Grand Canyon's Mule Rides Rerouted

So who cares? Certainly not Xanterra!

Who cares? The thousands that have had transformational adventures on the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails riding their incredible Mules. Letting go of their concerns and growing confident in something other than their own two feet opening the door to receiving what the Canyon has to offer in a very personal way. There are signs all over the Park above the Rim identifying Federal Stymulas Money at work but none on the corridor trails. Allocation of budget moneys could be looked at a little closer.

The mule rides allow visitors to "experience" the Canyon in a way that is 100% unique and without parallel. The Park needs to find a way to allow visitors to ride to the bottom and visit Phantom Ranch. The splendor of the valley is truly experienced atop a mule as it steadily makes its way to the bottom and back up the trails. The Canyon without a mule ride to the bottom is hard to envision after you have completed this experience. I implore you to keep the trails open for the mules and their riders.

By the time this is over a few in the Park Service management, may talk the public and the National Park Service out of Mule rides into the inner Canyon. This will dismiss a particularly unique 100+ year old heritage that has opened the wonders of the inner canyon to untold thousands. It seems obvious that some in National Park Services Management have bowed to some very vocal special interest groups and appear to have joined at the hip to further a common agenda; to get the mules off the trails below the rim. The public be dammed, some, will keep injecting their poison, as fast as it will be tolerated, until they get what they want.
Issues of trail maintenance, funding, hiker and mule compatibilities, mule concession management, previous and potential conflicts, etc., will be used, by some, as smoke screens to cover up their real agenda. It appears that some in NPS management and their special interests are unwilling to search for and or to develop ways to properly fund, implement, manage, and supervise to management plans and the solutions that would accommodate and protect all of the General Public, and still protect The Canyon, The Park and its mule heritage. These smoke screens and other considerations such as temporary compromise and due process are only tools to be used by some in NPS management and their special interest supporters to create a "clear trail" to their final goal: "The death of mule rides below the rim.
There have been untold multitudes that have experienced the indescribable magnificence of the inner Canyon, from the back of a mule. Never mind, that there are those who without mules would be physically limited to the wonders of "The Canyon" from the rim and without mules would otherwise have been unable to, or will never again be able to, access the wonders of the inner canyon.
Those with only a self serving agenda in NPS management and their ilk will have their way if they are not checked hard by sustained public opinion that can move higher authorities to intervene.

NPS Grand Canyon Press Release:
November 12, 2009
New Visitor Center Parking Expected to Open in Time for Thanksgiving.
That's great news for the average visitor that spends 20 minutes at the Canyon Rim and is gone.
The trail work on the S.Kaibab is still several years from completion while a half effort to finish their work is expended. Mule Rides are denied on it, argueably the most spectacular of only three allowable to Mule Rides while Park Service Mules continue to use it. Out of 350 or so miles of trails in the Park only 33 miles were permitted for private or concession Mule Rides.
Lets get together, get the work done and have some consideration for what the PUBLIC is missing by not being allowed to experience what has been a 100 year legacy of this iconic National Park!

Correction to previous post:
The press release released by NPS ended in this comment at, "in time for Thanksgiving." The rest was my commentary.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/AZ/2000...

<1m ago
The following is an excerpt from Chris Espanol's Blog on Examiner.com .

Good morning, you all ready for an adventure? The Mule Guide asks the crowd of mule riders that have gathered at the Round Pen near the Bright Angel Trailhead. There is a bit of nervous excitement present as most respond in the affirmative while clutching their company issued yellow rainslickers. There are families, couples, the young and more senior riders with a very wide range of rideing experience. All brought together by expectancy of being a part of something big. Many have had the seed to ride the Grand Canyon planted decades ago but weren't ready then but with their own bucket list of things to do are breaking down the walls of their comfort zones to do something that brings life, peace and a degree of order to their lives.

As the wranglers bring in their strings of saddled mules and tie them around the Round Pen, the manager yells out, "Mule Riders, come on over." This begins the initial orientation that is meant to provide the important safety rules of the ride that is the bedrock of the operation and responsibility of each individual rider.

