Stubborn as a Mule

 
“Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Good mule.” I gave Judd a reassuring pat on the neck, although I was the one who really needed reassuring. What was I thinking? The bottom of the canyon is a long way down and I’m climbing on the back of a mule? Tiffany, our trail guide, gave me a boost up and showed me how to keep my feet in the stirrups and my hand on the reins. “Mules are very sure footed because they can see all four of their hooves at the same time,” she explained. “Did you know they are four times stronger than horses and require much less water?”

How many National Parks can you name? Although the National Park Service now manages 63 national parks, few people could name them all. However, the Grand Canyon is one of the most recognizable vistas in the United States. The Grand Canyon is aptly named—it is over a mile deep and ten miles across in some areas—at 1,904 square miles, it’s larger than the state of Rhode Island! Millions of tourists from across the globe check this destination off their bucket list and this year, I joined them…on a mule.

Mules look similar to horses, except for their ears.  The mule’s longer ears create more surface area and help regulate body temperature, which Judd needed on our hot June morning ride.  “Mules are also very smart,” Tiffany explained. If you try to force them into a dangerous situation, they refuse to budge. Hence the old idiom, stubborn as a mule. And when navigating steep drop offs and switchbacks, stubbornness is a quality I appreciate in my mule.

Judd was slow and gentle as we meandered around the rim of the canyon. Along the way, Tiffany shared facts about the park, as well as information about the animals we rode. Did you know mules can’t have babies? A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Since a donkey has 62 chromosomes and a horse has 64, the mule ends up with 63. A mule can be male or female, but it can’t reproduce with the odd number of chromosomes.

We continued along the well-worn route, Judd clearly travelling in a familiar direction. Thank goodness my mule’s path was predictable since this vacation was not going according to my itinerary. With all my research, there is still one thing I can’t plan: the weather. Literally 113 degrees. Hiking in the heat and high altitude left me feeling lethargic. My fingers swelled. Sweat evaporated before I could even wipe it from my tired brow.  And, due to pandemic restrictions, the Visitor Center was not open. No airconditioned IMAX movie or ranger programs to distract me. We shifted our plans to minimize the heat—waking up at 4:45 am to hike before sunrise, for example, and napping beneath the ceiling fan in our cabin in the afternoons.

Even on the hottest day, the Grand Canyon is a spectacular sight. Overlooking the layered rock formations carved out by the powerful Colorado River, it’s easy to see why this park is a crowd favorite.  And while the view alone is reason to come, I also enjoyed learning more about this canyon’s rich history and diverse geology. According to the National Park Service, the Grand Canyon contains several major ecosystems, including five diverse life zones and three of the four desert types in North America. It is home to over 1,500 plant species and over 500 animal species, including one very special animal: a mule named Judd.

If you’re ever heading to the Grand Canyon, consider booking a mule ride. We chose the Canyon Vistas ride, which was about two hours long, and definitely a highlight of our trip to the Grand Canyon.