Into the Maze

Into the Maze is a video curretly in development about a mule-packing trip taken by my parents, Tom Ireland and Molly Mehaffy, in 1971.

In 1969 the road movie Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper, came out. It emblemized the hippy era, experimental drug use, “free love,” and Rock & Roll. In 1969 Tom and Molly met at the Lama Foundation, a commune in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains above Taos, NM. But they weren’t interested in an easy spirituality or in any of the popular culture surrounding the hippy movement. They wanted to ride off into the sunset: to take a six-month packing trip across Northern New Mexico to experience for themselves Edward Abbey’s Utah and the Escalante Wilderness. With no skills, experience or money, they began to look for a way to realize the fantasy. After a chance encounter with Dennis Hopper, their journey began to take shape.

Video trailer of Into the Maze: