Grand Canyon Mule Ride BY BOB HERRICK

Bob Herrick (center) and friends on the South Kaibab Trail

As a mule rider and outdoor enthusiast, one of my bucket list items has always been a mule ride into the Grand Canyon, and in December of 2019, I got my chance. I knew that the ride was popular, and some preplanning would be required, so I got to work. First, I found a couple of my mule riding friends and recruited them to join me on the adventure. Next, I went to the Xanterra website and clicked on the Grand Canyon Lodges link (grandcanyonlodges.com/plan/ mule-rides/) to start the research. The first thing I learned is that there is a 14 month waiting period, so patience would be in order. I started looking in the fall of 2018, and saw the first available date was December 2019. I did not want to do the trip in the heat of the summer, so I said what the heck, let’s try December. How much snow can they get in December

in the desert anyway?

Well as it turned out, they can get quite a bit. The week before our trip they got a huge storm that shut down the mule ride for four days because of the ice and snowdrifts, so I was a little nervous. It turned out to be fine, though. When we took off it was snowing a little bit, but as we were descending into the canyon, it stopped and the trip was spectacular.

Two days before you are scheduled to ride you have to confirm your reservation via phone. When you arrive the night before you have to go to the transportation desk inside the Bright Angel Lodge and check in. There they give you a yellow rain coat that says “Mule Rider” on the back (which is your “ticket” for the ride), a water bottle, and a small bag to put your overnight things in. Then, they ask you to step on the scale to see how much you weigh with all of your clothes on. They have a weight limit of 200 pounds, and if you are over that you will not be going. You also must be in good health, over 4’9” tall, speak English, and not be afraid of heights or large animals. You also need to wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, broad brim hats, and close-toed shoes. They also recommend a ski-cap, gloves, and rain pants for winter rides. I had all three and was quite comfortable.

We had a room at the Bright Angel Lodge the night before the ride, and that worked out great. You can get breakfast there in the morning before the ride, and you meet for the ride just a short walk away. The small bag they give you is the size of a 7-pound ice bag, and in it you will place everything you will need for an overnight stay at Phantom Ranch. These bags will be placed in your saddlebags on

the ride down, so as you can imagine you will not be bringing much with you. Your camera has to be on a strap around your neck (even if it is your cell phone), and you can carry nothing else. They do not allow backpacks, waist packs, extra camera lenses, camera bags, full-sized video cameras, two-way radios, or purses. They also do not allow talking or texting on cell phones during the ride (you won’t have service anyway). They recommend that you bring a swimsuit and flip-flops for the summer, as well as sunglasses and sunscreen. A small flashlight was also recommended. On the morning of the ride, the adventure begins at the stone corral next to the Bright Angel Lodge at the trailhead. When you arrive, the group of up to 10 riders will first hear from the Livery Manager whom will prepare you for the ride by reviewing the safety requirements and provide you with information about the trail and Grand Canyon. They stress the use of the “mule motivators” each rider will be given to keep the group close together. The motivator is a riding crop that they want you to use on the mules to try and stop them from eating while along the trail and getting behind. As we all know, once the mules figure out that they are behind they like to run to catch up. Inexperienced mule riders on bumpy, running mules are not a good thing, so they work hard to and avoid that. Next, the Livery Manager will look at you as you walk into the corral to size you up and decide which mule to assign you to. He looks you over and decides if you need an easy mule or can handle a more challenging one. He did not ask your riding experience, but looked at your outfit and familiarity around the stock to make his decision. He gave me Trooper, who I rode for both days.

The wranglers saddled us up and prepared us for the adventure. They asked you if you need a block to get on, and had one available at all designated stops. The decent down the Bright Angel Trail is 10.5 miles, drops

Mules and More Magazine Looking down into the Devil's Corkscrew about 5,000 feet in elevation, and took approximately 5 ½ hours. The trail starts out pretty steep, and goes right by where the mule riders used to get their pictures taken by the Kolb Brothers. Back in the day, the lead wrangler would stop at the spot, wring the bell, and the group photo would be taken. Sadly, that tradition no longer continues, but you can go to the Kolb Studio and still look at the pictures. After about 10 minutes of riding you stop to have your cinch retightened and are asked if anybody wants to turn back. After that check, if you decide you do not want to continue the ride later on, you will be walking back. The first stop is at Mile-and-a-Half Rest house, where there is a pit toilet and drinking water available. They bring you up to the hitching rail and you have to wait for the Wrangler to help you off the mule. You stay there about 15 minutes and proceed down to the lunch stop. The scenery is fantastic, as you would expect. (You are going down into the

Grand Canyon, after all!) The weather for our descent was a little cloudy, so we rode through the cloud for a bit until we broke out of the cloud. The sun was not out, but we could see all across the canyon and had spectacular views from there on out.

