Every time I visited the Island in the Sky or Needles districts of Canyonlands National Park I always gaze to the East at the Maze wondering what it would be like. Due to its extreme remoteness and rugged 4×4 roads it always felt like an untouchable far off place until Nick invited Clint and I to tag along on his permit. In the months leading up to the trip we poured over maps and tried to soak up as much information as we could find. The plan was to spend 6 days and 5 nights in the area and to see as much as possible.
Day1:
Probably the longest half day of work I had ever experienced. We loaded our gear, gassed up, packed the cooler full of ice blocks and headed south around 2pm. A few hours later we were topping off the fuel tanks in Green River and hit the San Rafael Desert road where we left pavement for the next 6 days. The road was in great shape and we made excellent time so we decided to hike Moonshine Wash before meeting up with Nick. We did a quick hike down to the old sheep bridge and made it back to the truck just as it was getting dark. We then drove out to Keg Knoll to meet up with Nick and his friends for a night of camping at one of my favorite sites, we stayed up late shooting star trails and making sure we burned all of Nick’s firewood.
Me in Moonshine
.jpg)
Clint in Moonshine
.jpg)
.jpg)
Day 2:
I was up early to shoot the sunrise and quickly packed up my gear. We drove about an hour south to the Hans Flat Ranger station where we received a short lecture of the rules and regulations within the Maze from the Ranger. We hit the road and made a quick stop at the Flint Trail overlook to make sure no one else was headed up before we started down the narrow switchbacks. (more…)
