Planning Guide: Havasu Falls

Only 10 days away from visiting paradise and I am beyond excited to go back for a second time. I did a quick recap on last year's trip to Havasu Falls so check it out in the very slim chance you haven't already heard about the infamous blue-green waters. Otherwise, read on for my planning guide to Havasu Falls.

My quick recap briefly touched upon permits, budget and itinerary but this post will do a deeper dive into packing for Havasu Falls, planning your itinerary and understanding the general area. This will be my first time camping there (last year I stayed at the lodge) so my next post will cover hiking and camping with lessons learned from this year's trip.

Packing for Havasu Falls

I've heard that when packing for a backpacking trip, it's important to remember that less is more. This is something I struggle with given that I normally pack a large roll-y suitcase for a weekend trip, so bare with me if you think I should pack even lighter.

1. Create a planning guide. The first thing I do when planning a trip is create a Google Doc with separate tabs for research, itinerary and packing list. Throw some columns on the packing list so you can break it down by category (e.g., clothing, food, equipment, etc) or quantity (e.g., individual vs. group). It'll help you decide what's a need-to-have or nice-to-have. See below for a sample of my packing list for Havasu Falls.
2. Check the weather. This will give you an idea of what kind of clothes you'll need for the trip, which can majorly impact your load. When I visit Supai Village it's going to be mid-high 70's with a 35% humidity level, so I'll try to pack light with 2 pairs of shorts, 4 tops and a bathing suit.
3. Follow the sun. Look up the sunrise and sunset times. This is crucial for planning your itinerary, especially if you're going to be doing an all day hike with difficult trails.

The Waterfalls of Havasu Canyon

Although Havasu Falls is the most well known, there are plenty of other falls that are just as gorgeous. I actually recommend going to the lesser known falls for a higher chance of having the falls to yourself. They're further away and some are harder to get to but it's worth it.

• Navajo Falls - easy trail (1.5 miles north of Supai Village)
• Havasu Falls - easy trail (2 miles north of Supai Village; <0.5 mile south of campground)
• Mooney Falls - moderate trail (0.5 mile north of campground)
• Beaver Falls - tbd (4 miles north of campground)

4-Day Itinerary for Havasu Falls

Since this is my second time planning a Havasu Falls trip, my focus is going to be on Beaver Falls and The Confluence, where Havasu Creek meets the Colorado River. Most people say it's a challenging trail, about 8 miles one way from the campgrounds, so I'm dedicating a full day to it.

• Day 1: Hike in and set up camp.
• Day 2: Hike to The Confluence.
• Day 3: Hike to Mooney Falls and Beaver Falls.
• Day 4: Hike out.

Who else was lucky enough to secure permits to Havasu Falls?? If you have other questions about my planning guide to Havasu Falls feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. I'm happy to help :)

xo, elle

A Quick Weekend Getaway: Santa Barbara

Sometimes you just need a change in scenery and that can be hard with a busy schedule (or limited PTO). Luckily there is no shortage on quick weekend getaways near Los Angeles. This specific trip to Santa Barbara was planned as an early Valentine's Day retreat but more importantly, a celebration to the end of The Whole 30. Obviously. I've only been to Santa Barbara a few times so it was hard to narrow down the itinerary, but since it's so close I can always go back! Every trip I plan includes three very important components: adventure, food and w i n e.

Adventure

Knapp's Castle is an old mansion (or what's left of it) that was built and then destroyed by a forest fire in the 1940's. It's nestled up in the Los Padres National Forest with a panoramic view of Lake Cachuma and the Santa Ynez Valley. Being the ambitious person that I am, I set my alarm for 5AM so we could catch the sun rising from the top of Knapp's Castle. Too bad the weather decided to be a jerk and all we saw were tiny water droplets moving around in misty waves.. I was a bit underwhelmed in the moment but I'm sure it has a lot of photo potential during a normal golden hour.

Food

We made pit stops at Jeannine's, Mony's, The Lark and Breeosh. Jeannine's was a pretty standard breakfast spot that I wasn't crazy about. Mony's was an unexpected delight after two wine tastings. Breeosh was a pastry heaven run by adorable French people and also located in a really cute area with lots of shopping. And the Lark was AMAZING. Hands down one of my favorite meals. The boothang and I were still pretty full from all the wine tastings and ended up splitting the corn bread (with HONEY BUTTER), brussels sprouts (which I normally don't like but loved theirs), duck confit and the most incredible and delicious cheesecake ever. It came with speculoos cookie butter (I am now a believer), honeycomb candy, honey ice cream and grapefruit. I wanted to order five more...and literally said that multiple times throughout the night.

Wine

We started the day at Santa Barbara Winery, which was probably my favorite because of the people and environment. The people who worked there were super friendly and conversational, and were very knowledgeable about their wines (the sauv blanc and pinot were my favorites!). Plus, the back room had a very IG-worthy set up with strung lights and wine barrels. Santa Barbara Wine Collective didn't seem like a wine tasting room and the service felt a bit more cold. The wine selection was okay but definitely in the higher price range. We made an impromptu visit to Riverbench, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea because all the bubbly made me miss my planned sunset trip to Deep Sea Tasting Room (wah) and almost made us lose our dinner reservations. 

