Trip Report
The further Adventures of Nick Danger, 3rd Eye, in Candylands, Utah (the Maze)
Tuesday November 8, 2016 7:15am
It was the first Tuesday in November, 1980 and Tim Pearson and I had just cast our votes and wanted to get out of Dodge fast before we learned who won. I thought it would be nice to roam around in the desert not knowing who the president of the United States was. We loaded up our homemade mountain bikes and headed to the far western reaches of Candylands N.P., the Maze. We had heard rumors of the Maze but knew precious little about it. At that time the trail head to the Maze was a circular patch of sand at the end of a lonely 55 mile long dirt road that looked like it saw traffic about once a month. From the parking lot, such as it was, we descended down this snotty little single track trail into the middle levels of the Maze. The weather was unusually warm for November ad we were comfortable in T’s and jeans. As was typical of our mtn bike adventures at that time, our bikes were home-brews and we carried our gear on our backs. On this occasion we rode on a series of white sandstone benches, eventually dropping down to the White Rim Sandstone, finding a beautiful camping spot from which to continue our explorations of the deeper levels of the maze on foot. I don’t know if this was actually the first time anyone had bicycled into the Maze, but in those days it was visited so seldom that I imagine we probably were the first (we didn’t even know of anyone from our group of Gunnison adventurers who had been to the Maze).
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Tim on his “homebrewed” Mtn Bike somewhere in the Permian strata, the ...
Tim on his “homebrewed” Mtn Bike somewhere in the Permian strata, the Maze.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Tim riding out on a finger of sandstone to where we would set up our b...
Tim riding out on a finger of sandstone to where we would set up our base camp.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Tim Pearson groovin’ on his bike late in the afternoon on our first da...
Tim Pearson groovin’ on his bike late in the afternoon on our first day in the Maze.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Once we had set up our base camp for the weekend we had several hours of absolutely stupendous November weather to fritter away, and wisely spent it just noodling around on our bikes. There were some many cool places to ride so long as one didn’t ride off a cliff, which were everywhere. Tim had the standard Schwinn paper bike upgraded to Mtn bike specs with the usual over-the-counter parts whereas I was riding the original “Mayfield” the first multispeed mountain bike to be constructed in Gunnison County. Jim Mayfield had originally constructed this bike in 1974 as an upgraded version of the “beaters” we rode around campus on. It proved to be such a popular bike that soon enough we were all building our own versions of it. By 1980 I had purchased Jim’s original as a kind of living bit of history, plus it was a hoot to ride.

About Jim Mayfield, who was one of the most remarkable human beings I had ever met. Jim arrived in Gunnison around 1972 or so, having cleaned himself up and completely reinventing himself from some extremely challenging circumstances in New Orleans. Jim started working at the Tune-up Bike shop, building bikes and tuning skis. He launched the mountain bike craze and would go on to be a bike racer, Zappa aficionado, and start the boomerang revival that swept through places like Gunnison, Crested Butte, Telluride, and who knows where else, building it into a viable boomerang business, marry well, and raise a beautiful family. Alas, Jim was taken from us much too early by a motorcycle accident. Rest in Peace, Jim, you were well loved and fondly remembered by all.
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Tim and” the Mafe” just taking in the views.
Tim and” the Mafe” just taking in the views.
Credit: Nick Danger
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For those who care about such things, Tim is either sitting upon the red mudstone of the Moekopi Formation overlying the White Rim Sandstone, or on the mudstone of the Organ Rock Formation overlying the white Cedar Mesa Sandstone, it’s kinda hard to tell from this vantage point. However, I’m voting for the Organ Rock/Cedar Mesa interpretation myself.
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Yer loyal scribe just fooling’ around on the sandstone.
Yer loyal scribe just fooling’ around on the sandstone.
Credit: Nick Danger
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More Fooling’.
More Fooling’.
Credit: Nick Danger
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For the next two days Tim and I found ways that we could scramble down into the interior canyons of the Maze and go exploring. Navigation really is a challenge in the Maze, and we had no topographic maps of the place so were encouraged to exhibit exquisite situational awareness. We found great panels of rock art – mostly pictographs- and big cottonwood trees in the fullness of autumn foliage, and even discovered occasional seeps and springs. Whilst walking down one particular side canyon we encountered a couple walking up from the Green River, where they had been floating down Labyrinth Canyon for several weeks. They were on a month-long float from Green River Utah down through Labyrinth and Cataract Canyons and taking out on Lake Powell. For as adventurous as Tim and I felt, these folks adventure made ours pale in comparison. Ever since encountering them I have wanted to repeat their journey. Perhaps I yet shall. On the fourth day Tim and I road and pushed our way back up the switchbacks, and returned to a world as mundane as the Maze is magical.
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Two dudes on bikes in a world of utter magic.
Two dudes on bikes in a world of utter magic.
Credit: Nick Danger
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Postscript. Tim and I would over the years share some incredible multi-day adventures in the backcountry on skis and mtn bikes, including a remarkable 4 day ride from his front porch in Ft Collins to Steamboat Springs, 75 % of which was on dirt roads and single track trails across the Front Range and North Park. Adventures like these shared with friends like Tim are wealth beyond measure, and I have been a very rich man indeed.

  Trip Report Views: 2,509
Nick Danger
About the Author
Nick Danger is a ice climber from Arvada, CO.

Comments
EdwardT

Trad climber
Retired
  Nov 8, 2016 - 07:32am PT
Thanks Nick. Sounds like you two had big fun.
Inner City

Trad climber
Portland, OR
  Nov 8, 2016 - 07:36am PT
Great report, the desert abides...the more time you spend there, the more you want to go back.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
sawatch choss
  Nov 8, 2016 - 08:17am PT
Ho man! Magical
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
  Nov 9, 2016 - 01:02am PT
Well done Nick it looks like you guys had a blast! Good times! :-)
Cheers
Dave
Branscomb

Trad climber
Lander, WY
  Nov 9, 2016 - 12:12pm PT
Don't touch that dwarf...hand me the pliers!
hamersorethumb

Trad climber
Menlo Park, CA
  Nov 9, 2016 - 01:37pm PT
Cool, thanks
OlympicMtnBoy

climber
Seattle
  Nov 9, 2016 - 08:52pm PT
What fun! I hiked there in the late 90's, need to go back!
zBrown

Ice climber
  Nov 12, 2016 - 09:32am PT
When two aren't enough there's always that third eye, but what about head gear.

FAB




Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Nov 10, 2016 - 06:20am PT
What a lovely piece to read over a steaming, hot, bowl of loosener's Castor oil flakes. the all weather breakfast!
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