Mule riding down the Grand Canyon!

Wednesday I drove the 4 hours to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix to stay with a friend from Reds, who actually takes out the mule rides down into the canyon during the winter. He was able to get me on a ride, free of charge! Normally this all-day ride costs $150, so I really lucked out.



The ride was amazing. Everything is blooming, and the weather couldn't have been more magnificent. It was supposed to be snowy the next day, and very windy the day of, but we got neither. It was clear, cool temperatures, with no wind whatsoever. Couldn't have asked for a better day to do this.

(This little girl reminded me so much of me when I was her age (8 years), you'd think it's me in this pic 16 years ago!)

Statistics say that the average amount of time someone spends at the Grand Canyon is 3-4 hours. Out of the 5 million visitors that come to the canyon annually, only 5 percent actually step off the rim down into the trails below, and less than 1 percent ride a mule down the canyon!
There is so much wildlife at the Park I was overwhelmed. There are elk EVERYWHERE. I saw at least 20 in the course of 12 hours. I also saw about 5 mule deer on the trail, and, the most exciting thing, 4 California Condors, the most endangered species in our country, and one of the top endangered in the world. It is the largest flying bird in North America with a wingspan of just over 9 feet. Because of habitat loss and poaching, by 1985 there were only 22 left in the world. In 1987 a conservation plan was set forth, and now 321 condors are known to be living, of these 172 are wild. So to see one is so very rare, and to see 4 in one day is something I feel really good about ;). Unfortunately by the time I was able to get my camera out of its stupid case on the saddle, and went to point and shoot, the battery died, so I didn't get any pictures, but I'll put one up, courtesy of Google, so you can get an idea of what I saw yesterday, flying as close as 200 feet above our heads.
The drive home was just as beautiful as the Canyon itself. I took HWY 180, which is a scenic route to Flagstaff, and it had just snowed the night before on the mountains, so the site was quite incredible. A wonderful closure to an amazing day!