Abysmal Canyon is a Death Valley Class located in the black range near Furnace creek.
There are number of wonderful canyons located within the black range that provide big views with different perspectives of badwater basin.
Death Valley canyons tend to mix well, so well that they can become similar in visual aesthetic.
Dont let this become an illusion for greener pastures, Death Valley is...well, a desert.
Coming to death valley canyons with a particular interest in geology, geologic ancient history, and baron big view desert.
This will full the gaps within the canyons that could tend to lack narrow flutted corridors.
Abysmal canyon has been on the radar for a bit with the 250 ft drop that is encountered within the canyon.
We approached the canyon from the bottom which allowed us to eliminate the need for a
shuttle but more effort is required to gain entry into the canyon
The north fork was a bit more accessible than the south fork so we ended up dropping into the North fork.
We encountered 2 raps in the north fork which took us into the main fork of abysmal canyon .
The south fork has 5 raps
Both forks drop you into the main fork where the large drops are encountered.
The first drop is a 160 to a large ledge where our team was able to stage.
The following rap is a 250 foot rap which we found to be quite ledge with very small sections of vertical.
The remaining canyon had drops of less than 100 feet and were one after another.
I found this canyon to be interesting and similar to the other black range canyons in Death Valley.
The team had a blast in the canyon and we finished in about 9 1/2 hours.
Always remember to replace webbing as there is a lot of raps that can be exposed to the sun and can get weathered quite quickly?
Always amazing views of the ancient sea below!
The Lair of the Minotaur is a new Nevada cave that I was able to locate recently. This cave is within a couple hundred feet of Icarus cave and right near Sneak Peak and Peak-a-boo caves. 
The entrance is quite decorated and was an interesting site as this is usually a rare occurrence, especially in Nevada
. 
This cave is quite decorated throughout its hundreds of feet of passages. Over three hundred feet of passage exisits in this cave which is not long in terms of cave length but is quite significant for Nevada,
This cave is quite decorated throughout its hundreds of feet of passages. Over three hundred feet of passage exisits in this cave which is not long in terms of cave length but is quite significant for Nevada, 
One of the more interesting features is the in cave pit called, Beyond a shadow of drop, pit, that can be found inside the cave. This in cave pit is around 50 feet in depth which leads cavers down a decorated room into a decorated passage and continues to a decorate gallery room and the beginning of what I call " The Labyrinth". 
The labyrinth is a crawling section over boulders and shields and formations which can be quite difficult to contort around without breaking formations.
The labyrinth is a crawling section over boulders and shields and formations which can be quite difficult to contort around without breaking formations. 
Icarus was one of the builders assigned to create the labyrinth that the minotaur was brought to dwell.
Icaurs cave is another Nevada cave that is within a couple hundred feet from Lair of the Minotaur. We have been unable to connect these two caves together but we have found over 100 feet of decorated passage with a potential lead
.
Nevada holds a lot of secrets, especially under the surface of the bold and rugged terrain that we know of this state with 314 mountain ranges to be. Caves are continuously being discovered and a new cave that I am calling room with a view cave. The cave has a small hole leading to one decorated room.
To enter the cave you have to downclimb a 8ft somewhat sketchy downclimb to enter into this one terminal room
.
This is a great cave to start with when visiting this region as other decorated caves exist.
Lookout cave is a 60 foot cave that just leaves the light zone in the desert Southwest. This is not
Much of a cave or of anything to note other than it is indeed a cave and it might have been used for shelter purposes for Indians.
There are a few caves in this area
and this one in particular is quite broken up.
The caves of the eastern sun are a new grouping of small caves and shelters found in the desert southwest
I wouldn't have even given these features a name if it wasn't for the last shelter that we found in this grouping.
The last shelter was highly decorated and was quite possibly one of the most decorated shelters that I found. It is not all that interesting and we never left the light zone but for cave documenting purposes, it is notable.
The ascent was quite steep and one of the more rugged approaches in the southwest.
We gained around 2500 feet of elevation in under two miles and had to traverse steep sloping spurs and draws while carrying heavy packs to get to the drop in point
.
Once we were there we rigged our descent and started to check the leads.
One was on a thrust fault, had a grouping holes, and every indication that there should have been a cave beyond the light zone but none were found.
The last shelter we got into had one room and the shelter itself was covered in formations.
It was everything a cave could be with out the actual darkness on a cave
The effort and time is not worth the squeeze to visit these caves
