Just asked 214# hubby how big a deal he’d find it to get under 200 dressed.
[QUOTE=Lisa Preston;6188280]
Just asked 214# hubby how big a deal he’d find it to get under 200 dressed.[/QUOTE]:lol::lol::lol:
Try the Paleo Diet. He’ll lose that much in 2 weeks! 
OMG!!! I get palpitations just looking at those pictures!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
It is a fantastic ride. If you’re scared of heights then you’ll do a lot of it with your eyes closed! I went years ago in January - when there was ice and snow on the upper part of the trails. My mule walked out on the edge on the fresh snow…literally right on the edge in fresh snow. He didn’t even step where the other mules stepped. And they were close to the edge. I’m not scared of heights but I gotta tell you ON THE EDGE…with about a 400 ft drop over that edge in some spots - maybe even more than that, I’m trying not to exaggerate but damn it was far. The hikers had to get out of the way of the mules, often they had to step out on some little outcropping and that alone would assure that I would never hike that trail on foot. 
There were people on that ride who had never sat on a horse. I can not imagine my first middle aged ride astride being down the grand canyon.
WE have ridden a lot of the National Parks in the area. Bryce, Zions, Grand Staircase, Capital Reef, But I have not made it down to the Grand Canyon. Mostly because I want to ride my own horses and not follow a dude string down a trail. And I’m over 200#.
This thread prompted me to google the use of private stock in the Grand Canyon and they are allowed. They do have some rules about Downhill use of the trail during certain hours and uphill use of the trail in other hours. So if you get part way down and chicken out, You may have to weight until the appointed hour to turn around and start back up hill.
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/private-stock.htm
As in most National Parks the concessionair ( guides) have the right of way. When encountering a pack string or guided dudes, you the private owner have to find a safe spot to get out of their way and make room. They just don’t want some Japanese tourist’s mule turning around and following you and your friends home. They expect that since you OWN your equine, you have more horsemanship skills than the tourist.
I do ride Bryce Canyon and Zions on a pretty regular basis. They are closer to my home and easier to access. In Bryce canyon, they are very fussy about you leaving the trail. So when encountering the guide string, you may have to back track to a suiteable cross trail interesection in order to get off the main trail so the guide stringss can pass. No just moving off to the edge and damaging the Cryptobiotic soil. So it’s good trail manners to check with the guides and see when they are going to be on the trail and what direction they will be traveling and schedule your route to avoid them.
Personally, I’ve pretty much decided the area around, but out side of Bryce is better riding than actually riding inside of Bryce Canyon. If I ride in the park, You are almost mobbed by tourist along the trail. Especially if you dress the part of an american cowboy. Tourist from Europe and Asia just can’t take enough photos of American Cowboys. They don’t miss the opportunities to stick a camera in your face. The second reason, is the restriction the National Park Service puts on outside horses. If you ride outside the park, The rules vanish and we just use common sense.
Anyway, This thread is about Grand Canyon, But if you are in the area, I would sure recommend also riding the other parks nearby.
And yes your will see narrow trails
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2009/Bryce/Bryce-Canyon-2009-065.jpg
Switch backs where you up or down on your fellow riders
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2009/Bryce/Bryce-Canyon-2009-061.jpg
And even a few tunnels that you have to ride through
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2009/Bryce/Bryce-Canyon-2009-074.jpg
just a random FYI all the Canyon mules are supplied by Reese Brothers here in TN
Tamara
[QUOTE=Tamara in TN;6188676]
just a random FYI all the Canyon mules are supplied by Reese Brothers here in TN
Tamara[/QUOTE]
I remember our wrangler told us they were from Tennessee! They also get a good retirement home we were told but I can’t remember the details of where.
My sister knows the folks involved in that but the details escape me right this minute! In short, I recall very good mules that can no longer do that rigorous climb but still have years of useful service on gentler terrain are sold, but they are pretty darned thorough about selling them to the right situations, and they are just plain retired if there’s any potential soundness issue.
I’m sure those mules are in very high demand. Here in this part of the country, a good riding mule is hard to find still and they hold their value well. I’m sure that job of hauling people and gear in and out of that canyon is extremely hard on the animals. It’s good to hear you confirm what I was told also about them being retired afterwards.
We went to the GC last may. It was amazing to me that even just standing there looking, it almost looks fake. Pictures really do it no justice, except to remind you it’s better than that!
