After crossing the Navajo Indian Reservation with thunderstorms surrounding us, we made it to the east entry of the canyon at sunset. The campground there was full such that we had to drive the 30 miles along the rim to canyon village. Their campground was full, too – but at least we’d gotten to see our first dusky view of the magnificent canyon. Not as redundant as we thought the canyons might be getting to our spoiled eyes! We got out of the park and finally found a spot approximately 10 miles south around 10pm at night. First time we didn’t get a spot inside the park at the last minute.
The next morning we entered the National Park and realized that we had spent more on National Park entries than the yearly pass costs. We were able to get the pass for free by showing all receipts of the previously visited parks, which was good. After having set up our tent in a camping ground inside the park, we headed out to the canyon and walked along the rim for several hours amazed by the beauty and greatness of the canyon. A big thunderstorm was approaching and the lightning bolts gave the whole scenery an even more dramatic sense. We reached our car just before rain started to fall and decided to watch the Imax movie about the canyon. The movie was all right but not unforgettable. We spent most of the rest of the rainy day writing and sorting out our pictures.
We woke up at 5:30 the next morning. Kate and I had been added to the waiting list of the Mule ride company the day before and weren’t sure if we’d be part of the trip that was to leave the village at 8. We got to the mules at 6:15 and were happy to find two free spots. After an hour-long introduction to the mules and the safe way to ride them, we each got assigned to one of the world-famous Grand Canyon mules. The guy who gave us the intro was a wild cowboy with a great sense of humor and the ability to captivate everyone’s attention when he told a story.
The mule trail down the canyon was steep, as we had been warned, and the first part would prove to be the most tense, what with having mounted the stubborn beasts only minutes before. We had been given “Mule Motivators” – the politically correct term for whips or riding crops, but Kate and I both found ourselves on animals determined to stay with the group – and Kate’s, to charge ahead. She was also behind another mule who had gas problems the whole day, which made for a few laughs.
The ride was to be almost eight hours long, and the first few were the descent. The four hooves of our rides didn’t make this a leisurely experience – in fact, at times you felt you were holding on for dear life as your legs dangled over the canyon’s side. We stopped for a water break at the Indian gardens at the bottom of the first step into the canyon half way to the Colorado river. We then continued into the boiling hot cacti landscape to the second step from where we could observe the flow of the River. We had lunch there in the shade of a rock and were called back to our mules 20 minutes later because our guides wanted to avoid the storm that was supposed to roll in soon. The path up the canyon was less tiring for us but not for the mules. Every ten minutes we gave them a break and they parked one next to the other facing the valley. Kate’s mule called Gismo then decided to stretch its knees by putting one of his front legs over the side of the cliff, which of course freaked out Kate. I tried to convince her that mules are not very suicidal animals and that Gismo just stretched his legs but that wasn’t much help for her. As we made it back to the top of the canyon I spotted a Californian Condor that was flying just above our heads, beautiful creature. Getting off the mule was a painful experience. We got back to our tents completely content of our day and had a long nap, took a shower and cooked good dinner.
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