- A Horse Named Mandy
- Feb 9, 2007
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You've probably seen pictures of Havasu falls. Its shockingly blue waters and stunning red rock canyon make it one of the most picturesque hikes in the world, appearing on countless top ten lists and instagrams.
But this place is a bastard to get permits for. Supposedly, 250 permits are available each day, reservable by calling one of four phone numbers. This is the official word on the NPS website (even though this isn't NPS land, the Tribal website has been down for a while).
There's just one problem: you will not get through.
On the first day alone, Villiborghi dialed dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Always a busy signal.
By the end of the first day, online travel forums dedicated to Havasupai falls said the permits had been booked solid from peak season all the way up to the first of April, Villiborghi said.
"Over the span of the week, I had 15 hours with the headset next to my head pressing redial,” he said.
The following week, Villiborghi estimates he and his friends attempted calling for another collective five hours. He attempted the line so many times, he began to recognize the different types of ring tones and busy signals he would hear. There was the ring that abruptly cut you off, the one that transitioned into a busy signal, the ring that was solid and one that was more static-filled.
No one in their group ever got through.
Here you can find somebody asking about trouble getting a permit from 2010. One of the replies says they had the same issue 10 years before that, meaning this has been a problem since at least 2000. Each time it's the same details: can't get through, and when you do, everything is booked full.
Yet, despite claims of selling out every day, I've seen stories of the camp being largely empty at times, or at least still accessible to walk-ins.
Despite being told that the campground was full, when I was there in March, I would estimate that over half the sites were empty, and the crowds seemed thinner the further we walked.
When I finally spoke to someone, they said they were "full", which made no sense at all. I was told that we could "take a chance" and hike down and see if there was any room. As it turns out, the place was dead empty, I mean the entire campground completely empty.
Another time I went in April (an extremely busy month), and like good scouts we made reservations far in advance. When we arrived we saw tons of walk-ins getting permits and packing into the already overflowing campground.
So what's the deal? Is the tribal infrastructure just that bad? Is this some sort of racket? Do they not really care as long as the money is good? Whatever the reason, I'll probably never get to go.
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Feb 2, 2017 04:56
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May 3, 2024 03:53
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- A Horse Named Mandy
- Feb 9, 2007
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I'd be pretty understanding if the native population just wanted all the tourists to gently caress off at this point, but knowing the economic situation of most tribes, they're likely begrudgingly dependent on tourist dollars and unable to maintain the necessary resources to support demand.
“Overpriced and shady place, but only option you have!”
2 stars
This was our only option for a place to stay while visiting in late December. We did actually see some people camping, but I'm not that adventurous in the Winter. I called them for weeks before I got anyone on the phone. They don't answer the phone often. You have to call a lot! I found 9am Eastern Time to be the best. We paid $400 for two nights (includes tax and permit) to say here. Upon arrival the place didn't look to bad. It is the nicest place in the village! However, the door had obviously been kicked in. The latch lock was broken and the front window did not even close. I was a little concerned about our safety! My boyfriend made fun of me because I had him push the love seat against the door while we slept and I put my money, phone and camera in a hidden spot. I had read people get robbed here and there is nothing that they could do about it. The permit required you to sign an agreement that you realize you have no medical or police help for any reason. You ARE ON YOUR OWN! Bring a weapon of some sort. It was an uneasy feelings being in such a remote location without any safety. However, it is the most amazing place in the US, so it is still worth it! Also, it rained while we were there and they lost power. We did not have heat or running water. I never got to shower - NO HOT WATER, EVER. You will not be getting a hot shower and there is not any coffee in the room. There was wifi the first day, but after it rained and they lost power, we never say the power come back on. Make sure you come prepared. You want to bring food and survival stuff. This village is the most remote village in the US. They do not follow US rules, it is their land and their reservation. They make their own rules. You can get coffee and food at the one restaurant. It is pricey. Coffee is $4 for med and $5 for a large I think. I'd pay whatever, but I'm just letting you know stuff is not inexpensive anywhere. The restaurant and grocery close at 5. If you are traveling during the Winter, bring something to do after dark. There is nothing to do and we didn't want to go out after dark. No alcohol on the reservation, we were missing some craft beer for sure! haha.
