Exploring the Confluence: Grand Canyon’s Hidden Gem via Havasupai
Ahh, the Confluence. A short and sweet hike down into the Grand Canyon…not! Don’t let this hike fool you guys, it is difficult, hard to follow, and pretty exposed. It’s much different IRL than on a video or blog post, so please be sure to research, research, research before you decide to embark upon this epic trail while you’re in the beautiful Havasupai Campground! This post will cover how we planned ahead for it, what we brought with us, and how the trail was in 2025 (after the flash flood in 2024). Let’s go!! What Is The Confluence? The Confluence is where Havasu Creek meets the Colorado River, located deep in the Grand Canyon and accessible via a strenuous trail from Havasupai. Known for its bright blue-green water merging with the Colorado’s darker current, it’s one of the most scenic and remote day hikes in the region. Why We Decided to Hike The Confluence from Havasupai Would I do it again? Yes. Was it extremely annoying? Also yes. Let’s start from the beginning. I have nothing but love for trails of all kinds, especially the ones that put me to the test through both mind and body. It’s the endurance, the amazing views, the irritability that comes and goes as I move through states of mind along the quiet and questionable pieces of the hike. The steep drop offs, the straight uphill climbs, the wandering off trail a whole bunch, it’s all going to happen when you make your way onto the Confluence Trail. Some YouTubers we watched afterward do the same trail said it’s not worth the trip, but I beg to differ. Once the pain creeped up my legs, once my foot cramped for the MILLIONTH time this trip, once a stick poked through my sandals and catapulted me into the abyss…that’s when I knew this was my kind of trail. Despite my RBF the entire time. 🙂 I love these kind of hikes, they’re both challenging and perfect in so many ways. On that video, they mentioned that it was “BORING.” Like, what? Did you forget where you are at? Allow me to remind you. 👇 “Are We There Yet?” Syndrome I think that is something that comes along with grueling activities. It seems like a great idea until we actually do the thing, where we soon find out that “oh, the thing is really hard,” so our brain switches from “this is so much fun!” to, “are we there yet?” Which ironically is something I continually work on in this life, learning how to accept the suck. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Because every time I tackle yet another one of these battles, a new feeling of accomplishment rushes over me, knowing I was able to successfully do the thing without giving in. Let me explain what I mean by “giving in.” Sure, your body will fizzle out at some point. Mine seems to check out around mile 6-7. I’m usually feeling super amazing up until then, chatting up the hubs about our next adventures and bee-bopping along with no external motivation needed. And then, around mile 7-8, I notice a significant drop off in my energy level, no matter how much I prepared ahead of time. This is when you need to dig deep, find that inner strength and pull that sh*t out of you…(Millennials, you’ll know the line). But in all seriousness, it becomes all mental after that. For the next 8 miles, I went into my own head and decided I would become present and see the beauty around me instead of checking out and waiting for the ride to end. Packing List for The Confluence Day Hike Once we knew for certain we’d be packing not only for the Havasupai Falls trail, we made sure to bring a daypack that would allow us to hike to the Confluence without lugging our giant backpacking packs the 16 (approximate) miles there and back. Of course, carrying an extra pack seemed a bit annoying, which is why we determined that just one would do the trick instead of bringing both of our daypacks. (We were supposed to switch on and off throughout the hike to the Colorado River, but the hubs was nice enough to notice my struggle and carried it the entire way instead). <3 Yay for awesome partners! We really love the Osprey line of packs, I’ll link a few below that we use most often. Check out our trip back home post (coming soon), to see which luggage options of theirs we’re loving as well! After seeing a few couples with really lightweight, more packable style backpacks, we were grateful to have suffered the extra weight to be able to have a backpack that was fully supportive with padded shoulders and a thick hip belt to help distribute the weight evenly. A lot of the trail was gradually uphill and downhill, but there were several parts that shot straight up or down as well. Here’s what it looked like after a bunch of creek crossings on the way there! Our favorite current go-to packs by Osprey: Osprey Sportlite 25 Hiking Backpack (I like the purple one, he chose the green, they are both beautiful!) Osprey Eja 48 Ultralight Backpacking Backpack (I chose the one in this link, the hubs liked the plain gray) Here’s what we opted to carrying with us to the Confluence in case you’re wondering! JetBoil stove (including waterproof matches, a windproof lighter and a small fuel canister) Water filter in case there were any stops along the way to fill our water bladders…there wasn’t 3 liter water bladder filled to da brimmm A few snack bars for us each Stinger Energy Chews, Salt Stick electrolyte tablets, and of course, grape jolly ranchers Two lunch meals and sporks (<— one of my favorite words) Chapstick (which you’ll soon find for purchase on Habitual Balance! Yay!), sunscreen, bug spray, and hand sanitizer
