Has anyone gone on a mule ride in the Grand Canyon? Were the mules well behaved? What outfitter did you go with? Would you recommend it for a non-rider?
Any advice would be welcome.
I’m thinking of going myself in 2013. I know there’s a COTHer (Daydream Believer, maybe?) who has been. Will watch this thread with interest. 
My husband and I went in 2010 in February. We rode off the South Rim down to the Phantom Ranch at the Inner Gorge and then back out the next day. On this ride, you go down the Bright Angel Trail and up and out the South Rim trail.
You can also ride mules off the North Rim but that lodge is open only April-October. The South Rim is open year round.
We had a wonderful time. The mules are dead broke and quiet and don’t get to carry dudes until they’ve spend time on a pack string and then are ridden the first times by a wrangler.
I was terrified most of the first day but was able to enjoy myself a bit more the next day until we rode into a blizzard coming back out. Then I was too cold to care anymore! I got some amazing pics. I’ll post links to some photos of my album on line and you can check it out.
Lots of people were non riders so as long as the person is healthy and able, I’d say go for it. You have to be under 200 lbs I believe and they WILL weigh you clothes and all. There is only one outfitter…right at the Lodges. I imagine there might be some private outfitters but we went with the official ones.
It is steep and there are yawning chasms…seriously if someone is really terrified of heights, this might not be an adventure I’d recommend. I am afraid of heights but not petrified. I was able to do it OK. They will give you the opportunity to get off about 100 yards after you start down the first day…so it’s not a do or die sort of thing.
Here are some pics:
Bright Angel Trail…look closely for the mule train
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCBA3.jpg
More of the first day’s ride:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCBA2.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCBA7.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCBA9.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCBA11.jpg
Someone took this picture of our mule train on the footbridge over the Colorado River. We met him at Phantom Ranch and he emailed the photos to us. Don’t worry…by the time you get here, you will be numb to heights. 
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCMule3.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCMule2.jpg
The next day out:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCMule4.jpg
Here you see the pack train that supplies Phantom Ranch coming down.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB2.jpg
When you stop to rest the mules, they face the edge of the trail. That is our wrangler on the far left.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB9.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB6.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB5.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB4.jpg
Look closely on this picture and you can see the trail as it goes along the edge of the closest ridge. We did that section in 50 mph winds and nearly blind. The mules made it safely out.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB12.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCKB8.jpg
I have more in that album and you all are welcome to look. The scenery is stupendous…there’s no other word to describe it. Pictures do not do it justice. You have to GO and see it yourself.
Here is one of the canyon in snow…incredible…The left bottom of the picture, you will see a deep gorge/valley that is green. That is where Phantom Ranch is to give you some perspective.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GC8.jpg
Looking at these makes me want to go back again…next time I’ll backpack so I can take more time to explore. My husband and I were so in love with this area that we almost moved out there! It is a magical place.
I hope you go and have a wonderful ride!
Wow, Those are utterly beautiful pictures!!! I can’t believe how narrow some of the trails are. I’m not very afraid of heights, but those??? :eek:
The bridge photos were great too.
I’ve never read of it, but have any mules and riders ever fallen off?
Thank you for sharing…I even called DH in to look at them and he was in awe too.
huntertwo…you are welcome. The mule ride folks brag that they’ve never lost a dude down over a cliff and the rides have gone on since the late 1890’s I think. They have lost mules…usually the ones in the pack strings that are tied together. One poor thing falls and the others go down too. It is said that you can’t make a mule go off the edge but you could force a horse to jump. Not too many people will ride horses on those trails.
Seriously…it is unreal how far you can fall. I was having heart palpitations several times. I was the next to the last rider on the bridge…in the blue coat…and my husband was behind me on the cream mule. They did not hand out helmets and I figured if I did fall, I was going to die anyway, so I did not worry about my helmet!
My mule liked to walk right on the edge too. I tried desperately to get him to yield to my leg to stay near the wall but he was pretty numb to anything I did. I am so used to a responsive horse that it nearly made me crazy riding that way but after a while, you do get kind of used to it!
I did recently get an awesome book from Paperbackswap called Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon. Two folks who worked there for over a decade decided to test their theory (to paraphrase, that most folk we’ve seen die here were being stupid) against the greatest possible historical sample, and they tracked down every last fatality or near-miss they could get records on, from the 1800s clear through the early 2000s. They did, alas, find that their theory held up very well historically. The book is excellently written and well paced, doesn’t read as much like the whopping load of statistics it is. Their conclusions: Biggest risk factors for death in the GC are being male :), traveling alone (no one to say, “Might not be the brightest idea here”) and trying to take a “shortcut.”
Flying with a male pilot was also a risk factor. Planes hold the lead for ways to die in (or over, or on impact, I guess) in the GC. Worst year for deaths in the GC was when two commercial airplanes collided over it back in the 50s, I think? Don’t have the book right here by me. The authors coded that one with the stupidity quotient (x2) on both pilots because both jets were well off their routes, thus bringing up the near certainty that the pilots were deliberately over the GC to enjoy the scenery, and thus might not have been watching for other sightseeing off-course jets. Neither had any business being there. This was the crash that spawned the creation of the FAA. Lots of little scenic flight airplane accidents through history, too, even discounting this heavy-casualty crash, so it isn’t just that the one big one tips the statistics.
But they did mention that the safety rating of the mules is absolutely stellar. By that book, which is about 600 pages of research, if you go to the GC, avoid the scenic plane flights or at least check out your flight company and gender of your pilot, stay in groups when hiking, stay on the trail, and wear your life jacket when on the river, you should probably be okay. But by their exhaustive research, the mules are very safe.
