Desert Solitaire

This could be described as the final “expedition” chapter of the book. Together with his friend Bob Waterman (whom we have not seen previously), Abbey sets out for the Maze, a remote stretch of canyonland that, as far as Abbey is aware, no humans have accessed for centuries. Only one man in nearby Moab claims to have even been to the Maze overlook, and it is from him that Abbey and Waterman get directions.

The drive to the overlook in Waterman’s Land Rover is an expedition in itself, involving dubious roads and mountain switchbacks. They do not arrive at the overlook in a day; instead, they must camp at points along the way. As always, Abbey meticulously details the natural sights and sounds he encounters on his journey.

The men’s actual descent into the Maze, the morning after they reach the overlook, is nearly a thousand feet, and requires much tenuous hooking into and roping down canyon walls. This is by far the most perilous physical terrain we have seen Abbey traverse in the book. But the remarkable hitherto unnamed rock formations, arches and natural bridges that the men are greeted by apparently compensate for the danger, and Abbey expresses no fear.