We woke bright and early and COLD for our day at the North Rim. We had pre-loaded the car last night so all we had to do was dress, caffeinate, brush our teeth, and hit the road!
Our drive back to the park was uneventful and before long we were waiting on the shuttle to take us to the trail head. Our fellow participants were respectful, wearing their masks and sitting distanced on the bus for which we were appreciative!
We opted for the 3 hour ride down to the Supai Tunnel along the North Kaibab Trail offered by Canyon Trail Rides. Our reasoning was the desire to descend into the canyon vs. just go along the rim.
Upon reaching the trailhead, the guides asked each participant about their horse riding experience levels. We ranged from "some" to "none" (that'd be Wifey!). Then they assigned mules based on temperament and lined us up in reverse order of experience. Hubby's mule was named Bert and Wifey's named Pumpkin. Both were male.
We began our descent in single file and got a feel for riding. The mules tend to prefer the outside of the trail, but have strong self-preservation instinct so we were never in danger. Apparently the cannot however use the bathroom while moving so whenever your mule stopped to do so, you were to hollar "Pit Stop" so the rest of the group knew to wait on you. Awkward!
As much of a cliche as it may be, the mules were quite sure footed and made accessing the lower areas of the canyon much easier. It was certainly an interesting experience. Would WE do it again? As a day trip - probably not.
If you cannot make this type of hike yourself, DO IT! Being down elevation is valuable.
Wifey would absolutely consider doing a mule ride to the canyon bottom simply as a reasonable means of transportation. As an end to itself, eh.
At the bottom of our route, we disembarked our mules and had a restroom/picture break. Compared to our experience on Bright Angel Trail, it was unimpressive.
Our fast motion video of the experience:
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