The book really is interesting reading. My biggest HUH? moment was the tale of the guy who died when he fell in the GC while BACKING up toward the edge, facing the other way (i.e. away from the canyon), holding a camera to his face, trying to get the best possible position for a picture of . . . Bright Angel Lodge. Yes, within mere feet of the GC, he wanted a picture not of the canyon but of the lodge and the parking lot. Um, Darwin Award?
My husband, daughter and I hiked from the South Rim to Phantom Ranch in December 2010, We went down South Kaibab and stayed two nights at Phantom Ranch and then hiked up Bright Angel Trail.
We ran into mules a lot, both those carrying guests and a pack strings and some rangers doing trail work. All the mules seem extremely smart and friendly, same for the wranglers.
The mules do walk on the outer edge of the trail. When you are hiking, you are told to always step against the wall to let the mules go around.
I’d suggest doing a trip any time but summer, heat can be brutal. We were lucky with our December trip and had sunny, warm days, It’s about 20 degrees difference between the rim and the river (colder on the rim).
On the North Rim, the mules go only to the Supai Tunnel, many miles from the river They also have a rim top ride.
My husband and I went in 2010 in February. We rode off the South Rim down to the Phantom Ranch at the Inner Gorge and then back out the next day. On this ride, you go down the Bright Angel Trail and up and out the South Rim trail.
You can also ride mules off the North Rim but that lodge is open only April-October. The South Rim is open year round.
Beautiful pictures! Love the Canyon… only on foot tho
Correct, you go down the Bright Angel Trail and come up the South Kaibab trail (at least they did…).
The mules that go down to Phantom Ranch depart from the South Rim ( http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/mule-rides-716.html ).
The mules off the North Rim, when open, only go down to Supai Tunnel via the North Kaibab Trail ( http://www.grandcanyonlodgenorth.com/mule-rides ) – rides off the North Rim are less expensive, but also shorter.
I knew many of the the wranglers and the less ‘horse knowledge’ one has, the more fun one has – as daydream believer says… they walk on the edge, but they know their job and all you have to do is be a passenger and take pictures!
thanks for the correction…I meant to say S. Kaibab trail…dyslexic sometimes…:lol:
Next time I’ll be on foot too. I love to backpack also and hubs and I want to go rim to rim. We were just talking about maybe trying to do it this Fall. I will definitely wait for cooler weather.
That was a fairly old camera I had…only 4 megapixels. Some were taken on an Iphone too.
My friends and I went down in November 2010 and stayed 2 nights at the bottom. We are doing it again in April and can’t wait. Mules were lovely and safe.
Well I wonder if my trusty OTTB can do that trail. She might but I’m not sure I’d want to risk it. She did cross a big high bridge over a gorge in the sierras, but she was a little… er… prancy. People thought I was nuts… they were probably right. If I ever do the Grand Canyon, I’ll stick with a mule.
I have not done the mule trip, but have been (BRIEFLY) on the trail. Wanted to hike a little way down - maybe an hour round trip. I have something more akin to fear of falling - ie I dont mind height if there is a railing or a wall. Well I walled about 100 yards down the trail - to the first turn, where there was NOTHING on my left and NOTHING in front of me. Froze like a rock and it took me ten minutes to get up the nerves to turn around and go back up.
The place is stunningly beautiful, but if you are at all queasy about the height thing, THINK TWICE.
Gorgeous pictures. While I am sure they are trustworthy, it would be hard for me to trust a mount I don’t know.
In 2001 a friend and I went on the Red Rock Ride which included a ride down the North Rim of GC. At that time the ride was all day and went to Roaring Springs. We did the trip to Uncle Jim’s point the first day, then the RS trip the next day. I’m afraid of heights but the head wrangler told me if I got nervous just look at the wall. It was an awesome ride and I’m so glad I did it. The day after that ride they were taking some gov’t officials down the trail to try to get machinery to improve the trail as it was getting bad–big boulders that the mules had to step over or around. I guess they failed to convince them of the necessity because they no longer go that far down the canyon. I think our ride was probably the last one. I highly recommend the RRR for anyone interested in a 7 day ride at a different location each day.
I did the half day ride on the North Rim in about 1997 with my family- including non horsey (and acrophobic) husband and older son who hadn’t ridden since about 3rd grade. We had a great time. Mules very well behaved, my husband wanted to bring his home and still talks about ‘his’ mule Clark!.
i am getting woosy just seeing the pics and imagining being close to the edge…and the bridge would kill me…i have a hard time driving over some bridges because i feel as though i am compelled to drive over the edge…so, doubtful i could do the mule trip…but boy ,those pictures are terriffic!..LOL…and i was thinking about the same thing when i saw the lack of helmets…if you fall, is a helmet really going to matter???:eek:
going to have to try and locate the book as well…i have a friend who insisits on telling me that tourists are killed EVERY year on the mule rides, just not ever made public…lol…she is not a horse folk
Nah. Grand Canyon does lose a few tourists every year, but not on the mule rides. Usually doing dumb stuff, just getting to close to edges and such. I can’t say whether it’s reported in the press nationally or not (though I do read of one now and then in my newspaper), but I do a lot of work with the park service folks down there.
But I understand they do (rarely, thankfully) lose pack animals- they pack supplies in and out pretty much every day, I think.
So, essentially, they are saying Mules are smarter than a man. lol
Thanks… Very interesting facts and stories. Yes, the scenic plane flights do frighten me. Either over the GC or Hawaii. Too much air traffic over a small area…
I imagine a helmet would be of no use when tumbling a thousand feet toward your death…lol
I’ve always loved mules and still would like to get one someday. Just reading the posts and doing further research, really makes me want to get one if I ever had to replace my horse.
Total cuteness and very intelligent all in one package…
Bucket. List.
