Mule Train

CAMERON, AZ - - There are options besides hiking into the canyon. You can ride a mule or, more to the point, hang on and hope the mule is relatively friendly. The group in this shot are returning from The Landing on Bright Angel Trail which is the far end of the trail you can see. On the short 12 mile ride for a mere $154 per person you can have your butt go numb and inherit a backache which will last all day within 30 minutes of heading out. Of course the brochure puts it much nicer. Oh, lunch is included. The long ride goes to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon and costs a whole lot more. While the idea of riding seems interesting, you need to know that the mules like to ride close to the edge of the trail and, since the trail is way, way down and way, way back up you will either be trying not to become to intimate with the saddle horn on the trip down and then when the going turns up learn to be fast friends with the saddle horn as you need it to hang onto to keep from sliding off.

The building with the green roof in the picture is 3-Mile House where hikers stop for water and some shade. This is where Lydia and I turned around. It was also where we met two 20-ish guys who looked pretty beat. They said they'd been to Phantom Ranch. I wasn't paying too much attention when they said they had left the parking lot at 5:30am. This was 1pm and they had gone 21-miles. "We stayed at the bottom for half and hour," the apparent leader of the pack said. "Had a beer, waded in the Colorado River where it had pooled up and the cold wakes you up pretty quick. It was worth it, but our feet are trashed and we'll be dead tomorrow." So I ask you: who was crazier - - the folks who paid to get a butt ache or the guys trying to see how tough they were.