The Big Hole In the Ground

We got up early this morning and set out for the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. We were supposed to go on a mule ride down the canyon trail and were supposed to be there no later than 12 PM. On our way there I checked the time on my phone, only to find it said it was 12 PM and we were still about 30 miles away. Meanwhile, we had thought we were now on Mountain time and had changed my car clock to it, so it read 11 AM. And then we had my watch, still on West Coast which read 10 AM. We were effectively in three different time zones, and had no inkling to what time it really was.

We pulled into the parking lot by the visitors center at 11:50. Susan ran off to the lodge to sign us up, and I packed my bag for the day. I asked four people what time it was while she was gone. Two said Noon, and two said 11 AM so that didn't even help, and my phone was still tweaking out. Turns out it was only 11, as Arizona is on West Coast time for the moment. I have no idea, but we were an hour early, so we got to relax and eat before setting out on our trek.

Riding the mules down was pretty intense. They told us how to make the mules go, stop, and steer. I'm pretty sure none of it matters though, as the mules pretty much go at the pace they want. On the way up the canyon, I don't think I pulled on the reigns more than half a dozen times (the ride is about an hour plus each way). It was impressive how well they are trained though, navigating tight turns and steep climbs or descents with rather large verticals on the cliff side and rocks on the other. Of course, I took plenty of photos so I'll try to get those up soon.

By the end of the journey my legs and back were killing me from being up in the saddle for about 2.5 hours but it was fun and definitely an experience. Unfortunately, you don't get to see the Colorado River from the North Rim, so our plan for tomorrow is to head to the South Rim. We did drive over the river on our way down to Flagstaff for the night, and stopped on the bridge for a couple minutes to snap photos, but it's not quite the same.

So tomorrow the plan is to go to the South Rim, and then head into New Mexico, with our final destination as Albuquerque if we aren't too wiped out. The original plan was to head to New Orleans and hang out with a friend from school for a couple days, but it doesn't look like that is happening anymore and instead we'll look to make from big progress getting back East. The next couple days look like the following:

Monday - South Rim of Grand Canyon and New Mexico
Tuesday - Driving through New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma
Wednesday - Driving through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and reaching Atlanta, GA

Oh! I forgot to mention. It didn't rain on us today in the park, so thanks to everyone who helped out and did a little boogie for us. I appreciate it!

I'm feeling ambitious, so I'll post so new photos now. They'll cover stops in Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Vegas, and Zion National Park. Enjoy!

I was informed by one reader to keep my posts shorter, since that's what readers prefer. Don't know how much shorter this is, but hey, I tried.