the maze (lite)

[goofball]

finally ! after a few attempts to get in here i made it over the weekend. not the full meal deal but i was out an in at least. met rob late saturday evening in vegas and got a start sunday morning after meeting lori. reached the th about 10, on foot shortly after. the road to access is definitely 4x4. and the canyon is totally worth it. we moved pretty slow thru it though, taking 9 hours car to car. it can be done much quicker and still be enjoyed though. i was unsure of what exactly we would encounter in way of technical dificulties so went w/ plenty of rope, webbing, and hooks. the beta i had promoted much caution. but wetsuits ? this is outside vegas for goodness sakes ! water was only knee to waist deep but for one keeper that was maybe 10'. and it was full. anchors were abundant. we moved cautiously though, checking down canyon before pulling ropes to ensure anchors were present for the next drop(s) and determining how much rope we needed to get to level ground. we only did half the canyon, so maybe beyond it gets more skeetchy, but we encountered no major difficulties at all. longest rap was all of 200' down a couple stages. now for a few pics and the ful album is here - http://community.webshots.com/album/553816054hwbeSW?vhost=community

[rockgremlin]

This is a nice reply to the thread about Nevada canyons. Where exactly is The Maze? Is The Maze another name for Icebox?

[asdf]

When you say maze I think canyonlands, but great pics.

[Iceaxe]

The Maze - my first thought was also canyonlands. I'm guessing this is Red Rocks? Either Ice Cube or Ice Box?

And a word of warning..... I am hearing stories of BIG fines for those who are not out of Red Rocks when it closes.

:nod:

[nelsonccc]

The Maze - my first thought was also canyonlands. I'm guessing this is Red Rocks? Either Ice Cube or Ice Box?

And a word of warning..... I am hearing stories of BIG fines for those who are not out of Red Rocks when it closes.

:nod:

Ice cube is commonly referred to The Maze. The road is a one way access road. If you're exiting after dark the fines are supposedly pretty large. The 4x4 road that goes up the summit (trailhead) also continues down the otehr side into Lovell canyon. So if you are exiting out late, rather then go out the pavement you could go back up to the summit and head down the other side, although if the road on the RedRocks side is bad it'll only be worse on the other side.

Interested to find out where you exited at. great pics.

[goofball]

yes, the maze is also ice cube canyon in red rocks state park outside las vegas. i thunk the maze is much more fitting. ice cube ? this is outside vegas for cryin' out loud. the water we encountered was NOwhere near as cold as cedar mesa or zion canyons i have been in. and it was only in the 90's. ice cube... :lame: and my underdstanding is climbers have called the area the maze for much longer than the ice cube moniker was applied. teh second hand label is much inferior imho. nothing personal, just my ho.

fines ? don't know. do know they were herding people out as we were descending the road. rangers had lights flashing & giving the boot. you can get a late exit pass for free though so that if you hit the bottom vehicle after hours they won't fine you. that way you have more peace of mind. you would still have to drive that vehicle back up a for sure 4x4 road to fetch the 1st vehicle though... or walk the 4.5 miles.

also... i had told my friend that if she didn't hear from us by dark for sure that she may want to consider us overdue. we left the house at 8.30am and this was only supposed to take 6 hours car to car. it was 30+ minutes after full dark when we got signal and could contact her. :popcorn: toooo late, blm had been notified and the chopper was almost in the air. 5 minutes after we called her she said the blm called to notify her they were going airborne. to their relief it was unnecessary.

[rockgremlin]

toooo late, blm had been notified and the chopper was almost in the air. 5 minutes after we called her she said the blm called to notify her they were going airborne. to their relief it was unnecessary.

YIKES!!!! :eek2:

[nosivad_bor]

Wow, you never told me about the helicopter!

It was great fun and very senic canyon. I enjoyed a view from the top almost as much as those from within the canyon. Those Desert Big Horn sheep were pretty cool too.

The hike up kicked my ass it was steep and long I found out how out of shape I was becasue of that. Going down was easy and fun, by the time we hiked out I was fairly tired but the hiking didn't seem to get to me as much, not sure if i was just getting used to it or what but slow and steady was my method.

I think it would actually be easier, physically, to do the whole canyon rather than the half because of all the hiking.

[goofball]

oh yeah.... forgot about teh desert bighorn sheep. coming out i topped a section of slickrock and not 50' in front of me was a big buck and about 12 females of varying ages. maybe some were young bucks, i don't know. and off they thundered in front of me across the ridge. and of course in my juvenile glee i was shouting and yelling - "holy s!!t ! look at the f*#!$* sheep ! did you guys see that ?" :banana: to which lori so callously replied - "we'll see em' again if you'd shut up !" :blahblah: scheesch. women...

[Scott Card]

a big buck and about 12 females of varying ages..

I think I saw that herd. If you look closely, the big buck was tagged with a tag which reads "Property of Warren Jeffs"

[goofball]

a big buck and about 12 females of varying ages..

I think I saw that herd. If you look closely, the big buck was tagged with a tag which reads "Property of Warren Jeffs"

so thats why it was running like hell ! didn't want all its daughters/wives/aunts/nieces/cousins/etc. to go to grandpa fer marryin' bliss.

[stefan]

a big buck and about 12 females of varying ages..

I think I saw that herd. If you look closely, the big buck was tagged with a tag which reads "Property of Warren Jeffs"


uhh ... just what are you implying here scott? :wink:

[Scott Card]

HuH??? What??? Me??? :five:

[Biner]

I saw this canyon on a map from the dankat website. I am wondering where you exited? Did you do the whole 4.3 miles? Do you recommend wetsuits? I appreciate your help.

[goofball]

I saw this canyon on a map from the dankat website. I am wondering where you exited? Did you do the whole 4.3 miles? Do you recommend wetsuits? I appreciate your help.

we exited where dan suggested after the 1st slot opens up some. it is just after the pothole rap and i thought it was a little indistinct, but if you take the beta to reference and keep an eye out it becomes obvious. so we did not do the whole 4.3 miles top to bottom. wetsuits ? absolutely no need for the section we went thru unless it is winter time or cool weather or its is waaaaay full and you are cold intolerant - in my opinion. when we descended there was very minimal water. i heard of a group who left a cam at the final drop for use as an anchor. natural anchors were abundant thru the setion we did, and if it became necessarry rocks could be ferried down (w/ some difficulty) if you saw the need, before pulling rope. but again, no idea what downstream of our exit is like. although dan says that upper slot is the most technically challenging... i really want to go back to do it in its entirety. i wonder if there is an easier way up as well. there is a "back way" in if you look on a map, so the 4x4 entry up from redrocks can be circumvented. but i have no idea what that road is like.

let us know if you go, i'd be real interested to hear about the lower slot and alternate entry.

[nosivad_bor]

yeah, i'd love to do that whole thing! let me know if you head back down jason.