The Treacherous Traverse Down Into The Famous Mooney Falls
Supppp peeps! If you’ve been following along on the Havasupai Series, you’ll know that we left off by arriving to the campground! Yay! This post will cover what we did in the campground the first night and second morning, including our traverse into Mooney Falls. Don’t forget to stop back later this week to read all about our trip afterwards down to the Confluence! Yay again!! Mooney Falls Hike: Facing Fears, Climbing Chains & Finding Magic in the Mist As you can see by now, this recent trip has a lot to unpack. Which is why we love staggering our stays into several stages (which you can read more about in this post!) By doing this, it allows us to take our time, prepare accordingly, and feel at ease while we’re in traveling mode. I used to have such angst while traveling. Whether it was at the airport or packing beforehand or finding the nearest gas station when we got into our rental car, I was usually a mess mentally. Nit-picking would come easy because I would have no plan on what to do next, and no idea of the area surrounding me or where we were going because I wouldn’t take the time to research before we left. (Because, who has extra time, right?) When You Quit Trying to Control, You Can Begin Living But this time was different. As we made our way into the Havasupai campground and got unpacked, it felt unreal. Unreal that I was finally in this beautiful place after so many months of planning and unreal that I had so much less anxiety than I ever used to. Every trip into nature, especially the backpacking ones in my opinion, are like mini rebirths every single time on my own little journey. It’s enlightening to see how much further you grow from the last one, or to recognize how much growth you still have to conquer. Backpacking heals me. Seriously. Even though we got to completely relax and veg out in Parks, Arizona before this excursion, I still longed for that “off-grid” type vibe that I was looking forward to for so long. And, once I got out of the tent that first morning, I remembered why the blisters aching my feet and the nearly 40 pound pack wasn’t a bother anymore. Base Camp Vibes: Easing Into the Mooney Falls Hike Even though this hike was centered around the Havasu Falls, the more pressing task on my mind was the fact that to go *literally* anywhere else from there, we would have to hike down to Mooney Falls. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you, especially if heights aren’t an issue. But for humans out here like me, it was actually kind of a big deal…especially when Ben (the hubs) decided to take an evening stroll to the top to see the staircase the night before we had to get after it. (see the pics above for reference!) I knew from watching previous YouTube videos that it would be a bit of sketch, but when I saw it in person, my heart literally sunk. I remember turning to him and saying, “like, I don’t know if I can actually do this.” He probably thought I was joking…I was not. The feeling that I got when seeing how tiny those people looked on the side of the cliff, the feeling when I could barely see the rock cut out where the “steps” were by the chains that you’d need to hold onto, was the same exact feeling I’d gotten the night we camped out on the Napali Coast. Of course, I felt accomplished. I’d tackled one of the most dangerous hikes in the world (so they say), during a time when the trail was shut down from weather right after we’d entered hours earlier. I’d tackled Angel’s Landing in Zion, (future post to come!) even though it took some persisting to get me past some of the harder parts. And I’d tackled Humphrey’s Peak, the tippy top of Seneca Rocks and the list goes on. (Check out the blog page to more travel posts!) But as I laid next to the ocean waves crashing beside me that night, I thought, “Why did I put myself in this position?” This is the same as what happened the first night we camped in Havasupai. Not realizing that I’d have to yet again face my fears to complete my conquest of the day, I worried that I would be ruining our whole trip if I couldn’t make it down. To my surprise though, we did it! And it was MUCH more slippery (and straight down) than we had anticipated. Caves, Gloves & Muddy Steps: Beginning the Mooney Falls Hike Descent When we got up, we decided if we were feeling okay to keep hiking. Since we felt pretty good still, we had some dehydrated berries and granola for breakfast, packed up the one day pack we brought, my new found little waist pack, and hit the trail. (PS, make sure you use the bathroom at the top! There won’t be anymore along the way if you’re going to Mooney Falls, Beaver Falls, or The Confluence). As we made our way down, we hit the spot where the cave is. It’s pretty cool actually, (including the view that peaks at Mooney when you’re going from one cave into another, see below) and I’m really grateful that we got to experience it. We waited for a few folks ahead of us, (try not to get too close to people ahead of you especially on this descend/ascend, let them go at their own pace with what they feel comfortable at so that you don’t make them feel rushed), and then continued on our little adventure down the muddy mess. Once you’re at the top of the “steps,” you’ll notice some extra gloves others leave behind for hikers to use. We