta, and freshly grated parmesan. What a great day!