I wanted to do the mule trip really bad, but after walking along the rim, i chickened out. It’s something i would really like to do, but i’m not good with heights, and seeing the pic of that bridge, that ended my drive to get over my fear to do this. I have to squish up my toes and put a death grip on the steering wheel to drive over most bridges… lol One that i can see the water so easily below me… yeah, probably not something i can handle. I would probably do best hiking, where i could sit down if i needed to and feel at least closer to the little bit of earth i was standing on… :lol:
I had to comment though, DB, we too were ready to move there! As in seriously looking for jobs and properties! I would still move there in a heartbeat! It is an amazing place/area.
[QUOTE=Beverley;6189560]
My sister knows the folks involved in that but the details escape me right this minute! In short, I recall very good mules that can no longer do that rigorous climb but still have years of useful service on gentler terrain are sold, but they are pretty darned thorough about selling them to the right situations, and they are just plain retired if there’s any potential soundness issue.[/QUOTE]
That is awesome to hear that they take such great care of them after they’ve put in years of service!
I’d love to go to the Grand Canyon someday. We’ll see. Heights get to me, so I don’t know if the mule ride would work for me.
That is so nice to hear that they are still respected after their years of hard work and carefully placed after retirement.
I closed my eyes a lot! :lol: Then I realized that looking down really was a BAD idea so I didn’t. I just tried to look “out” or forward. Oddly enough, the trail beside the river bothered me more than the yawning abyss above it did. The river being so close below us and strong seemed more threatening for some reason. By the time we got to the bridge, I was pretty tired and just wanted to get off. I could not look down from muleback either but we hiked back out later that day and walked over it…it was not so bad…it was sturdy and didn’t shake. There was another smaller bridge for people only that I did not like at all…it shook when you walked over it. Not cool…and you could see through the floor which was a grid.
Here is a pic of the bridge going back towards the S. Rim. You can see the tunnel you walk though. That was pretty cool! As you can see, it’s pretty solid.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Grand%20Canyon/GCBA12.jpg
I don’t know what it was either…the place is magical. The whole region seems so amazing to me. I’d love to spend a month in the Southwest checking out ruins and sites. I still wonder if it’s realistic or not to think of moving out there…it would be a HUGE change. I love my eastern mountains but I’d kill to have that much open space to ride and that sort of majesty to look out over. I could never get tired of it.
Did what I think was a half day thing years and years ago. Had been riding regularly, but it was a long day–and the saddles were HARD. Would recommend it highly, though.
This is off course but …
If you go that a ways, be sure to get to Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. Hundreds of cliff dwellings that will amaze you.
Be sure to schedule two or three days and go on one of the back country tours to a site that isn;t open to the public. You actually walk the trails and the rock handholds that the Ancient Pueblans used.
I also adore Capitol Reef National Park, it’s the least visited of the Utah rock parks but has a wonderful wild sense about it.
And Escalante-Grand Staircase has the same sense of vastness as Grand Canyon but total solitude.
Zion National Park is fabulous too, especially for those afraid of heights since you enter at the bottom of the canyon.
Very pretty. I think I will just look at it from the top surface and be OK with that. Don’t know what the reaction of the mule would be with my vomit running over his neck. (I am NOT good with heights.) But if any animal could do that safely, it would be a mule. They keep their feet under them at all times, and make going up and down hills extremely easy for the rider. I have to work to ride my quarter horse up and down steep hills, but the mule does all the work.
This is the spot that scared the Beejesus out of me
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/Lawndart_album/BearBasinTrip020.jpg
I’m the one clutching the saddle horn, and wimpering ‘Mommmy’! :eek:
Was not in the Grand Canyon, but in Wyoming.
Thanks for all the replies! It sounds like a lot of fun. Now I just have to get my traveling companion to agree to it.
[QUOTE=imaginique;6187644]
We did the trip to Uncle Jim’s point the first day, then the RS trip the next day. [/QUOTE]
Can you tell me if portions of the Uncle Jim trail ride are very close to the edge/rim of the Canyon? If yes, for how long? I am considering this ride, but I do have a serious fear of heights when at the edge with no railing. I cannot possibly do the trail ride into the canyon, but I would like the experience of the mule ride if I can manage to handle the Uncle Jim trail ride. Any info you can provide would be most appreciated.
AWESOME pics. THANX for sharing.
