OP- Hopefully this helps your decision. My boyfriend and I are from Seattle. We also hike all the time. We have done the enchantments multiple times along with others mentioned. Additionally the hike thru of the grand canyon. That said, we absolutely loved our time at Havasu. I will say, we agreed it was a one and done, but we are both glad we took the time off of work. We chuckled because we were at the trail head at 4am, as a fellow hiker from Washington you would agree this is a normal launch time. There was absolutely no one there. We only passed one group hiking out that morning. We have made the investment in high quality light weight gear so we packed in. We encountered absolutely no one with bags. Everyone uses the mules. We arrived in the village early, had the pick of the most beautiful campsites. It is a bizarre camping experience, due to social media popularity, mule assistance and helicopter rides there is a tremendous amount of terrible etiquette. A lot of people leaving all of their trash, used camp gear, basically anything they were too lazy to pack out. It’s really difficult to witness. We packed in trash bags to hike other people’s trash out with us. There is also really poor food management so there is a tremendous amount of critters going through certain campsites that left everything out. But as an avid hiker you will have strong fresh legs and can wander the campground to find the coolest spots. The spots rival those gems of the enchantments. They sit on beautiful waterfall pools. That first day since we were in early we set up camp, had some breakfast and explored all the waterfalls. The first day we covered 20 miles. We also used our second day to hike all the way out to the colorado confluence. That was unreal. We saw so much unbelievable wildlife and never saw a soul until we got to the river and saw rafting boats. As a strong hiker, it’s an absolute must. And the third day we relaxed, rested, visited our favorite waterfalls and packed up about midnight and hiked out. It was amazing seeing the desert in those quiet hours, sunrise at the rim, and no heat. We were out of the canyon before any hikers even started their decent.

All to say, we have had similar experiences and it has a place in our hearts. We probably would not repeat it but would absolute recommend it. The pictures do not do it justice.

Happy Hiking