Havest Scene - Maze district

AKA why Darren and Kalin will never follow me on a trail again.

Martres' book describes this trail as "slightly technical" with "Moki footholds", and you might want a section of rope to lower packs. So I think to myself that sounds fine. Mesa Verde has cut footholds on slickrock slabs, all should be fine.

This is basically the start of the trail. Right after this spot I think the park service should place a sign that reads "if you don't like this, it gets much worse".

So we continue on the trail and start thinking hey, this is a piece of cake.

First Moki footholds. Darren took this shot of me.

I didn't even take a photo of the next obstacle. I had my hands full lowering packs and spotting Darren and Kalin. It consisted of down-climbing off two ledges totaling 25 feet or so at a 5.3 - 5.4 level. Semi-technical is not the description I'd use for this bit of "trail".

After this the fun continued with a climb down a steep slot shown here.

Followed a few steeps later by an awkward cracked slab. The slab in the background (top towards left) is the spot with the main section of Moki footholds.

Finally we touch down on the wash.

Then we reached our destination, the Harvest Scene panel 3 hours too early and had to wait for shade on the panel.

We made it back out of the canyon 1 hour faster than we descended.

Thanks for sharing Mel, looks like our hikes in Arches NP!

Wow, that panel is as nice as the Great Gallery. Thanks for the trail photoguide! Looks like it would be difficult to do without extra hands along like you had.

Mel, Looks you guys had quite the adventure. Way to persevere. Thanks for posting these. I hope to see more from this trip. How was the Maze overlook?

Laurie,
The Maze Overlook is amazing (pun intended). It really is a great place and the road out there could be done by any stock SUV (the dollhouse is another issue).

I posted a quick shot from the overlook in another topic yesterday.

Mel,
thanks for the recap. I have some snaps to send you. Glad you guys made it back safe and sound.

How was the Maze overlook?

aMazing

The maze overlook was an incredible sight. We didn't have particularly great light while we were there, but it wasn't bad. I'll get my film back tomorrow, but it might be a while before I share any photos.

I leave for the Everglades and Key West on Sunday so I'll be really busy this week unpacking and repacking. Life's really unfair at times.

Great narrative!
The road from Hite sounds like it was OK. Any word on the Flint Trail?

Cool pics! Looks like you guys had a great adventure!!

In that 4th one, I can almost here Big D saying, "Uh, you want me to go where?!"

It's funny, i used to think nothing of little class 4 sections like that, now that i carry much more $ on my back it all seems so much steeper. Looks fun, Mel, thanks for sharing!

Great narrative, Mel.

Looks like your next a-mazing adventure should be the Doll House - up from the Confluence.

John,
The flint trail switchbacks are steep and rocky in spots but pretty passable in a stock SUV, no real high clearance obstacles. Two of the turns are tight and may require backing.

Overall I was pretty surprised by how tame the roads are overall. The big detterant is distance. You want some company just for the unexpected. The road to the Dollhouse was the roughest. Some tight turns, slickrock ledges, steep climbs or drops, and stair-steps in the difficult section around teapot rock. Away from teapot rock there were a few smaller obstacles but most of the track was sandy. But again, you're covering a fair amount of distance at slow speeds. It took us four hours to get from Maze overlook out to Hwy-24, around the same time to get from Dollhouse to Maze overlook.

A big thanks to Darren for getting the permits and organizing the trip!

You dudes are animals! Nice story line and panel shot.