07 AUGUST 2000 - SUPAI, AZ: Charlie Chamberlain secures a load of US mail to a mule in the parking lot eight miles above the village of Supai on the Havasupai Indian reservation in northern Arizona, Aug. 7. There are no roads or rail service into Supai, a village of 600 people on the floor of the Grand Canyon, west of the Grand Canyon National Park, so the mail is delivered by mule train. The wranglers who lead the mules down to the village haul everything from letters and postcards to fresh produce and refrigerated foods. The mail is hauled down the steep mountain slopes five days a week rain or shine. It normally takes about three hours to haul the mail down. The mule wranglers are self employed contractors and have to provide all of their own mules and equipment. Although the muletrain delivery of the mail is unusual, the Postal Service uses whatever mean necessary to deliver the mail, including sled dogs in Alaska and boats in other areas. Because of budget shortfalls, the US Postal Service is threatening to close the post office in Supai.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