GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA: One has probably heard about e-commerce giant Amazon using modern technologies to deliver goods. If a customer needs a quick delivery, the company has drones to deliver your package. But if reports are to be believed, Amazon not only uses state-of-the-art modern technologies but also primitive ways of transportating packages. Per ABC affiliate Kota Tv, Amazon uses mules to deliver packages at the Phantom Ranch, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
As there is no other way to reach the Phantom Ranch other than by walking, river rafting, or by mules, the Jeff Bezos-led company has taken the interesting approach of using mules. Along with the Amazon packages, the animals deliver also deliver other products like fresh produce, toilet paper, bacon, mail, and beer among others.
What is Phantom Ranch?
Established in 1922, Phantom Ranch is a prestigious and remote tourist lodge located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Located inside the Grand Canyon National Park, it is owned by the National Park Service. The poetically named ranch is located on the east side of Bright Angel Creek, just a little more than half a mile north of the creek’s confluence with the Colorado River.
It is also a member of Historic Hotels of America and a part of the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. After François E. Matthes completed his survey work of the Grand Canyon in 1903, Edwin Woolley and other investors organized the Grand Canyon Transportation Company. Woolley hired his son-in-law David Rust, who started installing a few tents along the trails.
President Theodore Roosevelt declared Grand Canyon a National Monument in 1908. Grand Canyon was also incorporated into the National Park System in 1919. Later, the construction of the camp was given to the Fred Harvey Company which hired architect Mary Colter to design permanent lodging. Colter named the place ‘Phantom Ranch’ and it opened on November 9, 1922. Initially, it had central cooking, a dining hall, guest cabins, and caretaker cabins among others.
How does Amazon deliver in Phantom Ranch?
Phantom Ranch mule packer Annie Zenin said, “We bring down pretty much anything that Phantom Ranch might need and any sort of packages they want to be delivered,” before adding, “It’s important to be able to give these people not only what they need, but also what they want while they’re living at the bottom of the canyon.”
However, it should be noted here that while the guests can get pretty much everything necessary to sustain life from the Phantom Ranch canteen, the Amazon deliveries are just reserved for the lodge workers. Sam Langner, community relations manager for the owners of Phantom Ranch Xanterra Travel Collection said, “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. Having a service like Amazon available to employees, especially in a place as remote as Phantom Ranch, is fantastic.”
Amazon ensures that the Phantom Ranch employees receive packages all year round, four days a week through their interconnected logistics network and third-party carrier partnerships.
At first, the Amazon packages get delivered at the purchasing warehouse on the South Rim. From there the Phantom Ranch trucks deliver the packages and other supplies to the mule barn. The mule packers start their day at 2:45 am so that they can beat the heat, as per Carly Lupien, the head mule packer. In the mule barn, the packers wight the packages and make an inventory of them. After feeding and cleaning the animals, they hoist the panniers filled with packages and start their treks down the canyons as soon as the sun rises. Two packers, each leading five mules, go down the trail.
