Grand Canyon - June 2005

We made a weekend trip to the Grand Canyon.  We camped out at the Mather Campground in the park.  We made reservations in advance online.  We hiked the Rim Trail along the Hermit's Rest Route the first day and took a mule ride down the canyon the second day.

I'd always wanted to ride the mules ever since I saw that Brady Bunch episode where they all go on a mule ride to the bottom of the Canyon!  It's recommended that you make reservations well in advance, but we were able to book a Sunday ride one or two months out. We booked the One-Day Mule Trip to Plateau Point. We had to check in the day before to get weighed, receive our rain coat and canteen, and sign a waiver.

We had to be at the corral very early the morning of the ride and wait to be assigned to a mule. They line you up in a single file based on weight and you start to follow the leader down the canyon. The trail is very narrow. The mules are trained to walk on the left side of the trail, which is the edge of the trial, so my heart was beating a little fast at first when I looked down. Eventually, I felt comfortable and trusted the mule was not going to go off the trail.

We made several stops along the way. Anytime there was too much separation between 2 mules we stopped as this causes the mules to run to catch up and can lead to an accident. We had one lady in our group get thrown off the mule as it was running to catch up to the one in front of it. This happened on our way back up and she fell in the direction away from the edge. We also stopped half way down to go to the bathroom and fill up our canteens.

Once out to the plateau, we had a box lunch (sandwich, fruit, chips, and cookies) and enjoyed the awesome views of being a long distance down in the canyon. After lunch, we headed back up the way we'd came. We stopped again for a bathroom/water break at the same place as before.

It was about a 7-hour trip that was exciting and a little scary at first, but definitely something I'd do again. If you go on this trip, just listen to directions and you'll be fine.