Thursday July 24th

Grand Canyon, ARIZONA

5:30 am Bryce set the alarm earlier than he told Rachel. Urrrrrrr! Sleepy!

But we did want to be at the Corral on time to get the best Mule.

7:00am the head Mule Wrangler with the longest moustache we had seen so far. Gave an almost one hour speech about what exactly this Mule Ride was all about. Surprising that everyone in the group decided to still go after he told us what were going to endure. Rachel even had second thoughts thinking about how sore ones back and knees were going to get. Oh and that fact that the Mules are trained to walk on the edge of the trail so you can see the view.

Both of us did not back out and Bryce cowboyd it up on Lehi and Rachel Cowboyd it up on Sendor. Our Guide was Judy and we hoped that the family who were also put in our group were going to be fun. (Turned out the Baker family from Long Island were anything but fun). Anyway, It is pretty freaky when you first get out on the trail edge on that mule. The biggest thing we were told was to not let your mule get more than 5 feet behind the mule in front of yours. The space is what allows for something not good to happen. We rode 1 ½ hour down to Indian Gardens. This was hard terrain to ride on. Very steep trails on lots of rocks and dirt. People who had never been in a saddle before probably thought they were going to die. The knees sure felt it on the way down. Rachel had to think about all the riding skills she had learned years ago to try and help her out. Now mules are different from horses interms of riding them even though their moms are horses their dad are Jackasses. So unlike a horse they do not "steer" by raining. They do not respond or are sensitive to pressure. It is pretty plain for them to go left you pull left etc. Rachel quickly learned though that she had one of the smart mules and she could do some leg work with hers and not have to smack it every couple minutes with the "mule motivator" or "crop" as most people would call it.

We rode all the way to Plateau Point in the Grand Canyonwhich is about 1500 feet above the Colorado River. It Reached about 110 F down there. We saw some river rafters making their way down the river. We did have lunch back at Indian Gardens which is basically the only shade you can get on this ride. We hosed each other down as it drops you body temp for at least 30 min which decreases your chance of heat exhaustion. Much needed for the 2 ½ hour ride back up the canyon. As Judy said Attitude is everything on the way up. It is fascinating how much the view changes every 5 min on the trails. This trail we were riding on was originally built in 1936 by men who basically did it for room and board as it was hard times and it pretty much saved their lives. The trail was about 6 miles one way. Before this trail was built there was another trail that was about 2miles long that went straight down. When you think of the mules goin up and down the original trail the one we were riding on is a walk in the park for them.

We did accomplish our day of mule riding and it is not the easy way up or down the canyon. It brings other pains and strains that hiking does not. Both our Crotches have never been so sore in our lives. Don't think we will be riding our bikes for a bit. A quiet evening with showers and laundry and walk to the Amphitheatre. Tomorrow it is Vegas baby!

So excited to sleep in a bed. WAHOO!!