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Day 1 to 6

    On the 16^th of May, 1998, I packed up the old Range Rover and headed for "The Maze" region of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. It took three, 8-hour days of driving to reach Denver, Colorado where I picked up my brother Hank from the Airport. The Shed being laid up with the new Turner engine on its way. Temperatures were running 85F everyday on the drive and the old Rover ran like a top. It was consuming oil, rather blowing it out the bottom of the engine, but an hour at a rest stop in Illinois and two clogged flame traps later, all was good again.  After picking up Hank at the Airport in Denver it was a five-hour drive to meet Moe and Cub in Glenwood Springs, CO.

    The 3.5 V8 struggled to make it up the mountain passes, I’m guessing the 5100lbs gross weight of the truck didn’t help much either. We caught up with Moe and Cub and headed out I-70 to Green River, Utah. It was a welcome break for the old Rover as Moe in his ’64 Series IIA set the pace. Arriving in Green River we made some last minute preparations and headed to the Motel 6 to spend the night.

Day 7

    It was about 23 miles south on County Road 24, off of I-70, to the first turn, a dirt road, and the main access road to the park.

Our group assembled at the first sign of dirt.

After about 45 miles of heavily corrugated dirt roads we ended up at the ranger station and met with Ranger Roots as she explained the rules of the park. You need to book ahead to camp here as reservations for the campgrounds fill up fast.

Moe heading towards the Ranger Station.

After all our permits were in order we headed down the dusty, one-lane road to our first camp at Happy Canyon. It was really windy and Happy Canyon camp was perched high on a cliff overlooking a vast canyon (Happy Canyon). It was beautiful but the intense wind made for an uncomfortable night.

Day 8

    We awoke rather abruptly, the wind had gained strength as was whipping my high profile tent around.  After a quick breakfast we packed up and headed towards our next camp site, the Doll House #3 camp.   We started to head down into the canyons below where we would be spending the next few days traveling through the maze district. 

Tim crawling up rocky slope.

It was a long drive to the bottom with sharp switchbacks making life interesting along the way.  Moe made it down first, the IIA was made for these types of trips. 

IIA climbing a rocky slope.

After hours of rocky trail we ended up at the Doll House #3 camp. 

 Day 9 and 10

    Today we would head North to the Panorama Point camp, passing near the Orange Cliffs. 

Near the Orange Cliffs.

The trails were mostly rocky until we made the Gordon Flats where the sand became soft and the scenery beautiful. 

Moe in the Gordon Flats.

We spent an extra day here, hiking over to the canyon to view the Green River.  It was about a 10 mile hike round trip but was well worth it.  We stood over the Green River high on the cliffs above. 

 Day 11

    Retracing our steps, we drove towards our fourth camp site at the Golden Stairs Camp.  This would prove to be one of the most challenging and technical parts of the trip.  The trail winds around Teacup Rock where it turns rocky and far more technical than anything so far on the trip. 

IIA heading around Teacup Rock.

After a couple of hours we caught up with Cub on his motorbike.  He had pretty much covered most of the park.  It sure is an efficient way to travel.  We pushed on until finally reaching camp.

Range Rover near Teacup.

 Day 12

    Heading further north we were hoping to reach the Maze Overlook Camp by dark.  It was an easy drive after negotiating Teacup the day before.  This was one of the most beautiful camps in the park.  From this camp you could see all of the famous Maze section of the park.  A name that is really quite appropriate.  From this camp you look down into the maze and can see the various sand washes heading in and out of the tall rocks.  The campground is slick rock and very hard to sleep on but the views are amazing .  Hank, Moe and Cub went for a short hike in the morning on the Maze Overlook trail. 

Stopped on the way to the Maze.

 Day 13

    It was back through Teacup today to the Neck Camp just south of where we entered the park.  It was a long day behind the wheel but the weather was great and the scenery beautiful.  The trucks have been running perfectly.  When we reached the Neck Camp, we walked out to the edge of the cliffs to watch the sun set over the Maze and the mountains far in the distance.   The wind came up again so it was another "interesting" night in the tent. 

Moe handling the end of Teacup.

Another shot with Teacup a memory.

 Day 14

    This was our last day in the park before heading back to Green River.  The wind picked up even higher which made our intended last night camping miserable.  We did manage to make it to the trail head where you can hike to various petrogliphs which were well worth the 4 mile hike. 

Hank in front of the Petrogliphs.

Immense wind cave.

    After returning to Green River we cleaned up and started to head back to Colorado.  We camped one last night in Colorado before parting for the long trip home.  It was 4859 miles roundtrip from Toronto, Ontario.