We stopped for lunch at Indian Garden, which is a little oasis out in the desert canyon. They have water and a pit toilet here, as well. Many hikers choose this location to walk down to, rest and enjoy the beauty, and then walk back up. I was glad I was on a mule. We sat by the tree, listening to the creek, and enjoyed our box lunch, which were also carried in the saddlebags. After lunch, we proceed along the rock face of the Inner Gorge and down to the Colorado River. One of the more dramatic spots that we came to looking down into the Canyon towards the river is the Devil’s Corkscrew. As you came around the top of the Corkscrew, you realize that there is nothing but open air in front of you, and it is a long way down. When you go around a sharp bend, you will find yourself on the side of a canyon wall, on a narrow ledge, staring down a near vertical drop-off to the valley floor below. The view is impressive, and almost straight down. If you are a little squeamish about heights, you may be a little uncomfortable on this section of the trail. Our group thought that this section was the most frightening part of the entire trail.

From the Corkscrew, we continued down to the Colorado River below. You cannot see the river until you come around a corner, and then there it is. What a sight. It is larger and grander than I had expected. You look at all of that water, and up to the surrounding Canyon on the other side, and you get a sense of how powerful water can be. I am so glad I took this trip. The river is red with silt and the views looking up are impressive. The trail continues along it for another two miles to the Suspension Bridge, and you are overcome with a sense of splendor as you take it all in. While riding along the river, we saw several rafting groups enjoying the Canyon as well. Phantom Ranch is one of the stops for the rafters on their adventure down the river. I might have to try a rafting trip some day, as it looked like fun. There are only three ways to get to Phantom Ranch: hiking, rafting, or by mule, and I am sure not going to hike down there. The employees have to hike in to get to work (and hike back up to go home). They stay down for 10 days working and have four days off, but the hike back up is a killer.

Phantom Ranch is on the north side of the river, but the Bright Angel Trial is on the south. This mean you need a bridge to get across. It just so happens there are two, one for hikers only, and one for hikers and stock. The suspension bridge we took is quite the engineering marvel, especially when you consider when it was built, and

how they got all the materials to it (by mule, of course). Right before you go over the bridge, you go through a rock tunnel that is not very high. I had to duck to not hit my head on the top. The tunnel is dark when you go in, and lightens up as you go through. This makes for some interesting shadows, and when we were going through one of the mules in front of me decided she did not like it and decided to go back. The tunnel is narrow, with not enough room to turn around, but she made it anyway. Now the mule in front of me and mine had to try and back out, all the while we were trying to not whack our heads on the top of the tunnel and run into the mules behind us. It was a little bit of a rodeo for a few minutes, but everyone stayed on and nobody was injured. We all got out of the tunnel, regrouped, and tried it again. This time everybody went through without a problem. When you emerge from the tunnel you step out onto the bridge for the 400-foot river crossing. The bridge is a cable suspension bridge, but it is well supported and does not sway. The views up and down the river were breathtaking. Once across the bridge you have a short ride to Phantom Ranch.

The mule ride had the option of staying either one or two nights at Phantom Ranch. We opted for the one night stay. Phantom Ranch is a rustic historic oasis nestled deep in the canyon. Each cabin is furnished with bunk beds, sink, toilet, bedding, soap, and hand towels. Showers and bath towels are also available. There were three of us in our group, and we stayed in a small cabin with four bunk beds. They can house up to 90 guests at one time. When you arrive, they take you into the round corral, help you off, and direct you to the orientation spot. There they give you your room assignments and tell you the meal schedule. They have one dining room for all the guests, which also acts as the lodge during the day. All of the meals are served family style, with the menu selected for you. They have three sittings

Crossing the Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge

per meal, and we were assigned the first sitting for both dinner and breakfast the next morning. The first night they serve steak and potatoes, which fit me just fine. It is good and there was plenty of it. When you finish your dessert, they are ushering you out the door to get ready for the next group. They do sell drinks and some snacks in the dining room. The adult beverage selection was somewhat limited, so if that is important to you, you’ll have to figure out how to fit it into your overnight bag.

