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Last month I took my BSBL to the Maze Overlook campsite in Canyonlands National Park. It is without a doubt the roughest, most remote road I've ever been on. I had a heard a lot about descending the Flint Trail to get there, but it wasn't any worse than what I experienced on the White Rim Rd the year before.
The road to the campsite, however, was much more technical and challenging. It took me 2.5 hours just to cover the 14 mile distance from a junction to the Maze Overlook campsite. The road was peppered with steep drop offs that I kept having to get out and find a line in which to descend. A couple of times I needed to stack some rocks to avoid bottoming out, which I still did anyway. Fortunately, I've had my undercarriage completely covered with skid plates and they did their job by taking a beating. On one descent my right wheel slipped and I banged the lower right door section into a rock. From the sound of it I knew I had scratched and dented the passenger door. Luckily It hit the plastic molding instead of the metal so I am replacing it and having a small dent in the door's inside fixed and painted.
I backpacked into the Maze for two days and one night, and it was spectacular, but also very sketchy with steep drops where I had to lower my pack by rope and find hand and foot holds by feel. It was anxiety inducing for certain and there was one drop off where I considered just turning around and climbing back out, especially since there was no one else around. I eventually made it down into the twisty canyons, which was a relief but even that was all sand walking which made it more tiring. I hiked to the Harvest Scene, a large pictograph panel and then hiked the rest of the day to a rock formation called the Plug. It was 10 miles with more risky climbs out of the canyon.
Of course, I knew I had to do the hike and drive all again in reverse on the return so that idea stayed with me constantly. I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and proceeded to return on a different trail, which was mostly on slickrock and easier than on the canyons. The climb back up was even more challenging than the one down the previous day since I had to push my pack up through cracks where I simply lowered it before. I found the using paracord was too small a diameter as it would cut into my hands pulling up the heavy pack. After climbing for 3 hours I finally made it to my Badlands. The road back was more challenging because instead of drops, I had to contend with steep climbs. One climb took me four tries in rock crawl before I got up and over it, with significant banging. From the trailhead back to Moab took me about 6.5 hours. It's not an easy place to get to or explore unless you take the jetboat from Moab and come into the Maze from the other side.
There were several times I was questioning my decision to do this drive and hike. I'm 64 and didn't really need to be in such a hazardous place on my own doing the moves I had to make to hike in and out of the canyons. Still, am I glad I did it? Yes. It's the only part of Canyonlands I hadn't explored. Would I do it again? Nope. Too dangerous and remote. Having someone with me would have helped a lot but I couldn't find a sucker to tag along.
I also think it was a bit much for the Bronco Sport. I've had a 1.5 inch lift on the front done and used oversized Toyo tires but honestly it still wasn't enough. Obviously I made it with minimal damage but it could easily have gone the other way. If anyone else has made it out there I'd love to hear about it. For the hiking inclined: I took the Plug Trail out to Standing Rocks and came back the next day on the Pete's Mesa trail. About 10 miles each day carrying all needed water.
The road to the campsite, however, was much more technical and challenging. It took me 2.5 hours just to cover the 14 mile distance from a junction to the Maze Overlook campsite. The road was peppered with steep drop offs that I kept having to get out and find a line in which to descend. A couple of times I needed to stack some rocks to avoid bottoming out, which I still did anyway. Fortunately, I've had my undercarriage completely covered with skid plates and they did their job by taking a beating. On one descent my right wheel slipped and I banged the lower right door section into a rock. From the sound of it I knew I had scratched and dented the passenger door. Luckily It hit the plastic molding instead of the metal so I am replacing it and having a small dent in the door's inside fixed and painted.
I backpacked into the Maze for two days and one night, and it was spectacular, but also very sketchy with steep drops where I had to lower my pack by rope and find hand and foot holds by feel. It was anxiety inducing for certain and there was one drop off where I considered just turning around and climbing back out, especially since there was no one else around. I eventually made it down into the twisty canyons, which was a relief but even that was all sand walking which made it more tiring. I hiked to the Harvest Scene, a large pictograph panel and then hiked the rest of the day to a rock formation called the Plug. It was 10 miles with more risky climbs out of the canyon.
Of course, I knew I had to do the hike and drive all again in reverse on the return so that idea stayed with me constantly. I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and proceeded to return on a different trail, which was mostly on slickrock and easier than on the canyons. The climb back up was even more challenging than the one down the previous day since I had to push my pack up through cracks where I simply lowered it before. I found the using paracord was too small a diameter as it would cut into my hands pulling up the heavy pack. After climbing for 3 hours I finally made it to my Badlands. The road back was more challenging because instead of drops, I had to contend with steep climbs. One climb took me four tries in rock crawl before I got up and over it, with significant banging. From the trailhead back to Moab took me about 6.5 hours. It's not an easy place to get to or explore unless you take the jetboat from Moab and come into the Maze from the other side.
There were several times I was questioning my decision to do this drive and hike. I'm 64 and didn't really need to be in such a hazardous place on my own doing the moves I had to make to hike in and out of the canyons. Still, am I glad I did it? Yes. It's the only part of Canyonlands I hadn't explored. Would I do it again? Nope. Too dangerous and remote. Having someone with me would have helped a lot but I couldn't find a sucker to tag along.
I also think it was a bit much for the Bronco Sport. I've had a 1.5 inch lift on the front done and used oversized Toyo tires but honestly it still wasn't enough. Obviously I made it with minimal damage but it could easily have gone the other way. If anyone else has made it out there I'd love to hear about it. For the hiking inclined: I took the Plug Trail out to Standing Rocks and came back the next day on the Pete's Mesa trail. About 10 miles each day carrying all needed water.
