The Grand Canyon!

I recently had the opportunity to go on such an amazing journey! Thank you so much to Becky and Debbie and Joyce for allowing me to tag along. It was truly awesome. We rode the Mules down the Grand Canyon!

We got to the canyon Thursday afternoon. After checking in to our hotel (the Bright Angel Lodge) and dropping off our gear at the mule barn (it went down ahead of us to greet us at the bottom) we had time to explore a little bit, so we decided to go to the Mather Point Overlook. The canyon is truly a Grand place, that is for sure. What spectacular views!

After a good night’s sleep, we met up with our mules and headed on down the canyon. Unfortunately, Debbie decided not to join us, so it was just Becky, Joyce, and me. We really missed Debbie’s company, but her health just would not have enjoyed the trip.

The Bright Angel Trailhead is at elevation 6,840 ft. – after about 4 hours in the saddle, we stopped at Indian Gardens (elevation 3,800 ft.) for a break and a bite of lunch. Two hours later, we finally landed at Phantom Ranch (elevation 2,470 ft.). We were quite saddle sore and sweaty, but certainly happy to get there.

Our cabin at the ranch was cozy: two bunk beds and a tiny bathroom with just enough room for a toilet (and that’s it). The food they served was good with very generous portions. No chance of anybody going hungry down there.

Temperatures down at the bottom were averaging around 94 degrees, so we decided to do our hiking early the next morning in an attempt to avoid the worst of the heat. We chose a nice little hike called The River Walk that took us across one bridge and along the trail that the mules took, then looped us back around to another bridge and back to our campsite.

Sunday morning put us back in the saddle on the same mules we rode in on: I rode Sansa, Joyce rode on J-1, and Becky rode on cuco (pronounced Koo-Koh). The ride up was not quite as rough as the one going down; but we were still quite happy to arrive back up at the rim and to meet back up with our lost companion.

To celebrate our fabulous ride, we treated ourselves to dinner at the famous El To Var restaurant! Good Food, Good Conversations, and a Great Vacation!