"Knowledge for the western back roads explorer..."
 

Trip to the bottom of the
Grand Canyon

Welcome to our trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon atop mules and a hike up Bright Angel Canyon towards the North Rim.  Enjoy!

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About this trip

We've always wanted to explore the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but didn't feel we were fit enough to climb out using the trails with the 5,000 or so foot elevation gain.  So we decided to take the easy and most classic way to tour the canyon: riding the mules.

The trip was actually purchased from park operator Xanterra as a complete package.  Our trip started with a night's stay at the old El Tovar near the mule stables and start of the mule trek.  Of course, the package included the down and up trip on the mules.  It also included two nights stay (with meals) at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon and then another night's stay at the El Tovar after the mule ride.

Riding the mules, we went down the Bright Angel Trail which descends steeply down the South Rim right next to El Tovar.  Along the way, we went through the southern section of Bright Angel Canyon, stopped at Indian Garden for lunch, went deeper into the inner gorge, rode along the Colorado River inside Granite Gorge, crossed on the older suspension bridge and then finished at Phantom Ranch.  The second day, we hiked a total of 11.4 miles from Phantom Ranch to Ribbon Falls and back via the North Kaibab Trail.  The third day, we rode the mule back up to the South Rim via the South Kaibab Trail.

We took this trip in mid-March to avoid the dreaded heat normally experienced at the bottom of the canyon, but risked running into bad weather at the rim.  We lucked out.  When we started descending at the rim, the temperature was in the 50s and when we arrived later that day in Phantom Ranch, it was in the 80s.  On the day we left the rim for home, it was snowing.

Instructions

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Using Presenter

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The Music

After watching the whole thing, I'm sure someone is going to be curious about what they were listening to.  Here is a list of the copywritten material that is heard in our tour: