ADAM HAYDOCK

 Finally the rain started to clear out a bit and it was enough to make the drive from Las Vegas to Death Valley to get at least one of the classics in the Black range.

 Our original plan was to camp out with a group of canyoneers at Slabby for a weekend of Death Valley Canyoneering but the risk of flooding appeared to be a bit much for our threshold even though that we were told that we will be fine with the threat of rain. we decided to run a canyon in Vegas on Saturday and drive out to Coffin Canyon for Sunday.

The roads had a few signs of washout from water running out of the mountains and there was a look of a storm on top of the black range but when we made it over to coffin canyon, the clouds were breaking on the windward side and we had some pretty good conditions.

 We started our approach up the mountain which was a steep but easy approach to follow the spur up to the top of the mountain.

 There was a moment where we had a small mis-orientation but that was quickly solved and we made our way up and around the range to the head of the canyon.

The views were spectacular as we made our approach to the head of the canyon.  Clouds were rolling over the mountain tops and rays of sunlight were peaking through the clouds over the playa.  It was quite spectacular to see.

 We continued on and finally made it down to the wash that took us to the first drop in the canyon.

 It was only a 40ft drop, I thought were were coming up on a 190ft drop right away but instead, we had a 40ft drop to work down.

 Along the way we passed blocks of mud stone and sandstone with hoodoo structures and other strata within the wall which was very interesting to see.

 After we got around the 40ft drop we came up to another 20ft drop.

 Pretty easy stuff so far.  we continued to work around a couple of small down climbs and than we saw a big vista with a nice vertical pour over at the bottom.

 We made it to the big drop. It was pretty impressive and it appeared that it was more than 190ft.  It looked like it was over 225ft.  we rigged a pull cord and rapped down while enjoying this drop.

 It always nice to know we still got it when all of us had just a bit of fear going through our blood. It felt great.

 We continued to work our way around a few more down climbs and we noticed that bad water basin was starting to flatten out a bit so we were making our approach to the bottom.

 Not exactly, we had a couple of 20ft drops to get around and a few washes to walk through.  We even passed a recent rock fall area where the wall appeared to just fall into the canyon itself.

  Thankfully we were not here when that happened. 

 I thought we were making our final descent out of the canyon into badwater basin but we were rewarded with another bonus 100ft rap which was surprising.

 I knew I saw this drop walking up the mountain.

 After 5 1/2 hours, we came out of the canyon and enjoyed the hike down to the car.

 I have grabbed around 10 other Death Valley Canyons but this was the first time for everyone else on a technical canyon in death valley and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

 I was happy with this route and it worked out perfectly with our schedule as I had to make it back to vegas and drop off, Mike and Heidi at the airport in time for their flights.

 The Canyon itself is a Death Valley Classic and I believe just about everyone that has been death valley Canyoneering has been here before, at least it seems.

I am looking forward to coming back to the black range to grab some more routes and enjoy the low altitude mountain hiking and, usually dry canyoneering that Death Valley has to offer.

I hope that these canyons continue to remain open as they are beautiful to enjoy with friends and see the worlds pastime with the assistance of ancient waterways that have cut through the mountains of Death valley.

 I recommend this canyon for a half day trek if you have some time for a technical 3AII.

Motorcycle canyon is a 3AIII and is located in the Black range, just south of Hoover dam in Nevada.  There are a series of technical and non-technical routes down this section of the colorado which can make for a great week of canyoneering, some of which require a packraft, and kayaking.

This route pours into Goldstrike Canyon which is a bit more of a touristy route and a non-technical approach to the Colorado river and to some nice hot springs.

We parked the car at the trail head and headed up the 4x4 road which took us into the clouds since the weather was still lingering in the southwest region and the threat of rain was a reasonable assumption with a possibility of accumulating rain.  The clouds were breaking up a bit more once we got to the trail head so we headed down to the first 90ft drop and rigged in.

The first drop was a 90ft drop and the next drop was a 60 footer which dropped us off on a rolling plateau of sorts that continued to descend down some breakdown falls and into another set of narrows.

The rock of the black range and the hot springs made this canyon almost volcanic like in nature with the dark colors that we passed around.  I bet that this canyon lights up with color in the sun.

Eventually we came up on a section of narrow that had two 40ft sloping descents and another small drop before the canyon opened up again into a series of downclimbs.

I was surprised to see how narrow this canyon got for the area and I found this canyon to be more interesting than I thought it would be, which was a nice surprise.

MOTORCYCLE CANYON https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157680451543716/

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

The Black Canyon is a fantastic location that is located just south of Las Vegas.  The Black Canyon is apart of the Colorado river and actually borders Nevada and Arizona. Cross the river is usually done VIA the famous hoover dam or by some type of water craft either by traveling up the river or with the use of a Canoe or Kayak. The river trip is a fantastic experience going down river since you can stop off at some great hydro thermal caves and hot springs.   There are also some technical and non-technical canyon routes that people can check out as they go down the black canyon.   the waters are crystal clear and the campsites can be with other groups of people or a bit more remote so you can enjoy the experience in prive. Last year, Laura and I came down the canyon on a kayak trip with the Armstrong's and a group of friends but this year I came down another direction to meet up with the group for a night on the Colorado river, via Devils Drain Canyon.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

Devils Drain is typically done with a pack raft across the river to white springs hollow canyon and out to a shuttle car.  This time I came from the top and was planning to create a new loop that would connect devils drain to weeping springs canyon. I mapped out a route through a wash and I was ready to ascend the 2500ft of elevation to make a connection and a potential weekend of canyoneering future visitors. I followed the rim and stopped to view the campsite and could see someone moving around near the beach so I knew a group was there but I was not sure if the group I was meeting up with was going to be there.  I had a backup with Andy, mentioning that I would be at this campsite by 7pm in case the group was at a different camp site.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

 I worked my way around the rim which appeared to have volcanic properties and made my way over to a sketchy down climb on a thin ridge to a layer of crumbly yellowish rock material. I could hear bighorn sheep running about on the range and I could also see a group of kayakers in the Colorado river. I continue to make my way down onto this hill that appeared to reflect properties of a caldera more so than a top of the hill.  The basalt properties came as I quickly approached the head of Devils Drain and the first drop of the day.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

This drop was about 70ft through a keyhole and was a free air drop. There was a massive rock over this keyhole that turned this drop into an alcove of sorts.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

After I made my descent into the first drop of devils drain, I started pulling the rope, the tension increased exponentially so I stopped before I stuck the rope. I tried pull it from the other side to attempt to free it from anything that it might have been caught on and gave it another shot, nope it was snug and stuck on something at the top. I was glancing around at the walls and they appeared to be climbable but I wanted to keep working on this  rope before I made that decision, I am glad I did as I was able to free the rope and move on to the next drop.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

 There was a 20ft drop that was almost a down climb but I just rigged a double rope since I had everything with me. Than came the most interesting drop, it was a 100ft drop down a dry chute to a table with another drop of 40ft to the bottom. The wall was a bit fluted and appeared to be the most interesting part of the canyon. I came down both drops with out any issues. Shortly was the last sequence of drops which was in two tiers and dropped me another 100ft to the wash. The technical part was really short but the drops were pretty nice for the Black Canyon Range.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

 I made my way down the wash and eventually came to the hot springs where the atmosphere changed from desert to dense thorny and a heavily vegetated stream. It was nice to get my feet in the water but it was not so nice going through the bush.  It was slow going and would almost spring you backwards a bit with every step forward.  Not to mention that the thorns would tear and cut into your dermal layer of your skin.  At one point I had to crawl under these barbwire thorn trees and I was crawling over bighorn sheep skulls and skeletons.

Bighorn Canyon exit, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

 I contemplated taking one with me to the campsite but I elected to just leave it where it was for some other misguided soul to stumble upon while they went through the cat claw passage of devils drain.
Eventually it opened up a bit as I hiked LDC and was able to get over into another stream that eventually took me to the waterfall I remember last year. I finally made it.

Bighorn Canyon exit, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

woohoo.. It was easy walking down to the Colorado river from where and I greeted the rest of the group as they came back from their day in boyscout canyon.

Devils Drain Canyon, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

The following day, we stopped at Arizona Hot springs before parting ways in a short but grateful visit with friends. Cindy Walck and Shane Fryer were kind enough to take me on their canoe down to Big Horn Canyon where I made my exit out and back to my car.

Bighorn Canyon exit, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

 Bighorn canyon is normally used at the canyon out for weeping spring canyon but this option worked out fantastic as it took me up a nice section of conglomerate lave narrow canyon and up into a series of hills where I was able to climb 2500ft of elevation back up to the rim and back to my car.

Bighorn Canyon exit, Black Range, Lake Mead Nevada

  I want to thank Andy and Bonny Armstrong for inviting me on the trip once again.

Belize is known to have exceptional and historic ancient artifacts that have been a major focus of study by scientists for over 50 years now.

 Mapping and remapping of the caves have been at the forefront for more precise and detailed cave documentation while providing government Institutes the means to have the necessary information to protect the Mayan heritage.

Over the years, cavers have put out a tremendous amount of dedication into the success of their expeditions and the results have been accurate documentation and preservation of these caves.

Belize has hundreds of caves that not only provide education and a beautiful look into our past, but also protect Mayan artifacts and provide clues as to how the Mayan civilization have used these caves. 

I was surprised to see how similar that caves of Belize were in relation to the caves that I have been to in Puerto Rico.  The Limestone in Belize and the respective cave passages had a very similar look and feel to that of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico lifted out of the south American ocean millions of years ago so the Limestone might have similar properties and story as the Belize caves have.

Recently, there has been some damage that has been documented that has shown the impact on the caves due to tourism and vandals.  There is a constant effort to improve training programs and ensure that continued damage to the caves in kept to a minimum or, Ideally, stopped in its entirety. 

This is a beautiful country with the jungle flourishing with life.  We were able to see some monkeys swinging around on the tree branches on one of the days which was a nice occurrence.

Fortunately we did not get any of the bot fly's that have been well noted to be a problem in the rain forest. The bot fly is a mosquito that lays an egg inside of a wound after a fly bites you and the lave grow inside the wound and eventually pop out.

Its pretty nasty stuff but its not a big deal if you get one as they can be removed pretty easy.

Most of our days were spent inside the caves mapping passages and snapping a few photos here and there when we had time.

One of the caves that we visited, has trail tape marking the designated trail as the impact by going off trail can be damaging to delicate formations and the cave as a whole. 

The project focuses on quality work and also strives to ensure that the members have a comfortable time in Belize.  We stayed in a small but really nice hotel in San Ignacio.  Every meal was fantastic and the staff members were extremely helpful.

We also had a few land rovers rented as well as a van to transport all of us around which kept us centered within the group and not having to take cabs or buses around.  

The accommodations spoiled me which was a nice relaxing approach to the rain Forrest environment, than what I typically accept on trips into the jungle.

Sketching is absolutely a point of improvement for me and I am glad I was able to get more exposure with the sketch priority because I now have more of a drive to become proficient at sketching as it is a very important to understand.

We spent four days caving in some nice Belize caves and we were able to continue to develop multiple maps and complete another map for another cave. 

Afterwards, we headed out to the ocean to visit San Pedro and Caye Caulker for 3 days to wrap up the trip and change the pace a bit.

We took a water taxi from Belize City which is a reliable way to get to the islands. It took around an hour and a half to get to San Pedro on the water taxi which was not all that bad since we made a couple of stops and we were on the ocean.  San Pedro was a nice stop a nice island to spend a day on.  we rented a cart and drove around the island a bit enjoying some of the hotel amenities and food which was a relaxing twist.  No diving for me was a surprise but I did get into the water and found a place under a pier where tons of fish hung out. 

We stayed a Caye Casa hotel on the island which was a good place to rest.  Overall the island is a bit busy and if you are not diving or staying active with some kind of activity, I don't see what San Pedro can offer that the other Keys can offer.

Caye Caulker was a bit more chill and relaxed which had a bit more of an island feel to it. We also were able to find out more about the islands as they are similar to the Yucatan karst with very solutional rock and submarine caves.  There are multiple caves that must be entered from under the ocean. The caves have pottery and formations which was really interesting to see. I am looking forward to returning to Caye Caulker to learn more about the extensive cave systems under the island look forward to helping with the survey.