8 am. Sanya wakes up and wakes me up, risking some chiding from Princess, but I step in saying that we agreed last night that Sanya will wake us up, so we can pack and leave not to late. We start packing. Varya spots a mountain sheep on the top of the canyon cliff. It's far away but there in no mistake, all of us can make out the silhouette of big horns. Continue packing. We don't want to leave, but there is no more food left, so we pack our stuff, put the packs on and start ascent.
Way up is harder, 2 miles to the village feel like 4, ascent is fairly steep. Children are somewhere behind, Natasha and I, deep in conversation, taking lead and are ahead of the rest for half a mile. And then I realize - Thanksgiving Day. What if store and cafe are closed today? Natasha reassures - no way, the village must be full of tourist, so everything should be open. Indeed, village is full of people, we see two helicopters on a soccer field. Looks like besides tourists there are indians coming to Supai, I guess to visit relatives.
Thanksgiving feast isn't offered till 4 pm, so we take fried eggs and pancakes. Then full and happy go to the store across the village square, where we are surprised by price range. Avocados are $1 apiece - cheaper than in Jewel, but some canned meat is $3.25 for a tiny can. Film is $5.75 for 12 frames. Milk is $8 per gallon. We buy some food for the road and go on.
On the way to the village, Masha and Natasha we dreaming about renting pack mules for the way up. We enquire about it in the tourist office, it turns out that we had to reserve mules at least a day ahead, so no luck, we will be our own mules. Next two miles are almost flat and we make them really fast, Canyon splits, we turn right away from the Havasu Creek. First stop we make by the pool of water (last one) half a mile in the dry canyon. There are a lot of people coming down today, all wondering how far is Supai, is the village worth a trip and so on. "2 mile" we reply and "the journey is definitely worth it" and "we don't want to leave".
Nevertheless we are leaving. Weather is nice again, 65-70F, sun is not hot, but pleasant. Admiring red and orange rocks, realizing that in 3-4 hours we will see the last one, hike will be over and we aren't sure when we visit Arizona again. Natasha and Masha are leading the way, we are behind as kids seem to be tired, raise dust, and complaining about backpack straps that make they shoulders sore. Their backpacks only hold a sleeping bag and water for the hike, however both Sanya and Varya collected some rocks, at least two pounds each and they refused to leave the rocks behind. Varya also wants to pick up the horse's skull that we saw on the way down, but (un)luckily somebody found it already. Varya's somewhat upset, but she finds pretty big bone (horse's tibia) that is old and covered with red dust. That's a trophy! Her day is made, she ties the bone to the pack and goes on happier. Masha and Natasha by the way are far ahead and when we catch up with them thinking of lunch, they have already eaten and ready to set on the last climb. We let them go and stop to make some food and rest before 1000 foot climb over last couple miles.
Making instant rice probably for the last time, putting in "expensive" chicken from the can. I didn't make enough rice, but there are avocados and bread - they taste so delicious here! We drink tea and water and set on the climb.
Well, it's not so bad. We had to stop couple of times and one more to yield to the horse caravan. Sanya and Varya we trying to stay behind as they pretend to be talking, but I insisted that they were in front of me and kept them going. Nevertheless they stop often, look back, trying to see where Princess is, she fell behind saying she has her own rhythm for the climb. I have to admit that I felt light headed 5 minutes before reaching the parking lot. Well, not a big deal, drank some water and made it to the top!
Masha and Natasha were about half an hour ahead of us, so by the time we arrived they look rested, they opened the van, pack their stuff, and befriended an Indian who is asking for a ride to his truck. Not a problem, we give the guy a ride.
Princess is catching up finally. She is fresh and happy as usual, as if she didn't climb last mile and a half. So we all change, put our stuff into the van and start reluctantly driving back to the civilization. Indian is telling us stories about Supai, his life, horses and ghosts. He seems to be very grateful for the ride.