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| Nick getting ready to rap down the corridors of Crater of Doom Canyon |
After Dark Shadow canyon we head up Fall Canyon and march to the Sneak route that takes us back up to the ridge and over to Crater of Doom canyon.
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| Brian heading up the sneak route to Crater of Doom Canyon |
The crew was a little tired from the hike up and coming down Dark Shadow but everyone stuck it out and wanted to grab Crater of Doom before nightfall.
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| Nick in Crater of Doom Canyon, California |
This turned out to be a really good decision to grab Crater of Doom second due to the hike and the sun casting light in the golden hour.
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| Doom Canyon, California |
The sneak route is basically a 1000ft hill full of loose rock, some scree, and broken slab like limestone, which made for some interesting footing and a few small slides here and there.
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| nick coming down crater of doom canyon |
Overall the hike was straightforward and not all that bad as the alternative appeared to have more exposure and more sharp spires and buttes to meander around.
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| Yannick heading down the corridors of Crater of doom canyon |
This rock shredded into shoes, skin, and clothing as we gained the summit an hour after we started.
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| Nick in Crater of doom canyon |
Once we gained the summit, the sun was started to set over the range across the basin so our time was limited to building anchors and leap frogging in this canyon.
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| Nick helping to prepare an anchor in Crater of doom canyon |
Yannick and I made our way down into the canyon and continued to work through the raps rebuilding anchors and snapping photos along the way.
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| Bottom Belays were all commonalities within our group. |
Once we got to the last sequence the canyon walls climbed as the raps dropped deep into the rock creating some gothic towering corridors.
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| Fredrick and Nick in Crater of Doom Canyon |
This got really interesting and it was a big room feel similar to some canyons in the Grand Canyon and Zion.
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| Nick in the deep corridors of Crater of doom Canyon |
As the crew was coming down the canyon, Nick, Yannick, and I were admiring the banded walls and the colorful hue that the sun was bouncing off the canyon walls.
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| Crater of doom Canyon |
This section made the day worthwhile and this section of canyon was some of the best canyon I have seen in Death Valley!
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| Nick tossing the rope over one of the raps in Crater of doom canyon |
The drops continued to descend down into Fall Canyon and the last rap poured into fall canyon just above the dry fall that stops most people from continuing up Fall Canyon.
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| Crater of doom Canyon |
The drops were in rapid fire succession and were less than 200ft in length. They appeared to be 145ft or less but check with www.ropewiki.com for more information.
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| Nick preparing for a rap in Crater of doom Canyon |
We can tell that this canyon takes in a lot of water which gave these massive walls, their presence and demand to attention.
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| Crater of doom Canyon |
Once we got down to the bottom the sun was just setting and darkness was upon us.
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| Yannick on the last rap in Crater of doom canyon |
Some of us made a quick trip up Fall Canyon and we were surprised to see the amazing banded walls within the limestone and the narrow corridors that we walked through.
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| Yannick re-building the anchor in Crater of doom canyon |
We also turned around at a point where the walls of the upper canyon towered to the peaks and we could see some fascinating new first descents that might contain some breathtaking views and scenery. If its anything like Crater of doom, there could be something very interesting up there.
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| last rap |
We headed out in the darkness and made it to the car 11 hours and 30 minutes after we started. Fall Canyon is going to be come a destination region to run some interesting canyons that have not seen any attention since they were found. Crater of Doom was another second descent but we hope that people dont wait another 4-5 years to re-visit this place.
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| Yannick in the upper section of Fall Canyon at the bottom of Crater of doom |
