Rattlesnake Annie to mark 75th year with Mule ride to bottom of Grand Canyon
Linda Pishion with some of her best friends at her ranch on Mill Creek a year ago. Pishion is headed to the bottom of Grand Canyon on a mule in September to mark her 75th birthday.
By Tom Peterson
Not for the light of heart, trail rides to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on a pack animal come with a little adrenalin boost for most.
The Dalles’ Linda Pishion jumped out of an airplane for her 70th birthday some five years ago.
So, why would she be afraid of a little mule ride?
“Holly Molly, that’s crazy,” she said today, June 22, while shopping for Crisco to make pies.
She pointed out that the mule ride was down trails next to sheer cliffs of the Grand Canyon, which is slated for Sept. 7 and 8.
“They called, and I said Hell no,” she said of the offer to take the trip.
They refers to good friend Dee Van Gilder of Wasco who landed six trip permits on mules through a lottery system with the National Park Service.
Dee affectionately calls Linda Rattlesnake Annie. The good friends have a mutual love of Arabian horses.
“I don’t like heights,” said Pishion. “I said if nobody else wants to go, call me, maybe.”
As luck would have it, Van Gilder had one person unable to make the trip.
Pishion got the call.
“She had 6 wanting to go and one backed out, and so here I am, and I am headed that direction,” she said.
It’s a fitting trip for Pishion, a dedicated horse trainer, who will mark her 75th birthday with the trip.
Her birthday is July 12.
Pishion promised to keep a journal and snap photos, so CCCNews hopes to get a follow-up and some photos upon her return.
Will you look over the edge as you put your faith into that hard-hooved mule as you go?
“Well, I’m going to look over the side,” she said of riding. “And I am going to take pictures. It won’t be with my phone though. I’ll take a camera, and if I lose it, I lose it.”
To read more about Linda and Amos Pishion and their incredible story, click here.
