"I'm telling you for the last time, there aren't any cows here"

I'm packing for a mini-vacation that will include a short and leisurely ride on horseback through vineyards. I just dug my Frye boots out of the back of the closet and was thinking about the last time I wore them this past January. I was with the Six-Button Cowgirls on a mule ride to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

The temperatures at the top of the canyon hovered around 30 degrees. The trails, which are narrow and run right along the ledge, were icy and snowy. About a quarter of the way down, the weather started getting better and the trails were dry. By the time we reached the bottom of the canyon, we had beautiful autumn-like weather. Although we weren't fans of the icy trails and cold weather at the top, I think January was a great time to go. We were the only riders assigned to our wrangler, so the trip was like our own private tour of the canyon.

As we plodded along on our trusty mules, we were surrounded by scenery straight out of an old western movie. We felt like the ultimate cowgirls (and may have said so a few too many times, prompting our wrangler to protest that we were nowhere near any cows).