This Fetched Us Into The Bed Of
Cataract Canyon, Perfectly Dry.
The trail was nearly a mile long, and it
took us an hour to make our creepy way down.
The Havasupai chief, who had
been advised of our coming, was there to meet us with some of his men, all
mounted; and he took us up the canyon about five miles to a place where
there was a scanty aguage, not sufficing for the wants of the whole party.
Next morning we retraced our steps down the canyon and kept on in its bed
until we reached the wonderful blue spring above described and the
wonderful rancheria of the Indians, a distance from last night's camp of
about twenty-five miles, as we had struck the canyon some twenty miles
above the living water."
Other Trails to the Canyon. Garces came into the canyon by another trail,
entirely distinct from this, commonly known as the Wallapai Trail. He left
Havasu Canyon by still another trail, known as the Moki Trail, which leads
directly from this canyon to the home of the Hopis.
In 1857, Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives made the descent into Havasu Canyon down
the Wallapai Trail. His account of the journey reads like a novel, and
people who are unfamiliar with the wonderful engineering feats of the
Havasu Indians can scarcely believe that Ives did not allow his imagination
to run away with him, in his descriptions of the Havasupais' trails.
Later, Lieutenant Cushing, guided by his Indian friends, rode across
country to the Hopis, and then secured a Hopi guide who took him to see the
Havasupais over the Moki Trail. He confirms all that Ives and Coues have
written of the astonishing character of these trails. Having been up and
down these trails many times during the last dozen years, I can say without
hesitation that there are no more startling trails to be found in our
Southwest.
Trip from El Tovar. One of the most enjoyable of the more arduous trips
taken by visitors to El Tovar is this trip to Havasu (Cataract) Canyon.
Only those who enjoy a strenuous outing should arrange for this trip, and
then plenty of time should be allowed to do it without too great rushing.
The first portion, to the head of the Topocobya Trail, is generally done in
a buckboard. The distance is thirty-five to forty miles, over a varying
road, - good in places, fair in others, and wretchedly poor now and again.
Arrived at the "hill-top," as the Indians call this point, the conveyance
must be abandoned, and all the outfit for sleeping, cooking, and eating is
transferred to the backs of pack animals, which have been sent on ahead.
The visitors take saddle animals. There are those who make this drive, and
then ride to the village, fifteen miles further down the trail, in one day.
A better plan is either to make "dry camp" at the head of the Topocobya
Trail; or, if time permits, descend to the Topocobya Spring, which flows
out of the base of the immense cliff down which one fork of the trail
descends.
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