Day 8: The Mule Ride

Why two ranch kids from SD and NE had to travel 1,400 miles to pay for a trail ride is beyond me. But we did. And it was fun. We were on the North Rim so it wasn't as steep as the South Rim trail rides can be. However, it was plenty steep in some spots. Supposedly on the South Rim, the overnight trail rides are the only ones you can do. They are trying to ban all of the mule rides. It's not a PETA thing or "Save the Mules" kind of deal. It is ecologists who think that the rides disrupt the natural enviornment. Anyway, we got to go on a mule ride on the North Rim.

My mule was Dede and all the guides said she was their favorite. I didn't seem to have any problems with her. Zach rode Dagwood.

He felt the need to make Dagwood be a little broncier than Dagwood actually was.

We were grouped with 6 others who were over 60 and had never rode a horse before. They were pretty funny. Two of the men had had this on their bucket list for a long time. They all showed up with bandanas and "cowboy" hats. There were several rules on the ride. 1. You could not get on or off your mule without the assistance of a guide. (Zach and I did not pay attention to this rule) 2. You could not remove your jacket without the guide holding your mule (Again, Zach and I did not pay attention to this rule) 3. Keep 3-4 feet between the mule in front of you (Zach did not pay attention to this rule as his mule got kicked by mine a few times) 4. Do NOT get more than 3-4 feet behind the mule in front of you. 5. Don't let your mule eat (I occasionally let Dede eat and Zach would swat her on the rump to get her going). 6. If you wore a wide brimmed hat you had to have a stampede string (I had a cute bejeweled cowgirl hat of Lindsey's but couldn't wear it b/c it did not have a stampede string).

Anyway, we tried to obey the rules and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. We didn't go down all the way to the bottom but stopped at a tunnel and let the mules rest while we listened to stories from the guides.

Then we headed back up. The whole trip took about three hours. We had a good time and even earned a "Muleteer" certificate!

Note: If you are interested in seeing the actually "beautiful scenery" pictures, please let me know. I'm more concerned about getting my smiling face on the blog than those picts but I'd be glad to show them to you sometime.