Day 2 in our Death Valley gathering, we head over to one of the great Death Valley classic routes on the Black Range, Deimos canyon.

 Heather came to the camp early from Vegas so we all got in the car and eight of us headed over to the parking spot for Deimos canyon.

 We found that there was another group heading up Deimos that we caught up to on our approach to the first ridge.  This group was just running the sneak route so we had a lot more to go to reach the ridge.

 The approach to the first ridge was a bit steep and there was not "right" way to go.

Heather descending in Deimos Canyon

We just picked our way up the 3rd and 4th class scrambling to gain the ridge and continue up to the drop in point for the full Deimos route.

 We continued our march the the gradual ridge to another false summit and eventually capping off on a hill top. The winds blew cool air in some locations and at other times, blew some very warm air as the weather battled with itself upon our ascent up the ridge.

 The final approach to the ridge was on a spine of crumbly rock and mild to moderate exposure on either side of the ridge.  A fall here would not be the most ideal of places. 

 After a few mis orientations, we made our way around to the top and found our drop in point for Deimos canyon.  This was quite the hike for this canyon but the reviews of this place is that it is the most colorful and has over 20 raps to the bottom.

 We drop into the canyon and start to descend into the red corridors which was a beautiful fiery red color with narrow and deep walls.

 We have over 20 raps to pass up that are up to 125ft in length.  some of the raps were quite interesting as we casted over the edge into a fiery inferno of red and orange colors with the big views of bad water basin below.

 We managed to stick a rope in the big drop which slowed us down a bit but we anchored the pull line and Fredrick Farnstrom ascended the rope and was able to re arrange the anchor for an easy pull. I cavers know how to climb rope well and Fredrick was no exception, he did fantastic and got up that rope quickly to clear it and rap back down, nice job!!

Heather, Brie, and Justin at the top of the bottom section in Deimos Canyon

Just another example of cavers fusing canyoneering together and making it work really well!

 We continued down and got to a point where there was a lot of wash walking which took us by some very interesting hoodoo figurines and conglomerate stone structures.   This all soon led us to the lower portion of the canyon as the sun was starting to set.

 We continued to rap down with the sun settling over telescope peak and made our last few raps in the darkness.  11 hours later we made it to the car and headed back to the camp.   Deimos is a fascinating canyon and highly recommended.  The canyon has a bit of a approach some might find challenging so be prepared to bring extra water and food.