checked out of the motel and drove to the Havasupai trail parking lot. Made good time on the drive. I was still worried about the weight I would be carrying. On the drive there, a cow crossed the road in front of us, not enough to panic but enough to stop for it. I made a joke about a real live T-bone. It was the third time in 2 days. The previous day, we had two times when cars pulled out from a side road in front of us, and the second one was a fairly close call, Charlie did a good job reacting to all three incidents.
On to the hike. We got on the trail at 9:42 and started down a series of switchbacks, pausing several times for horse or mule trains to pass going down or up. Dropped steeply for 0.8 miles, then the grade lessened as we continued descending from the canyon rim down into the valley below. Much of the drop took place in the first 1.8 miles, then we were on the canyon floor and walking either in the dry riverbed or alongside it. Stopped around the 4 mile mark for a 10-15 minute rest and refuel break. There was almost constant helicopter traffic, as Saturday is apparently a supply restocking day. My shoulders were feeling it on the second part of the hike, legs held out okay. As we descended and got closer to the village we started to see greenery, then we came into a stand of trees, cottonwood I think, and eventually we're walking parallel to a stream with beautiful green-tinted water. Around this time we saw signs directing us to Supai village, and then a couple of signs welcoming us to the village itself. The houses are spread along the trail leading into the village center, and we walked by an LDS church on the outskirts. I was ready to be done by this point, but it was at least a half mile into the center of the village. There are some rough houses here and evidence of subsistence living. But the official buildings are in good shape, a nice school and tribal house. We walked through the village to get to the lodge, and Leslie got our room key. The room was quite nice, remodeled recently. The lodge itself has just reopened after being closed during the pandemic. It felt good to put the pack down and eat something. I had a little nap in the afternoon, which we spent just hanging around. Later in the afternoon the three men walked over to the store and got some snacks. It was pretty basic but certainly met our needs.
I used the little backpacking stove that Laura got us way back when, and it worked just great. Had pasta and sauce, and it really hit the spot. Got my smaller backpack loaded and ready for the longer hike on Sunday.
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