The Maze ROF trip 9/19

[DaveInDenver]

I have an F150 mildly improved (level, better shocks etc). The White Rim Trail was absolutely no problem, and Imogene and Engineer passes were a big scrape-y on the Ouray side but no real problems. How does the drive to the Dollhouse rate?

I found it less challenging than these guys so consider that it's not an exact science to rating trails. It *is* no doubt more difficult than the trails you list, however. I'll say this, though, when we ran it in April there were stock full size trucks back in along the Dollhouse road as well as Jeeps and smaller trucks like Tacoma that weren't wildly built.

The ranger did mention that the road takes a beating so maybe it gets more difficult as the season progresses. The only spot where I'd say our party had any real difficulty was the double steps where all the rocks were stacked. I could see that getting harder with more traffic. That did require some skill and vehicle capability to do so enough people spinning tires and dragging trailers I could see making that a real tough spot.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Im sure there are many guys that can make it anywhere in the MAZE in a stock vehicle. With that said an inexperienced driver can have trouble with a vehicle bilt4it. This is a trail that can move up the scale of difficulty quickly with rain even for the experienced driver. This is not a place you want to have trouble and not a place for P rated tires. Just my opinion.

 

[Ace Brown]

I think we need to look at who is asking about the trail and what they are driving. I would not take a full sized truck into the Dollhouse unless it was lifted at least 3” and well armored. A stock 4Runner would fair better but I doubt it would escape with no damage. Again this is just my opinion but it’s based on over fifty years experience.

BTW I know about “grounding” but I also know about broken glass, sharp rocks and goat heads. Right now I’m treating my dog for an injured foot from sharp rocks.


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[gwittman]

I think Phil is spot on with his assessment of the trails in The Maze. The trail to Doll House is the worst that we encountered and did some spotting going in, in a couple places. This was just to insure no vehicle damage occurred. When we came out we knew what to expect and no spotting was needed.
I had the least capable vehicle in our group, which is a nearly stock FX4 Ford Ranger. The things that helped me was a 1.5" torsion bar lift in the front and helper air springs in the rear that can be used to lift the rear when off-road. The 33" tires were probably key to help in clearing obstacles. My long wheel base caused some issues but I still made it with just a few light scrapes. Anything less than what I had would struggle in some areas but could make it with a skilled driver and some rock stacking. Anything considerably less than what I had, probably could not make it without serious damage in the condition of the road we encountered .

 

[DaveInDenver]

Fair enough, just opinions. I run 32x9.25 tires and 1.5" of lift on a Tacoma slightly larger than your Ranger, it's nothing exceptional.

I think the trail may have deteriorated quite a bit this summer. It wasn't an easy road but other than needing to take my time on the double step I didn't feel it was difficult.

But it's probably important to understand that I don't worry about bumps and scrapes, it's a truck. I also took an IFS truck with 1.5" of lift, 33" tires and a WilderNest through the Rubicon so my judgement is highly suspect.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Note - All of the ROF on this Maze trip where seasoned wheelers with a ton of seat time in there given well-maintained nicely set up vehicle. These are the main reasons we had no issues.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Hsin-hsin Ming: Verses on the Faith-Mind
LandCruiserPhil, 3rd Patriarch of the ROF Chan School

"Do not seek for the truth;
Only cease to cherish opinions.
Do not remain in a dualistic state;
avoid such easy habits carefully.
If you attach even to a trace
of this and that, of right and wrong,
the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion."

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I think we need to look at who is asking about the trail and what they are driving. I would not take a full sized truck into the Dollhouse unless it was lifted at least 3” and well armored. A stock 4Runner would fair better but I doubt it would escape with no damage. Again this is just my opinion but it’s based on over fifty years experience.

BTW I know about “grounding” but I also know about broken glass, sharp rocks and goat heads. Right now I’m treating my dog for an injured foot from sharp rocks.


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Earthing is not the same as grounding

Linked is the dog travel water dish I spoke of

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[PSea]

Thanks for the input guys. I wouldn't go alone, but have confidence in my truck and its capabilities. Just thinking about the prospects of bringing my trailer to something like this. Ideally would pick a place to use as a base camp and then go off on day trips. Would something like that be doable in/around the Maze? Just not completely sure of the truck's capabilities with the trailer attached. But slowly gaining confidence with each trip I'm going on.

Anyway, looked like a great trip.

 

[gwittman]

On day 7, our journey continued with 4 of the remaining group (Dan, Phil, Tom and me). Instead of going back up highway 24 to catch the road that goes back toward Hans Flat, I found some county dirt roads that would eliminated backtracking on asphalt as well as well as some of the dirt road. Shortly after travelling on this new route, I heard what sounded like "stop the convoy". I ask for clarification and found out Dan's FJ40 was dying out on him. After a couple times of him getting it going again, we decided to look into it. The symptom lead us to believe it was a clogged fuel filter. Not having a new one, the next best thing was done, remove it and back flush with air. A lot of crap came running out. We were pretty certain this was the cause of the problem. It fired right up and gave no more problems the rest of the trip. Fortunately, it was an easy fix.

