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

Clint in Moonshine

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.

Our first good view of The Land of Standing Rock and the Fins from the Flint Trail.

The next section of road was Teapot Canyon, everything you hear about this road is true. Its rough, rugged, and takes almost two hours to cross the 7 miles of road. I sure was glad that Clint was willing to drive his beefed up Tacoma on this trip.

Nearly 6 hours after we left our camp at Keg Knoll we made it to our camp site at Standing Rock were I immediately set up my tent and took a power nap.

A few hours later we stared out on a short hike to Parachute Arch on the rim of Sweet Alice Canyon. We followed our GPS cords and ended up rimming out 60′ above the Arch. While looking for a route down we stumbled across a granary that had a few pot shards laying around it. After a while we eventually we found a route down to Parachute, the Arch is nearly impossible to photograph without climbing gear but a pretty amazing feature. We did a bit of exploring along the rim of Sweet Alice Canyon and found a few more arches and lots of breathtaking views. We made it back to our camp at Standing Rock just in time for sunset. After dinner I shot some star trails then turned in for the night.

My tent at Standing Rock

Nick looking down into Sweet Alice Canyon

View of the Maze from camp

Elaterite Butte

Day3:

Again I was up early for sunrise but there was not much going on in the sky. We quickly packed up camp and drove over to the Chimney Rock trail head and started getting our backpacking grear ready to go. The wind was blowing as we hiked north along the rim of Jasper Canyon towards Pete’s Mesa. The ridge line was nothing but full on panoramic views overlooking all the various canyons and their tributaries. We descended the steep trail near the edge of Petes Mesa down into the Maze and set up camp near Pictograph Fork.

Clint looking off into the Maze and Ekker Butte

Camp

Inside the Maze near Pictograph Fork

After setting up camp and a long rest Nick, Taylor, and Nate decided to stay close to camp go see the harvest scene while Clint and I hiked up to Brimhall Point and the Maze overlook. The trail leading from the bottom of the Maze to the rim was pretty steep with a bit of exposure. There were 4 notable climbs, two were tight squeezes, some moki steps, and a 15 footer with an awkward crux at the top. Nothing really too difficult but bringing a 20′ rope would a good idea especially for lowering big packs.

As soon and Clint and I made it to he rim we were greeted by 30-40mph wind gusts and a hazy sky. We took a few photos then descended back into the maze to get out of the furious wind.

The Chocolate Drops

Clint getting close to the top looking back from we came.

Me at the Maze Overlook

Climbing down the moki steps

Back in the Maze

Once we were back at camp we cooked dinner and watched the night roll into the canyon. After backpacking and our hike up to the rim I was pretty beat. It was pretty cold that night in the maze and had a real hard time keeping warm and sleeping so I was pretty excited when the sun came up.

Day4:

I scrambled to get my gear together and headed out of camp to find some sun, I sat out on the slick rock and warmed up and ate some breakfast. Soon Clint came up the wash and we decided to hike ahead while Nick, Taylor, and Nate were still cooking. A little over a mile we arrived at the harvest scene, I’m not really into rock art but I must say I was completely blown away by this panel. The complexity and details were definitely a step above all other pannels I have ever seen. We spent about a half hour at the panel then continued up the sandy canyon. Once we reached the exit fork we took a long break and ate second breakfast. The hike out of the maze was very steep and strenuous but soon we were at the truck in clean clothes wearing flip flops and drinking cold gatorade.

Looking back down into the maze during the climb out.

Map of our route
View The Maze – Backpacking Route in a larger map

We spent about an hour at the truck then drove south to our campsite for the next two nights at the Doll house. There are only three campsites at the doll house and Nick reserved the permits for two nights at DH3, at first I was a bit let down because this is the only site that is actually outside of the dollhouse but it ended up having the most amazing views.

We set up camp then went for a long walk around the doll house to check out the other two campsites. When we visited the Hans Flat ranger station they told us not to go off trail in the area due to their being too many foot trails in the area and they were trying to re-vegetate. I’m all for conservation and protecting wild lands but I have to admit that this takes a lot away from the doll house experience. Being limited to the dirt road that runs half way up the middle and the two trails that skirt around the edges left much to be desired.

Above DH3

Clint just outside of DH2

A sign on the edge of DH1

As the sun dropped lower the winds picked up and it got really cold out. Aside from my snow pants I was wearing all my winter layers while shooting the sunset from above DH3. Everyone crashed out pretty early that night and the cloud cover kept us from shooting any star trails.

Looking southeast to the Needles.