Room Tip: Ask for a room with windows that close and a door that hasn't been kicked in.
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Feb 6, 2017 09:01
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- A Horse Named Mandy
- Feb 9, 2007
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Interesting update: the tribe's reservation website is back, except A: it's a different web address. B: they never told anybody about it, but C: everything was still booked up in a day and D: they continue to get slammed, so have shut down the reservation portion of the website. Maybe next year, but after making easily over a thousand calls over the course of a week and never hearing anything other than a dial tone, it's an discouraging note to end on.
Hearing stories of how easy it used to be to make reservations for even the most popular trails, assuming they were even needed, it makes me wonder if outdoor recreation is really going through a surge this generation, or if the nature of the hobby has fundamentally changed at this point.
A Horse Named Mandy fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Feb 9, 2017
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Feb 9, 2017 22:07
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- A Horse Named Mandy
- Feb 9, 2007
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I haven't seen much of the Santiago de Camino on social media (at least not in the US), and there's no way the increased popularity is from a mediocre Martin Sheen movie from 2010, but it seems to be spiraling out of control.
code:Year Pilgrims
2016 277,915
2015 262,458
2014 237,886
2013 215,880
2012 192,488
2011 179,919
2010 272,703*
2009 145,877
2008 125,141
2007 114,026
2006 100,377
2005 93,924
2004 179,944*
2003 74,614
2002 68,952
2001 61,418
2000 55,004#
1999 154,613*
1998 30,126
1997 25,179
1996 23,218
1995 19,821
1994 15,863
1993 99,436*
1992 9,764
1991 7,274
1990 4,918
1989 5,760
1988 3,501
1987 2,905
1986 1,801
1985 690
* Holy Years (Xacobeo/Jacobeo)
# Santiago named European Capital of Culture
I rarely stayed in the albergues (huts) because I prefer to sleep outside than pay $5 to sleep with a bunch of people who snore and make a racket going to bed late. However, with just 5 km before Santiago, I celebrated by staying at the albergue. When I signed in, I asked the lady, "Is it a busy night tonight?"
"No, only 30 pilgrims are staying here."
"What's the maximum capacity?"
"550."
550?! It looked huge from the outside, but since I arrived at night, I couldn't tell just how enormous this albergue was. There's a series of buildings to house pilgrims. Incredibly, during the summer they're overflowing in capacity.
Pilgrims walking on of El Camino many paved, but deserted, roads. The surrounding farmland is nice to look at for a few days, but then gets boring.Click to expand and see caption
To be fair, most albergues are far smaller, hosting fewer than 100 pilgrims. Still, one hundred is a lot!
When I received my Compostela (the certificate of completion) in Santiago, I asked one of the four volunteers what's the maximum pilgrims the office processed in one day. The answer blew me away: "On one day in August 2009, we processed 1,500 pilgrims."
My mouth dropped. The line was down the stairs and wound around the streets outside. Pilgrims waited for hours to get their piece of paper.
I told the man, "But 2010 is a Holy Compostellan Year (because July 25 falls on a Sunday). You'll surely break the record then, right?"
"Unless we get more volunteers," he said, "There's no way we can process more than 1,500 per day. We worked overtime to do 1,500. It was crazy!"
It's hard to grasp these numbers, but here's one last attempt. When I yo-yoed the CDT, I didn't find one backpacker during the first 3,000 km of trail. Not one. (I saw just one day hiker, two snowmobilers, and two skiers.) Although I saw a few more backpackers during the last 6,000 km, each year fewer than 100 backpackers finish the CDT. On a summer day on El Camino, it's common that 100 pilgrims finish per hour!
Every year, more than 300,000 pilgrims earn a compostela (which means they walked at least 100 km). They come from over 100 countries. The volume of pilgrims is simply staggering.
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Feb 10, 2017 08:44
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Feb 2, 2017 04:56
