I hope this is the right forum. I am looking for either opinions or personal experience (or opinions based on personal experience).
I am considering going to the Grand Canyon next year. It seems like it’s hardly worth going if you don’t take the donkey ride down the canyon, so I would like to do that. The only catch is I am afraid of heights, and enough so that I am concerned that I might end up choking the poor donkey and whimpering like a little girl.
I’m thinking that if the donkeys are able to go side-by-side so that I never have to ride at the actual edge of the trail, I might be all right. Or maybe I can just get off the donkey and walk, with the donkey next to me shielding me from the edge.
Any other acrophobes who have taken this ride? I’m especially interested in hearing of your experiences.
There are no donkey rides in the Grand Canyon. Those are mules, which are bigger than donkeys. They walk on the outside of the trail. Most of the guide companies won’t take you if you are afraid of heights and there is probably a reason for that.
I would bet that if you look on YouTube somebody has filmed the mule ride and you can see what you will be up against and make the call for yourself.
Still, there are jeep tours and van tours and hiking tours into the canyon, there are light plane and helicopter tours, you can go rafting and all sorts of canyon wonderfulness, so I don’t quite get the point of requiring yourself to be scared to death.
I dunno about the donkey ride, but back in my youth before I blew out my knees, I hiked down and back via two different trails in the same day. You had to get a permit to stay for the night, so I just did it in a day. It was spectacular. I’ve got very little fear of heights (I’ve bungie jumped off the highest commercially available spot in South Africa). If I recall correctly, the trail was fairly wide the whole way. The big problem with hiking is that you have to hike back up again out of the canyon, and a lot of people run out of water. This is probably not a problem on a guided mule trip.
Do NOT go. you will not be clutching your mule and whimpering, you will be having a full on panic attack and screaming and begging to go back up.
As a test. Go to a very tall building, get on the roof. Walk to the edge and look over. Now imagine that on a bouncy animal for 6 hours.
Actually, I would disrecommend the mule ride for most people, you will have aches in places you didn’t realize you had and being in pain while trying to be a tourist in the next few days really sucks. Back when we did the traditional family trip west with mule ride, I was into dressage, and spent 2-8 hours a day riding, my brother and parents not. I was just fine, I flopped back in the saddle and napped on the way down. The next few days I was fine, everybody else was in agony. If it had been an option, we would have stopped right there and rested up for a few days on pain killers for them, and boredom for me [no tv in the motel back in the early 70s].
If there is a vehicle ride, or even better a helicopter down and back up option, go for the helo. Trust me.
I took the mule ride back in 1973 or so. I’d never ridden a horse or anything before, and at the time was only mildly annoyed by heights. It was a little scary…you are sitting perched on top of a fairly tall animal, whose movements you have no control over, and for half the trip you are headed downhill…which is a bit precarious. I always seemed to be feeling like I was falling off. The view was fantastic, the whole thing was fun…but also scary. You really have no control over the animal at all…they know where they are going and they really don’t care about your opinion.
You get fantastic views from the top and there’re many possible hikes, some short, some long and strenuous. So there’s lots to do without ever seeing a mule.
As for fear of heights – the mules are tall and they walk on the very edge of the trail single file. (There’s a reason for that, but I’ve forgotten what it is – maybe to let hikers by.) There are places where you can look straight down for a very long ways. This doesn’t sound like something you’d enjoy.
As for the physical discomfort – I don’t recall it being that bad. Some stiffness and aches when we got to the bottom, but far from incapacitating. Note that you have to be under the weight limit (200lbs?) to do the mule ride.
You would not enjoy the mule ride if you are afraid of heights. Mt DD is afraid of heights and most often would not get w/i 30 feet of the edge of the GC. No way she would ever ride a mule down. I’m not particularly afraid of heights and often felt dizzy and overwhelmed looking over the edges.
But, you don’t need a mule ride to enjoy the awesome sight that is the GC! You will have a great time doing all the other stuff available there.
We visited the North and South Rims and both were completely awesome. I liked the North side better. We stayed at one of the three (4?) hotels available at Lee’s Crossing.
I hiked down the Kaibab trail during the early 1990s. I was in excellent physical condition. and well accustomed to walking. But walking downhill that far left me very stiff and sore for the next two days. Down at Phantom Ranch (bottom of the canyon) they called it “the Kaibab shuffle”- walking like a very old man.
I took the Kaibab down to the Tonto last Thanksgiving, and there were significant changes from when I first did the hike (and encountered the “Kaibab shuffle”) back in '85: namely the introduction of “steps”. No, not “well formed steps”, but rather 6" diameter log segments laid across the trail separating step segments. The story I heard was that since they started taking the mule trains on the Kaibab, these steps were important to slow the erosion of the trail (and to make sure the mule piss stays in nice pools
At the time I did the hike last November, it had recently rained. So those cross logs formed nice pools of water/mud in pretty much every step - 100’s of them. We actually hiked on the rocks lining the edge of the trail more than on the trail itself.