Overall I'd say it was a successful weekend getaway and can't wait to go back. I've got quite a few trips coming up so stay tuned to see more travel guides :)

xo, el

Where to Go in Sequoia National Park

Apparently today is National Plan a Vacation Day (seriously, who gets to make up these holidays??) so in honor of it I thought I'd feature one of my recent travels. Earlier this month I got a lot of love for my Instagram post of me among some giant sequoia trees, and as a thank you I wanted to share where to go in Sequoia National Park to see this beauties.

I visited Sequoia with family at the end of December and it was freeeezing. The upside of that is pretty snow photos and less crowded trails. We didn't have a lot of time so we decided to do The Congress Trail, which starts at the General Sherman. In total it's about a 3-mile loop. Despite the cold it was pretty crowded at General Sherman since it's easy to get to - literally park and walk a few yards up to it. But The Congress Trail was a different story. Everything was covered in snow and we saw maybe five other parties throughout our hike. It felt like we had the forest to ourselves and it was incredible to walk in silence among the great giants. Definitely worth dealing with the cold.

Because of the snowy conditions we had to get chains for our car since it wasn't a 4WD, so make sure you always check weather conditions before heading up there. Also, don't forget to pack some snacks for the trail so you can take as long as you want soaking in the beauty. I highly recommend a visit if you haven't already!

xo, elle

A Quick Guide to Visiting Havasu Falls

I'm still letting it sink in that I just got back from visiting Havasu Falls - it's easily one of the most beautiful and majestic places I've ever been. I've wanted to make a trip out there for the past 5 years and seeing its popularity grow finally got me to plan a trip. I've gotten a lot of questions from friends about my visit so I thought I'd put together a quick guide to visiting Havasu Falls! (I'm working on a few more detailed posts with planning tips, hiking tips and lessons learned, so be on the lookout for those.) 

Follow me to Havasu Falls!

Getting Permits For Havasu Canyon

Before you get too excited about discovering this blue-green oasis, you'll need to secure an entry permit in order to go. You can get permits for visiting Havasu Falls by reserving a campground site or a room at the lodge. Campground reservations for the year open February 1st - be ready for a calling spree. My group of four plus me were calling the different phone numbers endlessly for the first week of February before one of us managed to get through. At that point they only had availabilities starting in August, so make sure you have a few backup dates ready when someone answers the phone.

Campground Phone Numbers:

• 928-448-2141
• 928-448-2121
• 928-448-2174
• 928-448-2180

Lodge Phone Numbers:

• 928-448-2111
• 928-448-2201

Mooney Falls was more challenging to get to but worth it because no one was there.

Setting a Budget For Your Trip

Things quickly add up! Decide if you want a rugged or more comfortable trip when visiting Havasu Falls and book everything accordingly. My group started with six and then turned into two so things became much pricier since we opted for the more luxurious options. This is what the three day trip cost us:

• RT Southwest flight for 2 - $175.92
• 4-day Car Rental - ~$220 (we stayed an extra night in Vegas before flying back)
• 2-night stay at Havasupai Lodge (includes entrance fee x2, environmental fee and tax) - $401.50
• Helicopter out for 2 - $170

We brought snacks for the hikes but ate a few meals at the cafe there. Food cost is definitely inflated but if you're looking for a hot burger at the end of your hike, it may be worth the $10. There's also a small grocery shop if you don't want to carry all your food throughout the trip. 

Got to Havasu Falls early and had the whole place to ourselves.

Planning Your Itinerary For Havasu Falls

We did this trip in 3 days but I would have loved an extra few days to explore more and make it to the Colorado River. June to August is considered their monsoon season where thunderstorms and flash floods can happen unexpectedly - we definitely encountered the tail end of this season and experienced some thunder, lightning and rain on our second day. The weather was a pretty solid 90-100 degrees but make sure you account for rain if you plan on visiting during these months.

Day 1:

• Fly into Las Vegas and pick up rental car (4 hour drive to Hualapai Hilltop)
• Hike into Supai Village (8 mile hike; took close to 4 hours)

Day 2:

• Hike to Navajo Falls, Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls
• Thunder and lightning had us turning around at 3:00 PM

Day 3:

• Helicopter out (expect 5 hours of waiting)
• Drive back to Vegas

Fara, our adopted puppy who hiked the whole way in with us!! <3

Be Flexible!

It's important to have a general schedule when visiting Havasu Falls but leave room for change. You may get lost while driving to Hualapai Hilltop or it may start to rain while you're at the waterfalls. Do your research and be prepared! (Shout out to @johnonelio for answering my endless questions!) Look for my next post that will go into more detail with planning tips.

xo, el

Summer Is For Adventure: That PNW Life

My first trip to Oregon was an incredible experience with amazing company. Over the course of 88 hours we drove 987 miles (90% of it done by Jeff), visited 7 cities, enjoyed 9 scenic destinations and ate at 8 different places. Not too bad for a trip that was less than 4 days long. Planning this trip took me more days than I care to share but every hour was worth it. It’s not easy to pack years’ worth of destinations into just a few days, especially when it involves that PNW life.

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Not to be overly sentimental, but this trip wouldn’t have been the same without the people I went with. Young Money and Jeffrey Falls totally let me take control of our itinerary and didn’t say a word despite my Nazi-like planning tendencies. Young was a rockstar at booking all of our accommodations and Jeff was a stud for handling all the transportation. Most importantly, we stuck together and never lost our cool even when we ran into, or rather, fell into deep waters ;)

So if anyone needs help on recommendations I think I have more than enough suggestions for ya! I hope some of you can appreciate this mapped out route of our trip’s adventures, and I also hope you all enjoy the photos from this beautiful place <3