canyoneering

Styx Canyon (North Fork), Death Valley NP, California

In mid-February, our niece Mira came to visit us for her “reading week”. The request was for warm weather and a lot of desert. We did our best to oblige, although the weather forecast was uncertain at best. Death Valley was an obvious choice that met both of the requirements, with some caveats. The weekend prior to our trip, a strong storm had come through from California refilling Lake Manly and closing many of the roads in the park, including the road to Dante’s View. In addition, that weekend was the Death Valley Canyoneering Rendezvous, which brought a crowd of canyoneers to the park. Our plan was to do Styx Canyon North Fork, one of the classic canyons starting at Dante’s View and descending 6,000 feet to Badwater Basin. This was a great opportunity to invite our Vegas friends to come play with us along with Rick Kent who [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:18:24+00:00February 17, 2024|california, canyoneer|0 Comments
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Miracle Max Canyon, Death Valley NP, CA

It was Christmas Day 2023 and Max and I were in the middle of a three-day power outage in Death Valley, comfortable in a rented trailer that was running on propane. We had done Typhon 4 the day before and our quads were shot from the 6,000-foot elevation loss. The obvious plan would be to take it easy 😊. Cue the laugh track. Rick Kent had a first descent of a canyon that he wanted to do, with a steep 3,000-foot elevation gain approach, so Max and most of the rest of our crew thought that was a great plan for a rest day. I decided that was a bit too much for my legs to take, so I joined a small group to explore Miracle Max Canyon, one of the lesser-visited canyons of the Princess Bride range. The Princess Bride range is a real outlier in the Death [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:20:06+00:00December 25, 2023|california, canyoneer|0 Comments
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Typhon 4 Canyon, Death Valley NP, CA

Wow!!! There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the incredible Typhon 4 Canyon, located in Death Valley NP. This canyon descends a mind-blowing 6,000 feet, starting at Dante’s View Scenic Vista Point and ending below sea level near Badwater Basin. Dante’s View is a major sightseeing destination, especially at sunrise. An easy paved drive takes you right to the top of the overlook, where you can see a distinct set of mountains in each direction, framed by the amazing Lake Manly covering Badwater Basin. We did this canyon as part of a Christmas trip to Death Valley last year. As you can imagine, the canyon involves a lengthy shuttle, which is best set the night before if possible. There are no permits required, aside from the park entry fee. Bolting is not allowed in the park. We started right at sunrise, and it [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:22:20+00:00December 24, 2023|california, canyoneer|0 Comments
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Dark Shadow Canyon, Death Valley NP, CA

Dark Shadow Canyon is a seldom-visited technical canyon in Death Valley. Located in the Grapevine Mountains, Dark Shadow is one of seven canyons that are accessed from the Titus Canyon trailhead. This collection of canyons all descend into various parts of Fall Canyon, which is a popular non-technical hike in the park. Permits are not required, aside from paying the park entrance fee. Max and I did the Fall Canyon hike in 2009, years before we ever heard of canyoneering. At the time, I was struck not only by the beauty of the canyon and its blue-grey narrows, but also by the difficulty of walking uphill on loose gravel for three miles, until reaching an impassable dry fall and turning around. I think past me would have been in complete disbelief if someone had told her about Dark Shadow and its approach. Here are a couple photos of me [...]

By |2024-06-06T00:06:53+00:00December 23, 2023|california, canyoneer|0 Comments
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Secret Canyon, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada

On Thanksgiving morning, our friend Bart Knox joined us for a short canyon outside of Las Vegas in the Black Canyon area called Secret Canyon. There are a couple of interesting things about Secret Canyon in particular. Like many canyons in this area, Secret ends at the Colorado River and has geothermal activity in the lower section by the river. We weren’t sure if the pools were going to be deep enough for a soak but wanted to check the place out. It was going to be an interesting day either way, because the only way out of the canyon is either by kayak or ascending two rappels back up the way we came. Always a good time for skills practice! No permit is required for this canyon. Beta and a map of the route is located at: Secret Canyon (Nevada) - ropewiki. If you are interested in packrafting [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:29:22+00:00November 23, 2023|canyoneer, nevada|0 Comments
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High Spur Canyon, Utah

The next canyon in our remote canyon series is not only very remote, but also extremely beautiful and has been compared to the famous Antelope Canyon in Arizona. High Spur is barely a technical canyon, with only a couple big downclimbs and one rappel at the very end. It’s also possible to hike down most of the canyon and then hike back up, but it would be a pretty long day. Full beta is available here: High Spur Canyon - ropewiki. The road to High Spur is quite long and bumpy. The first leg is a 50-mile drive on pretty well graded roads to the Hans Flat Ranger Station in Canyonlands National Park. This is one of the most remote ranger stations in the lower 48 and the rangers seem very happy to see people! Our party for the day consisted of Shawn Bagci and Maggie Mahoney. Shawn drove [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:41:22+00:00October 24, 2023|canyoneer, hikeaneer, remote canyon, Utah|2 Comments
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Fire Canyon, Capitol Reef NP, Utah

In mid-October, Max and I headed to Capitol Reef NP for the Wasatch Mountain Club Canyoneering Rendezvous. There, we led canyons for three days and got to reconnect with old friends and met some new folks as well. On our first day, we led one of our favorite routes – Fire Canyon and Cassidy Arch. Fire Canyon is not as well-known as many surrounding canyons, mostly due to its location far from any trailhead, which requires a long hike in and out. The route starts at the Cassidy Arch trail, goes all the way up to the top of the trail and continues up the Frying Pan trail until it’s time to descend into the canyon. Fire Canyon is located right in the middle between Cassidy Arch and the Cohab (Wife) canyons. The entire route, car to car, is about 9 miles with 2,500 feet elevation gain for the [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:43:22+00:00October 19, 2023|canyoneer, Utah|0 Comments
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Scorpion Canyon, Death Valley NP, California

  Right before Christmas, Max and I drove down to Death Valley NP for a few days of R&R (defined as canyoneering for four days straight!). While Seattle and the rest of the country was in the grips of ice and snow, we enjoyed 60+ degree days in the lowest place in the United States. The last time we had been in Death Valley was in 2016, on our second trip. We did most of the popular drives and hikes around the park, and even stayed at the famous Furnace Creek Inn. This time around, our goal was to get an introduction to the technical canyons of Death Valley. There are actually hundreds of canyons in the Death Valley area, and many of them have just been explored for the first time in the past few years. This fact makes Death Valley a canyoneering hot spot in the winter [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:27:56+00:00December 23, 2022|california, canyoneer|0 Comments
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