SOn Friday morning Jay left for Flagstaff to visit his family in town for the weekend and Laurel and I woke bright and early for a mule ride!
Relative to horses and donkeys, mules are the best pack and riding animal for the steep canyon trails. They are sterile animals with a horse for a mom and donkey for a dad. That way, they get the size and brain of their horse mother and sure-footedness of their donkey father. In years of trail riding at the canyon, wranglers discovered that horses get easily spooked and donkeys are not so cleaver, so using the best of both animals in the form of mules works really well.
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| Mules for the picking! |
When we arrived at the stable (well whatever you call the area where the mules are kept before the ride) we were asked about our skill and experience at horseback riding. I have only been a few times and Laurel rode quite a bit in her youth, so I was given an easier mule Ronnie. But her Sweetheart seemed to be easy going as well.
I was scared at first, but ended up having a really good time once I got used to the saddle and the idea that I was in charge of Ronnie rather than her being in charge of me. We had a great wrangler named Clint who told us all about his cowboy days and off-season work tracking animals including mountain lions. The North Kaibab trail was beautiful and the mule ride was so much fun!
After the mule ride it took some time to get our walking legs back, but once we did we spent the rest of the afternoon on a beautiful hike on the Widforss Trail. The North Rim is so amazingly different than the South Rim that the trail reminded me of hiking in the southeast - lots of green trees and wild flowers along the way.
For our last night at the North Rim, Laurel and I lost our space at the employee bunk house, but found a place with our friend Nicole in one of the park trailers. It was not the most glamorous place I have ever stayed, but was a roof over my head and the opportunity to spend one more night at the amazing North Rim.
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