The grandest canyon with the greatest girl

On October 23, 2004 I married the girl of my dreams. So began a journey of tests that we have passed and sometimes weathered. In celebration of this milestone, Kimberly flew out to Phoenix and together we traveled to the grand canyon for an experience we will never forget. Kimberly's suggestion was that we travel to the canyon floor on the back of mules which I immediately rejected, preferring to hike as a mule trip with one mules nose in the next mules butt seemed to be a big yawn and without physical challenge. Months passed and after discussing the trip with a couple of friends I saw the light and embraced the plan acting as if it was my idea. What unfolded was a testament to my wife's sense of adventure and to my own ability to be wrong in my prejudgement of things. Wow just wow. The drive up was beautiful and had the usual beginning of trip power struggles that always seem to be required before the magic takes over and we start enjoying each other with gusto.

 We started out with a hike along the top to get acquainted with the place. It is a beautiful place and the trails along the top make it accessible to almost everyone.

The views are nice but I suspected the real way to experience the canyon was to get down below the rim so after a chilly night in the tent and a predawn breakfast we met our guides and fellow riders at dawn to meet our mules and begin our adventure. Right away the preconceptions began to fall. First off the back of a mule can be frightful on the edge of a 900 foot dropoff when you can't see where they are stepping and they prefer the edge. all you see past your mule is an abyss. If you lean away from the cliff, the mule is forced to lean towards it to compensate, so it is best to sit up straight and trust the mule. This trip will test your faith in God and four legged critters. The other thing is that we quickly learned that the place to keep your mules nose was in the next mules butt because any gap would encourage your mule to trot to catch up, sometimes at the most inopportune moments like on a blind switchback turn over a 600 foot chasm. We came to resent the rider ahead that would fail to keep their mule prodded so that large gaps would form. This led to lots of trotting that wore on our unaccustomed derriers. All that said, it was the experience of a life time. The views were stunning and the mules were awesome strong and sure footed. Here is a taste of our 6 hour trip to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon.

Once we reached the river we had to cross it by one of the two suspension bridges that span it to reach phantom ranch. The trail enters a long tunnel through the rock and then opens out onto a bridge a hundred feet above the river. The mules had done it hundreds of times so they just took it in stride, so to speak. I didn't get any pictures of the tunnel as I was too busy ducking for the low ceiling. Failing to duck is a mistake that you would only make once.
 

 Once we got to the bottom we unloaded our tired and trusty steeds and found our small cabin that would be home for the night. We took a three mile hike over some of the trails that we had just ridden over and it was more intimate and fun but not nearly as exciting. I never thought a guided mule trip would be exciting.

This is the tunnel we rode through to the bridge on the other side. Everything in the canyon is brought in by mules except the cables for this bridge. mules couldn't do it so it was snaked down the canyon on the backs of men. The best part of the mule ride for me was the fact that after a hundred years of these mule rides to the bottom, it remains unchanged by technology. The only differnce is that the saddlebags are made of cordura instead of leather. I just love that.

Then out of nowhere comes a jet helicopter. We never found out for sure what they were there for but we suspect they were simply ferrying people that work for the park service. hmmmm

After our hike we enjoyed hot showers and dinner. the dinner was served promptly at five with the ringing of the dinner bell. 40 people were served steak dinners family style and there was no menu choice. Pass the vegetables and hurry it along because the second group of diners come in at 6:30. This is a reservation only meal and those without a table have few options other than toting their own food.Just before dinner a young man came running down the trail. He carried two water bottles and nothing else. He had started in the morning from the southrim and had already been to the north rim and was on his way back to the top on the south side. Rim to rim to rim is about 44 miles and includes about 12,000 feet of climbing. A few brave souls climb it on any given day and he was the one to do it that day and he looked like he would easily make it from what we saw. Wow. After hitting the bed at 7pm we awoke the next morning to a family style breakfast announced with the ringing of the bell and got ready for the long climb out of the canyon. The weather was stellar as had been the previous day and promised a great ride out.

Being passed by the pack mules on the way down to supply phantom ranch. They will unload and pass us again on the way out.

Nice moon.

Nice moon

This is about the same spot where a pack mule train went over the edge in icy conditions taking the driver with it but miraculously he survived the fall of fifty feet that could have been 200 by being impaled on a piece of rebar that was retaining a part of the trail. After pulling himself off the rebar he dragged himself to the top and was carried to the new hospital that was having a ribbon cutting ceremony. The details of his experience and hundreds of others can be found in the book "Death in the Grand Canyon". It makes great tent reading.

When we got to the top we found that the elk had returned for grazing near our campground.

We spent that afternoon hiking the rim and enjoying each other's company. I married well folks.

The next morning we broke camp and made the drive back to Phoenix. I took Kimberly through Flagstaff and we walked around Sedona and drove through Jerome. This is a beautiful part of the country and we will return here.

The next day was Sunday  and my last day with Kimberly. We had a relaxed day with the Hoffners and we visited the zoo and drove out to the canyons that Mike had shown me when I was there before. I'm not sure what happened to the pictures but this may be the most picture heavy post so far. putting Kimberly on a plane back to Austin was hard but I'll be home in a month or less so I'll be ok. Stay tuned. The mountain bike adventure is about to begin.