Before & After Backpacking Havasupai

I was super excited for my first Backpacking Trip but my friends & I wanted to use our time off work to see as much of Arizona as possible. We left Seal Beach, CA at 4:00am! Arizona does not have daylight savings time so we had to leave earlier than ideal. From there, we drove through Nevada, Utah & finally made it to Northern Arizona just in time for our tour 2:20pm tour at Antelope Canyon. Of course I brought some crochet to work on during the drive.

Antelope Canyon:

Antelope Canyon was the first thing we wanted to check out. Whether you are going to upper or lower canyon, you must do a tour. We chose to do the General Tour at Ken’s Tours in Lower Antelope Canyon. The cost $28 per person & was worth every penny.

Because we went in winter, Lower Antelope was almost empty! Our guide helped point out cool spots for photos & we were only with 4 other people. We took as much time as we wanted, spending about 45 min in the canyon. During the summer, the lines are huge & the weather is hot! But you do get light beaming into the canyon!

Horseshoe Bend

Next stop was sunset at horseshoe bend! It was a 15 minute drive from Antelope Canyon then a short walk from the parking lot, but man was it cold! We spent about 30 min there taking photos & watching the sunset. It was the perfect time of day.

Grand Canyon Caverns

It was a 3 hour drive to our hotel so we stopped in Flagstaff for our first meal all day. The next morning we started our hike through Havasupai at 7:00am. So we stayed at the closest hotel to Hualapai Hilltop, The Grand Canyon Caverns Inn.  This place was a Route 66 roadside photo opp heaven. To bad we did not make it to the hotel until after 10:00pm. Since we had to check in late, we were told to use the bell to alert the night attendant. We waited about 20 min in the cold & dark. Exhausted & worried that no one would come, but luckily had cell phone service (Verizon). We called & woke up the sleeping night attendant. Our room was about $106.00 for the night. They had cereal, coffee, & bagels in the morning. I wish we had more time to check this place out!

Flagstaff & The Wigwam Motel

After our hike, we were exhausted & ready for a good meal. We ventured into Flagstaff, AZ & found  our new favorite place, Outback Steak House. (We actually stopped here the night before our hike too! hahah)

Staying in Flagstaff would have be easier, but since I did the planning I booked us a $60.00 teepee at  The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, a place I found on Instagram. Although the extra driving was unnecessary, it was worth it.

Sedona

On our way home, we planed to check out Sedona. I had no idea how nice this area was! Not only was it beautiful, but also the landscape was a little different than what we had previously seen on our trip. The plan was to do a short hike to Devil’s Bridge but due to rain & exhaustion we decided to save it for next time.

Thank you for reading & let me know if you have any questions! I’d be happy to help make your trip as fun, successful & worry free as possible! For what my backpacking trip was like, check out my Havasupai post!

XOXO- Megan