We continued on and found our way to the BLM campground on the West side of Horseshoe Canyon. After having lunch we headed down into Horseshoe Canyon to view the rock art there. I think it was a little more than a 700' decent onto the canyon. Phil decided he was not up to going all the way down, so Dan, Tom and I continued on. I recall it was about a 7.4 mile round trip hike but so worth it. The fist one we found was Horseshoe Shelter. This shows the entire wall of the pictographs there.



The next one was Alcove Gallery. They were great pictographs too but I was disgusted by the graffiti scraped into the wall and some of the paintings.





Alcove Gallery was in an amphitheater like overhang and was protected from the elements more than the other locations but the rock art didn't appear to hold up as well. Maybe due to the better accessibility and received more damage from inconsiderate humans. The rock art was spread out more there and difficult to get it all in one photo.
Next came the best of all four locations, the Great Gallery. I was so impressed I really didn't want to leave. It seemed like I could feel the spiritual presence there. This is a shot which includes the 'Ghost'. It is the tallest of them and stands about 8'. Supposedly, it represents the spirit of the people and protects the them.



Here is a few close ups of some of the more intricate art work.







And finally a shot of most of the Great Gallery.



On the way back we found the High Gallery which was a little more difficult to find. It is not as accessible and pretty far up.



All the galleries were very different and I would love to know the true meaning of each. This is certainly the most significant rock art I have ever seen and can understand why it is called one of the most significant rock art in North America. A must see for anyone even vaguely interested in Native American rock art.
To finish off the hike we found a dinosaur foot imprint fossil. We had a difficult time trying to figure out where it was but it ended up being right on the trail, circled with a pile of rocks. So much for our great exploration detective work.




This night was to be the last night of our adventure but I was not ready to end it yet. Dan had found a hike he wanted to take so we carried on for another day. To be continued.

 

[Ace Brown]

Well now I wish I had stuck around but probably wouldn’t have been up to the hikes.

One thing noted here was how some of the panels looked so different from the others. Maybe big time gaps? Maybe different alien visitors? It’s always seemed to me that the figures were aliens. How else to explain their similarities no matter where in the world they are seen.


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[gwittman]

Day 8 began with Tom headed to Green River to collect his Motorhome and trailer to tow his Landcruiser back home, Phil headed off to do a little more sight seeing on the way home while Dan and I headed to Wild Horse Canyon to take another hike in Little Wild Horse Canyon. Here is our invitation to better things to come.



Much of it was a series of narrow passes.





Some were wider but fantastic formations.





Then some got so narrow we could barely squeeze through them.



The entire loop was over 8 miles and very interesting. It was a nice way to wind down the great adventure over the past week. We found a place to boondock camp that night. We had no firewood for a campfire to sit around but there was not a chill in the air and the conversation was just as good as ever. I don't know about Dan but I was exhausted from the afternoon hike as well as from the wondrous sights of the week before. I considered drifting off to sleep early but the evening conversation managed to bring some life back into my tired body. The stars were particularly bright that night too so I could not waste the evening by sleeping knowing we would be headed home in the morning. We had a nice sunset to close off our adventure and is fitting to close my version of the story.

 

[gdaut]

Excellent trip report; thanks. If you like rock art, check out the panels at Thompson Springs. It is right off I-70 just east of the turn off to Moab. No 4wd needed. Also, you have probably seen it, but the panel in Buckhorn Wash is impressive.

I have tried twice to get to the Harvest Scene. Once in a truck; got turned around at the spot in the pictures on page 1. Second time hiking up from the river. We had to carry all our water, it was hot (even though it was just May), and I did not appreciate how much harder the hiking would be on the sandy trails, so we did not make it then either. You have inspired to give it another shot.

 

[gwittman]

Harvest Scene is accessible from Maze Overlook. You don't have to go over the bad areas on page 1 to get there. In fact, you don't even have to go over Flint Trail to get there but that is half the fun. You can go into The Maze from Hite, head toward Flint Trail and then right before you get to the bottom of Flint Trail you turn right to go to Maze Overlook. It has some rough areas but not anywhere near what we encountered what was shown on page 1. The problem with entering through Hite is you bypass Hans Flat Ranger Station and will not have a permit. You could get lucky and not be stopped by Rangers but we did. The best way is to go in through Hans Flat and take the Flint trail.

 

[Ace Brown]

I probably spent as much time preparing for this trip as I usually do when heading to Baja for two months. Yet I still felt a bit disorganized. I guess it was whenever I was around Phil’s rig. He has the most accessible set up I believe I’ve ever seen. One big difference between his set up and all others is he has no drawers. No, I don’t mean what he wears. Everything is either hanging on mesh racks or in open top bins. The biggest advantage there is being able to see just about all your gear at a glance.

But I think I’ll stick with my drawer (one big one) if for no other reason that it’s fairly dust proof. I do make lists on my iPhone to help me find things in my rig.

Long story, short I admired the LCP Mobile.

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