CANYONLANDS MAZE DISTRICT

APRIL 2001


We headed to the remote Maze District of Canyonlands National Park.  Sharon and Chris met Sandy, Randy and Brad who had driven there in Brad's Ford Explorer.   We were going to meet at the Hans Flat Ranger Station but lucked out and met 1.5 hours earlier at the turnoff from the main highway onto the road into the Maze.  We then got our permit at the ranger station before departing for the long 4WD excursion into the Maze Overlook...

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After a long 4WD into the Maze Overlook, Brad and Randy relax at the campsite.  Not too shabby of a view huh?  The Chocolate Drops is the name of   the cool  rock formation.

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The next morning we started the decent down into the Maze.  If you look carefully, you might pick out some members of the crew in this picture showing the massiveness of the area.

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There were many obsticles along the climb down.  We had many dropoffs, steep slickrock and some really narron slots.

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It was a team effort to get down there.  Randy's trusty egg survived thus far.  Doom would soon befall it after this shot though,,,

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Once we got down into the labrinth of the Maze, we headed up the Pictograph Fork trail.  Here we came across the impressive Harvest Scene.

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Here's another shot of the Harvest Scene.  There are some spooky characters on there including the horned guy on the right.

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About a half mile beyond the Harvest Scene we found a nice campsite to call home for the next 2 nights.  There was a great view of the Chocolate Drops from there.

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We went for a day hike deeper into the Maze.  At the end of the hike was a large overhang that had a water seep that supported a large garden in the shade.   Check out the cute couple!

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The climb back out tested the team dynamics to the max.  Here is a particulary tough set of "moki steps"

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Once back on the rim we could once again see the vast expanse of the Maze Canyons.

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For the drive out, Randy decided to have a better view as well as a smoother ride.

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