ARIZONA, USA — You'd be wrong if you thought all Amazon delivery workers had two legs.
Customers at the bottom of the Grand Canyon are being treated to a unique service: delivery by mule, which the company offers to the workers at Phantom Ranch.
Phantom Ranch is a lodge inside Grand Canyon National Park. It sits at the bottom of Grand Canyon, on the east side of Bright Angel Creek, a little over half a mile north of the creek's junction with the Colorado River.
There are no roads to the bottom of the canyon. The only way to get there is on foot, river raft or the Grand Canyon mules.
The company said Amazon deliveries are only available to ranch employees who live and work at the bottom of the canyon.
"We bring down pretty much anything that Phantom Ranch might need and any sort of packages they want delivered," said Annie Zenin, a Phantom Ranch mule packer.
Amazon said Phantom Ranch employees receive packages year-round, four days a week.
"The supplies that our mule team brings down are a critical part of making sure that life can exist down at the bottom comfortably and happily," said Sam Langner, community relations manager for Xanterra Travel Collection, which owns Phantom Ranch.
The company said packages arrive at a warehouse on the South Rim, and Phantom Ranch trucks deliver the boxes, along with mail and other supplies, to the mule barn.
Mule packers start their day in the early morning hours to beat the heat on the trail.
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, which packers said results in a lot of personality in the animals.
"They love people, and they love attention," said Zenin. "Every single mule that's here loves having this job. They love being in the canyon."
"One of my favorite things about this job is that I'm helping these people that live down at the bottom of the canyon," head mule packer Carly Lupien said. "We're always delivering Amazon packages. Everybody, every week, is ordering different things, either outdoor gear, snacks, or whatever they need. We haul it down there, and whenever we show up, they're like, 'Do you have our packages? We got something from Amazon. Did you bring it down?' and we're like, 'Yup, we got it. Right here.'"
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