Nick getting his shot

Day 5:

I was up early for yet another uneventful sunrise, Clint and I made some food and packed up our gear to start our day hike. The plan for the day was for Clint and I to drive back up to chimney rock and hike down Shot Canyon, Across water canyon, and to meet up with Nick and crew (who were hiking in from the doll house) at the Colorado River Confluence. When we started out from Chimney rock the wind was blowing hard as we hiked down towards the rim of shot canyon. About 1/4 of the way down we came across some sketchy looking stairs sitting on the edge of a cliff. We carefully descended and hiked down Shot Canyon, after we passed some large potholes we crossed the pass to the south and hiked down into and across Water canyon and made our way towards the confluence.

Sketchy Stairs in Shot Canyon

Water in Shot Canyon

Hiking in to Water Canyon

Clint looking back on Water Canyon

As planned we met up with the rest of our group near the confluence. We hung out near the edge for awhile then Clint and I hiked to Nick’s truck at the Doll house while the others headed back the way we just came. Having a parked truck waiting for both groups on each side of this point to point hike worked out perfectly. We hung out at camp and spent our last afternoon in the maze wandering around the Doll house shooting photos.

Clint overlooking The Surprise Valley and the Colorado River

Day 6:

Once the sunshine was hitting camp we packed up our gear and got ready for the long drive home. We crawled our way across teapot canyon and finally hit pavement near Hite. The 9 hour drive from the Doll house to Orem was a bit much for me, maybe not enough to say that I won’t ever drive into this area of the Maze again but my next trip will definitely involve more backpacking starting at either The Maze overlook or Golden Stairs.

This video of a series of clips from our drive in and out of Teapot Canyon will give you a good idea of how rough the road is.

There is so much ground to cover in the Maze it really is mind boggling. Even after spending 3.5 full days in the area we really only scratched the surface…..

First hike of the trip was out to False Kiva, we put on our snow pants and made our way down the trail that was covered in 6-12″ of snow. Luckily someone had made the hike a few days before us and did most of the dirty work of breaking trail. We were very pleased to see that the steepest section of trail was only muddy rather than snow covered. We spent about an hour shooting photos at the Kiva before we hiked backup the hill to the car, round trip the hike was under 3 hours.

Next hike was Aztec Butte where there was at least 8-10inches of snow. The first 1/4 mile or so was packed down nicely but we had to break quite a bit of trail to the slick rock and across the top of the butte to reach the ruins.

We made two quick stops to walk around the Green River Overlook and hike the Mesa Arch loop before we headed off to Dead Horse Point for sunset.

Mesa Arch

Dead Horse Point

Sunday morning we got an early start and headed directly to the Devils Garden in Arches. Again 8-12 ” of snow covered the trails but at least this time the trail was packed down and well traveled all the to Landscape Arch.

What was once Wall Arch (right side).

Navajo Arch

Partition Arch

Beyond landscape Arch the trail became a bit epic near the now fallen Wall Arch and on the fin leading to Double Arch. Once we reached Double Arch I was post-holing well above my knees and there were no tracks headed out to the Dark Angel or on the loop towards Private Arch. We had plans to travel the entire primitive loop but without snowshoes we were not about to break that trail so we gave up and headed back the way we came. The hike to Double Arch and back with exploring all spur trails took us just under four hours in the snow.

Double Arch

Garden of Eden

After hiking and slipping for 5 miles or so with a side of sunburn we were pretty beat. We made a quick stop at the Garden of Eden view point then headed back to the hotel to shower and eat. We made a short hike up Millcreek before we headed back into the park just after sunset.

With our packs stuffed with down coats and camera gear my wife and I started our hike up to Delicate Arch about 15min after the sunset. We got quite a few strange looks from more than a few of the 40 or so people that were hiking down from the Arch. A few of them even stopped to warn us about the snow and ice on the trail above. We passed the last person we would see on this hike just below the slickrock and were forced to turn on our head lamps soon after. Between the large slick rock ramp and the bowl was the real tricky part of the hike because the puddles were starting to freeze over and in the dark it was hard to tell what was water, ice, or snow. Of course the most slippery, snow and ice covered portion of the trail was also the most exposed area just before the Arch. We made it to the Arch with only a few “oh shit” moments and dry feet but best of all we had the entire amphitheater to ourselves to take photos and enjoy before we headed back down to the car.

Cell phone shot of the icy trail on the hike down.

Before we left the park we stopped at Balanced Rock and Park Ave to shoot a few star trails under the new moon.

Next morning we just made a quick hike around primitive loop of the Windows before we headed home.