9 DAYS IN DEATH VALLEY

I've never rappelled so much in my life

Death Valley 2010
The Colorado Plateau is covered in snow, it’s freezing cold, and we’ve all got canyon fever. We need a destination. Warm? Check. Huge? Check. Lots of people? Check. Canyons? Check.

So having very little in the way of preconcieved notions, I immediately volunteered to be in attendance for the 10 day trip. Heck, as long as I could enjoy some sun and 75 degree days, I figured it’d be like an early spring break.

Uh… False. Death Valley canyons are no vacation.

Day 1 – Natural Bridge

This place is freaking huge. The canyons are long, the approaches are huge, and the views are vast, and the rappels are never-ending (20 raps every day it seems…) The place is made for people with big appetites. Only the most insane masochists among us enjoy 9 straight days of Death Valley Canyons. Just so happens that this trip would feature some of the most insane people I’ve ever met. As such, it makes a perfect destination for a February “Ram Plan.”

We escaped Vegas early in the afternoon and headed straight for Pahrump, ran a few “errands,” and landed at Slabby Acres before sunset. Slabby is a dump, make no mistake. It was once the “town” for a handful of workers in a local borax mine. Today it is an abandoned hillside with dozens of concrete pads, shattered glass, rebar, pipes, and who knows what else. Welcome to Death Valley. Please enjoy it while you’re here. But, remember, this is only where you camp. You probably won’t see camp again during the daylight…

We started things off with a casual day in Natural Bridge, a very popular “tourist” canyon from the bottom, which features a fantastic bridge formation below the technical narrows. The upper half, however, is a collection of rappels and beautiful alcoves. Well worth the adventure. I’d rate it 3.5 / 5 stars, and put it on the worthy-of-another-visit list of canyons.

Day 2 – Grotto

Day 2 found us doing another tourist canyon, but entering from the very top, via a very nice long ridge that climbed from stovepipe wells to something like 3500 feet, before the death gully descent back into the canyon. Grotto took it’s time developing, and never truly turned spectacular, save one very small section of about 100 yards, in the uppermost tributaries. It was a reasonable canyon, but it was the company that saved the day. Unfortunately, you can see most of it from the bottom, which makes the huge approach kind of needless. 2/5 stars.

Day 3 – Rainbow Canyon

Sunday was the last of the first weekend, and a handful of folks had to get back to real life. We opted to take a short social canyon out of Rainbow. Who knew it would be a two hour drive just to get there? Not much to be said about the canyon, as it never really narrowed, but it did have 3 big rappels, one of which was particularly scenic. The most exciting part is the 5th class exit. Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Day 4 – Charon

Monday we descended Charon, which is right next door to Styx, and also drains to Badwater from Dante’s View. It was our first introduction to the knee pounding legends of the Dante’s View Canyons. Start at 5200 feet above sea level, and 8 hours later, you are 250 feet below sea level. All the while, busting up your knees and legs descending loose death valley choss and ball bearings. The place is stark and harrowing, but the views from the approach to the canyons are almost otherworldly. Truly spectacular.

I found Charon to be something of a jekyll and hyde. Certainly, the first narrows were good. The last narrows were very good. But there was a whole lot of crap in there too. I think it was after rappel 17 that I first got the feeling that “damn! we rap A LOT in death valley.” I found it a good canyon, but somewhat tedious. 3/5 stars.

Day 5 – Erebus

Day 5 found us looking for a canyon of more epic proportions. Rick Kent sent us off with our sights on Erebus, which drains from Dante’s View all the way back down to Badwater. A true Death Valley Classic. Erebus had a very unique flavor to it, compared to some of the other canyons sampled. It becomes a narrow limestone gorge early on, and for some reason, it never relents like the others do. It felt like the first “real” canyon we had been in Death Valley, and without question, we found it the most scenic. Awesome yellows and pastels with great rock and beautiful rappels. Good to the last drop. I’d give it 4.5/5 stars, and will definitely plan on doing it again.

Day 6 – Demois

Day 6 we planned on descending a sister canyon of Charon, named Demois. It was rumored to share many of the same features as Charon, but it also had a deep chasm of chockstones. The approach today started from Badwater, and soon, we were scrambling up 3rd and 4th class ridges to gain the head of the canyon. With limited beta, it took a lot of patience (which I of course did not have) and persistence to find the first anchor. But once we were in it, the canyon delivered the goods. Deimos was the most frightening canyon, simply because of the terrible rock quality, and countless chockstones and false floors. The first big rappel had some serious pucker factor, as the anchor had to be built in a room that was completely suspended by 4 or 5 tractor trailer sized chockstones. It was like being in a vertical bowling alley with rockfall cascading down. I quickly learned the “rap and run” method.

The first series of raps led us into a unique feature I joking called Gateway to Hell. The narrows were deep, and the walls were a deep crimson, with the reflected light bouncing over the walls giving the place this eerie dark red glow. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the canyon opened back up for a long stretch before finally slotting again at the terminal narrows. It was a day filled with a handful of frustrations, but the canyon was largely a very good one. 3.5/5 stars.

By day 7, I had had enough. I determined I needed a mental day off as much as a physical day off, so Ram and Team ran off to do North Fork of Typhon, while I ran the car shuttle for them, and I then slipped off to Zabriskie Point to hang with the rest of the photographers at sunrise.

I sat out Day 8 with the crew as well, as reinforcements arrived from Vegas and California to tackle an exploration of Not-Anvil.

We wrapped up the trip with our final canyon on Day 9, a descent of South Fork of Typhon. The typhon system drains similar terrain to Erebus, Abysmal, and Natural Bridge, but it is the farthest south. I didn’t have really high expectations, but was pleasantly surprised when the canyon delivered. It had the same 18 rappels as it’s neighbors, but also a nice variety of fun downclimbs and very photogenic narrows, with a natural bridge thrown in for good measure. Definitely one of the better canyons. 4/5 stars.

Final thoughts – Death Valley is good. Not great, but good. Certainly great by February standards. The canyons seem to be hit and miss, and they have a completely different feel to them. This is the place to come if you want lots of rappels, lots of BIG rappels, and huge views of an enormous landscape. The canyons themselves are not the main draw, but rather the scale of the place, the work it takes to enjoy them, and the fact that it’s February, and it sure as hell beats freezing my ass off in the winter-wonderlands of southern Utah.

By day 7, I had had enough. I determined I needed a mental day off as much as a physical day off, so Ram and Team ran off to do North Fork of Typhon, while I ran the car shuttle for them, and I then slipped off to Zabriskie Point to hang with the rest of the photographers at sunrise.

I sat out Day 8 with the crew as well, as reinforcements arrived from Vegas and California to tackle an exploration of Not-Anvil.

Day 9 – South Fork of Typhon

We wrapped up the trip with our final canyon on Day 9, a descent of South Fork of Typhon. The typhon system drains similar terrain to Erebus, Abysmal, and Natural Bridge, but it is the farthest south. I didn’t have really high expectations, but was pleasantly surprised when the canyon delivered. It had the same 18 rappels as it’s neighbors, but also a nice variety of fun downclimbs and very photogenic narrows, with a natural bridge thrown in for good measure. Definitely one of the better canyons. 4/5 stars.

Final thoughts – Death Valley is good. Not great, but good. Certainly great by February standards. The canyons seem to be hit and miss, and they have a completely different feel to them. This is the place to come if you want lots of rappels, lots of BIG rappels, and huge views of an enormous landscape. The canyons themselves are not the main draw, but rather the scale of the place, the work it takes to enjoy them, and the fact that it’s February, and it sure as hell beats freezing my ass off in the winter-wonderlands of southern Utah.