Thursday, October 7, 2010 - Drive to Grand Canyon

Well, the sunny, dry day has finally arrived, as we got up early and were on the road by 9:30 (a bit later than usual because I had to muck out two corrals, as we had moved the horses yesterday, because after all the rain the one they were in had turned into a mudbath), and this campground wanted you to bag up the manure in plastic garbage bags, which they provided, and leave them by the side of the road for them to pick up (that's a new one on us, we hadn't seen it go quite that far before, but it did make for a very clean campground). It was a pretty straight drive up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and we stopped first at the Kaibab National Forest Office to confirm where we could camp with the horses, then we drove into Grand Canyon Village to the Visitor's Center for any additional maps and information, where we discovered that one of the two trails we were allowed on at the south rim (South Kaibab) was closed for renovations for two years (starting last spring), then was referred to the Backcountry office for permits, where they told us we didn't need permits for day riding, and that parking lot where they usually allowed horse trailers didn't exist anymore, so they suggested we go talk to the mule wranglers at the mule barn we had just passed to see if they would let us park there while we go on our day ride. Obviously, people bringing their own horses wasn't typical, because everyone had a different idea about it, whether it was allowed and where. Anyway, we went down to the mule barn and talked to the mule boss, who was more than happy to let us park our trailer next to his barn. In fact, he even mentioned they would like to encourage more folks coming with their own stock. Be warned, though, your animals had better be in good shape if you intend to take them into the canyon, however we discovered there were trails up top as well, though there isn't a trail map available. I got the impression it was mostly for the mule rides, but he seemed happy enough to have us share the trail. Having finished making those arrangements, we made one last stop at the campground area to stock up on water, both in the RV and in the horses' 55-gallon drum. Then we headed east out of GCV, passed the Grand View turnoff on the left, went another two miles to a Forest Road turnoff on the right. In less than a mile on that gravel road (not too bad, we've been on worse), we came to a cattle guard that was the forest boundary. Within another 100 yards we found the perfect campsite on the right, a very nice stone fire ring, a great long driveway where we could park the RV and the horse trailer, and plenty of trees to hi-line the horses. Hubby even managed to get a satellite signal, and we were all moved in by our usual 5:00, when we celebrated with cocktail hour and a nice evening of rest. Can't wait to get going for a ride in the Grand Canyon!