Later, they meet their guide for the either the day ride or the ultimate overnight ride to Phantom Ranch and the Colorado River. The riders are assigned their mules by name such as "Josey, Trinity, Bonny, Nora, Mister or Suicide(not really but it breaks the tension). Lining up to leave in an order that has the youngest in front, then the ladies and men in the back (chivalrous, cowboys are). Their guide whose name may be Anslem, Steve, Mike, Buck, Kevin, Kbar, or Kim asks if everyone is ready and out the gate single file heading for that first switchback as the guide settles nerves giving way to growing confidence.

Often times the group of individuals in a group become very close and are a team experiencing the Canyon in a very special way, beyond their expectations and forever lasting. The growing awareness and confidence of just how impressive their mules are at doing their job is in itself a breakthrough for many gradually letting go of the concern they might have at giving confidene in something other than their own two feet.

I have described some of the beginings and a few of the emotions that I have seen but the ride and the Grand Canyon experience can't really be described and do it justice. It is to be experienced yourself and taken with you, until you return.

One more thing. The soreness that everyone feels to some degree on the ride, that is called,"Happy Pain."

Jill is a single mother of twins that I was blessed to have on a Phantom Ride. The following are her words.
Dear Rich,
I've been thinking a lot about our experience with the canyon. I know it was incredible for both my kids, but perhaps especially for Noah. Last year this time, Noah was experiencing severe anxiety, was pulled out of school, and had become nearly suicidal. I know that sounds unbelievable for a then 11 year-old, but it was very intense and very scary. We got help for him (medical and otherwise), and he is making progress by leaps and bounds. I tell you this to let you know how huge it was for Noah to be able to do this. He was awake at 4 a.m. that morning of the mule ride, sure that he, or one of us, was fated to die that day on those mules. He was sobbing nearly hysterically and I began to doubt whether this was going to be possible and if I was doing the right thing. I helped him get back to sleep and by later that morning, the worst of it was gone, but by no means completely disappeared. I can't thank you enough for helping him (and me!) through that. It was a real breakthrough for him, one we'll never forget and one that has and will continue to make a lasting difference in his life. How incredible to get these things at the age of 12! Thank you again.
I've been reflecting on my own experience with the canyon too. What an amazing 30 hours, from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon. The canyon itself has become a powerful metaphor for me. Something happened to me over that day and a half. Something like a crevice opened up for me, and I was somehow inside of it and yet an observer of it, all at the same time. Like what I saw looking out over the canyon, the space I saw and felt within myself was deep, vast, and huge. At the bottom was the groundedness of the river - solid and strong, and at the top was the etherealness of the sky - weightless and fleeting. That heightened sense of awareness that the canyon blessed me with, combined with many of the things you said and did, and just your presence itself - gave me a perspective I hadn't had before. In any case, the result of all this was that I saw things differently - things about my childhood, my marriage, and myself. Somehow, the canyon and you achieved, seemingly without effort, what many hours of psychotherapy, books and occasionally medication, could not. Some of what I saw was painful, some of it was bittersweet, but it came with such an exhilarating and almost intoxicating sense of clarity. And I've decided I'll take clarity, even if it's painful, over ambiguity any day. It was that kind of clarity that seems to set the truth right smack in front of you, gives you wings and says "go now, you're free". I have you, and the canyon, to thank for that. Words really are inadequate to express my gratitude - but you and the canyon have been on my mind and I appreciate this opportunity to express some of it to you with this letter. It comes from my heart. I have no doubt that, while you love your work and feel blessed to be there, you are also providing something for people that is truly breathtaking and spectacular (and I don't just mean the views of the canyon). You are part of something that can make a valuable difference for people. I hope you never lose sight of that. Well, I've probably rambled on longer than I should. Wish we were there. Thanks for listening, Jill
I think we need to have a little more consideration for this historic legacy that is such a transformational experience for so many.
Rich