The Maze at Canyonlands: Pilgrimage to the Doll House

[unkamonkey]

Nicer report and I'm happy you know about Edward Abbey. I have wandered in that area for about the last 40 years. A friend was in a cafe in North Moab years ago and a guy walked in. "That sure looks like Edward Abbey" I suppose we will never know.

 

[unkamonkey]

Not to spoil TL's narrative, but on the last day, we saw an F-250 or F-350 with a big cargo box filling the bed, below the Flint Trail switchbacks, iirc. It was a late model support vehicle for about ten mountain bikers cruising the area. I'm not sure if they came down that way or not, or where they were heading. I remember thinking I wouldn't want to drag that beast over what we'd been through.

You can get a pickup into a lot of places. If you are out in a remote corner of a park, there is an outhouse. Somebody had to get it out there and somebody has to clean it and pump the poop.
I'm not an expert on outhouses but some of them probably required at least a 2 ton truck to get them there so somebody knew how to drive a truck.

As a disclaimer, I've never owned a pickup, never driven one on TV. I just have old stinky Jeeps.

 

[Laps]

Great story and pics. Which model slide out is that holding the fridge?

 

[moabian]

Nice report. The Maze has always been one of my favorite places on the planet...but I haven't been over there for quite a few years. I've hiked into the Doll House from Spanish Bottom on the river and from above...and have visited the Harvest Scene a few times. In the early 80's, I could spend 4-5 days out there and not see a single other person. The first time I hiked to an overlook of The Confluence was with my ol' friend Abbey and his daughter. It was from the east side through Big Spring Canyon. I'll never forget what Ed said as we arrived at the overlook after a hike of about 5 miles. "There's something about a yawning abyss that always makes me sleepy." He then proceeded to lie down under a nearby Juniper, covered his face with his straw hat, and took a nap. It was such a classic line. I'm surprised he didn't include it in his account of our hike which was originally published in Outside magazine in 1978 and later in his book Abbey's Road.

 

[Foy]

The Doll House from Spanish Bottom

I had the pleasure of hiking up to the Doll House from the beach at Brown Betty Rapid just downstream from Spanish Bottom in June 1994. I have always wanted to return by truck from Hans Flat. On the 1994 float trip from Potash to Hite we were 20 sports and 5 guides in 5 oarboats--21' long rafts. One raft carried only a guide, some coolers with some of our food, and Nalgene tanks with the combined #2 from the whole trip. Each designated campsite gets used by commercial and private permit holders pretty much every night in season, and it'd be an awful mess without packing out all of the poop

That's a totally unique place and I really need to go there again. Thanks for the report! Good times!

Foy

 

[TripLeader]

Part 17: Continuing to the Confluence
We backtracked a bit and followed the trail to a different viewpoint to get a better look at the joining of the rivers.

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The Needles District in the distance.

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We had some disagreements between us concerning about what point would give us the best view-- and not all the points were accessible to us. (Welcome to The Maze!) This was the best perspective we could scramble upon: the Green River just before the confluence. Island in the Sky is in the background above it.

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We were tired from the strenuous hiking and unsatisfied with not seeing the actual confluence. We called it a day and headed back to camp.
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Approaching Beehive Arch on the return hike.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 18: Final Night in The Maze
We spent our last night in the park. We celebrated the journey with a steak dinner.

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[TripLeader]

Part 19: Going Forth from the Maze
"We drove out to the desert just to lie down beneath this bowl of stars /
We stand up at the Palace like it's the last of the great pioneer town bars /
We shout out these songs against the clang of electric guitars /
You can see a million miles tonight but you can't get very far."
-Counting Crows, Mrs. Potter's Lullaby
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We watched the sun rise over our last day in the Maze. We were at the end of a long, tough road, in a very remote place.

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We packed up our camp early for the long trek out.

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It was sad to see the landmarks on the outbound trip. There were still volumes we did not get to explore and discover for ourselves.

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The Mother and Child rock formation silently watched us pass.

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Our ascent progressed.

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We made it back to the highway. DoorDing aired the tires back up.

 

[TripLeader]

Part 20: Epilogue
"There are places out here that drive me like lightning. The confluence in the center of Canyonlands is the place above them all. I have wanted to learn all of the languages spoken here, to move like a secret animal, knowing under which leaf the deer mouse sleeps and how soon the storms will come down to the mesas. I have wanted to grow wise by the wind and by long summer days, to be led by tracks to the shade and to drink the shadows like water. That is how this place has treated me."
-Craig Childs, Stone Desert
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A stop in Green River was in order to fuel up. We found a shower at an RV park. Just like that we were back in modern civilization. All we had to show for it was some fantastic memories, sore muscles, a few photos, and a dirty pick-up truck. That and a conversation about what to do and see on a return trip.
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I hope I've stirred interest in The Maze in those that would not have considered it otherwise. But, maybe not; I welcomed the solitude there.

 

[jgaz]

Great write up. Thanks for sharing your photos! The canyons of Utah really are a special place.

Very appropriate to include the quotes from Craig Childs. He gets canyon country and the SW like few other authors.

 

[AZ WANDERING BEAR]

Enjoyed the story and the photos. Well done. Haven't been there, but it's on the list now.

 

[Kjswa]

This was a great write up but all the photos are gone. Anyone else having the same issue?

 

[Voodoo Blue 57]

This was a great write up but all the photos are gone. Anyone else having the same issue?

Yes I don't see the pictures either. A couple of places where the picture is suppose to be this box is displayed.

 

[unkamonkey]

Yep, Photobucket is trying to extort $400.00 a year to host photos. We will see how long they last.

 

[TripLeader]

Yeah, photobucket is the worst. I had set up an account about a year ago, and used it for the first time in a trip report on this write-up.
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I'll go through this report and load the photos to ExPo directly like I'd been doing up to trying out photobucket.