But I digress. The cause of the Kaibab shuffle is that people tend to hike down too fast. The Kaibab is steep in places, and you are making good time so you tend to hike faster than you normally would. Add the weight of a pack, and you are really taxing the “shock absorber” muscles in your legs. I am convinced it is the pace that wipes out your legs (and it catches up with you - you don’t feel it while you’re hiking). So my advice is to take your time, enjoy the views, give your legs a break.
To prepare for the hike: hike steep hills or steps (like bleachers). Both up and down. And lots. And with the pack/daypack you will be carrying.
Speaking of views, there is a point about halfway down to the Tonto (maybe closer to 2/3 down to the Tonto), where an “unsanctioned” trail leads off to the left (west). This is right after a rest area, and just before the big switchbacks that take you down to the Tonto. If you take this little trail you will be treated to a spectacular view of the canyon looking west. Nice unobstructed panorama from rim to rim.
I used to be terrified to fly. I can tell you I missed out on a lot of great opportunities because I was afraid. Now I can fly, I still don’t like it but I can get through it.
Don’t let fear rule you, go ahead and do it. Perhaps you could get your doctor to prescribe yu two or three valium so that you could take one on your way down and back up.
I’m pretty sure mules fall under the “Do not operate while using this drug” category for valium. Yes, the mules are very sure-footed, but it’s not a Disneyland ride – people can and do get hurt if they’re not paying attention. On my trip, one rider broke her arm when she failed to keep her mule close to the one in front and it bolted.
The view from the rim is really spectacular enough to justify the trip without going down into the canyon. The South rim is a little more touristy and accessible than the North rim, and generally a little bit lower, too. This sometimes means that the view from the south rim is better- you have more to look at on the other side. It’s possible to just do the touristy things and still have a very good experience at the Canyon.
I hiked maybe two miles down the Kaibab and back out again without much preparation, but I was in slightly-better-than-average shape and it was a cooler day. Don’t plan on doing much more than that without some preparation.
I love hiking. And I was 25 years old, in good physical condition, and it was my first visit to G.Canyon(1985-ish). So of course I hiked the Kaibob trail, in one day.
Down,Down,Down…and then, of course … UP,UP,UP,UP.,UP,UP,UP,UPPPPPPPPPPPPPP…
Now, I don’t regret the thirst from rationing my water…
And I don’t regret the severe pain to my leg muscles…
And I don’t regret doing the"kaibob shuffle" for several days afterwards.
But I will forever regret learning the hard way that the view doesn’t get any better as you go down!
And that’s the lesson I offer for all visitors:
The views change as you descend, but they do not get any better than the view from the top. So if you have the stamina in your legs, then please, please do what I did, and walk it. I am grateful that I did. And if you have the guts to ride a mule, then please do that , too…
The more you see of the Canyon, the more you will like it. But do not feel cheated if you don’t see all the variations at lower elevations . The view from the top is the one you will remember most.
But if you have concerns (fear of heights, of animals, of painful muscles, or whatever)…don’t do the descent. Stay up top…
And you will still have a wonderous experience-- Nature in all her magnificance.
This is very true. Up close and personal, the bottom of the canyon looks a lot like the kind of desert you can see anywhere in Arizona. The best views are at the top.
The interesting thing about hiking the canyon (or riding mules) is that it’s the reverse of just about every other hiking trip you’ve ever done. You start at the top and hike * down *. Then you hike back up to get out. Weird. And you can turn around and watch the landmarks gradually disappear into the scenery as you go.
Have to disagree with this - whole heartedly ! “Better” is obviously subjective, but I think the views of the canyon from inside are spectacular. For starters, you’re looking up to the rims, so it is a very different perspective (I’ve seen a LOT of Arizona, and there isn’t all that much that matches THAT). Second, seeing the river full on (not just short bends) in the midst of the canyon puts the whole “this took millions of years to create” into perspective. And there are 1,000s of people who hike out to Plateau Point for this very perspective.
No doubt the views from the rim are spectacular, and what you see in most post cards. But seeing the canyon from the inside is a very different perspective, and is just as wonderous and awe inspiring in my book !
I’m also of the opinion that you haven’t really seen the Grand Canyon until you’ve been inside–the further down, the better. From the Rims, the Colorado River looks like a little brown line…up close, you get a sense of it as a powerful living thing. From up top you really can’t appreciate the fact that Grand Canyon is made up of thousands of little ecosystems, each in their own not-so-mini side canyons.
Of course most people don’t have the time, fitness or inclination to go very far below the rim. There’s nothing wrong with that. Spend any time at all–walking along the rim trails and vista points–you’ll come away with an experience that pictures and youtube videos can never quite portray.