While I was exploring around Phantom Ranch, I saw a public stock hitching post and overnight area. This peaked my interest, as I thought you could no longer take private stock down into the Canyon from the South Rim. I went into the adjacent Ranger Station and learned that I was mistaken. Private stock use is allowed on most trails. At Phantom Ranch they permit one stock group per night. There is no corral, and the stock must be tied to the hitching rail at night with an attendant. (Go to nps.gov/ grca/planyourvisit/private-stock.htm to learn more about the requirements for travel and necessary permits). This facility is not too popular with private users, so getting a stock permit should not be too difficult. The difficult part

would be getting a camping permit or Phantom Ranch reservation. I think this would be a really fun adventure with mountain experienced pack stock. The trails are well maintained, but they are steep. The stock must be in excellent physical shape to make this trip.

After early breakfast the next morn ing, we headed up via the South Kaibab Trail. You take a different trail back up the canyon, so that means we won’t be passing the next group of mule riders coming down, but we do get to pass the two pack strings making their daily trip down to Phantom Ranch. Each day, two packers with up to five pack mules each make the trip down and back to Phantom. That is the only way supplies and food make it in, and trash makes it out. If you need to bring in more than your little overnight bag can hold, you can hire the packers to bring it down and back up for you. They start early each morning from the mule barn, getting their loads and mules ready and descend down the South Kaibab Trail. The packers communicate with the guides via radio to make sure the groups’ meet where there is enough room for the two groups to pass each other. As we were going up the Canyon, we stopped at a wide spot and looked up as we could

see the packers and mule strings descending down the trail. As a packer myself it was fun to see what they had loaded and how they tied it down. Being Christmas time, they had a big wreath tied on top if one of the mules, and the day before we saw they had brought in the Christmas tree. They used both deckers and sawbucks, depending on the load. The packers have to go down and back out each day, so they have a lot to do.

The ride back up is about 7.8 miles (five hours). We made one stop at The Tipoff to get off and stretch our legs. There is a pit toilet, like all of the other stops, but this one has no water. Before you get off your mule, the wranglers ask you if you want a picture taken (using your camera) of you on your mule with the Canyon in the background. Of course everyone says ‘yes.’ That shot is one of my favorites. The day we rode out, the sun was shining with only a few clouds in the sky. The views were stunning. It is hard to describe the wonder and awe that you experience looking out across the Canyon. We continued up the trail with huge smiles on our faces, and got great views of the Canyon all the way up to the top.

When you dismount for the last time, the guides have you gather all around and the hand out certificates proclaiming that all of the riders in the group now belong to the ‘Order of the Master Mule Skinners.’ The certificate states that “having faced the precipices, descended and ascended the perpendicular walls at and in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, endured the vicissitudes of this magnificent journey, and borne the whims and caprices of his gentle, faithful, educated, individualistic, long-eared mount-part horse, part jackass and all mule … you are now a member of the renowned Order of the Master Mule Skinners of the Grand Canyon Trails.” The design of the certificate has not changed in over 50 years (which is cool) and it still says “issued by Fred Harvey,” which sold the mule concession to Xanterra in 1968.

Since we came up the South Kaibab Trail we came out at Yaki Point, which is a few miles East of the Bright Angel Trailhead where we started. Upon our return to the rim, we were met by a driver and van that us brought back to the Bright Angel Lodge to turn in our Mule Rider raincoats and reflect on the adventure.

The trip was outstanding. As a mule owner and rider, to be able to experience a trip that has been offered for over 100 years to one of the most scenic places on earth is a dream come true. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who loves mules and the outdoors. You will not be disappointed.

Mule Riders starting out at the top of the Bright Angel Trail

A pack string heading for Phantom Ranch