After doing Natural Bridge canyon on Friday with a group of 22 (21??), and Typhon on Saturday with a group of 24, I was a little hesitant to do another canyon with a big group. Both Friday and Saturday we moved really well, and everyone had fun, but I wanted something a little more intimate. So when Jeremy and Rick said they wanted to do something, I jumped at the chance. Adam was also excited by this. The only beta any of us had printed out was for Erebus, so it was an easy decision. As the night went on, people started talking me into Purgatory. After hearing about the epic from earlier that day, we changed plans. I got the GPS coords for the start of the canyon, and it was explained to me how to get in. The only problem was it was late and I had been drinking, so all I understood was follow the ridge until you get above the canyon, then basically head west. As I was crawling into my sleeping bag, I set my alarm for 4 and noticed it was 12:30.
After a little cajoling to get everyone up, we placed the shuttle and we were hiking by 7:30. I ran out of water the day before so at the last minute I threw a whole gallon in my pack, and chugged 1/2 liter before we left. As we hiked, we passed Typhon and Erebus. I sat there for a minute looking across the valley thinking it would be a lot easier to walk across from there instead of hiking to the top and going back down. But, I had good (although misunderstood) directions and I didnt want to miss out on anything. We climbed up to the ridge directly below Mount Perry at 5500′. We started down at 9:30. Coming down that precipitous scree slope was very tedious. There was also several tricky down climbs on some crappy rock in a few sections where it slotted up a little. The worst part was that we were in direct sun the whole time.
We finally reached the main drainage, and after a short lunch we were at the first rapel at 2300′ by 12:30. The main part of the canyon was incredible. We also made great time since every person in our group was carrying a rope and we had some very competent climbers who were able to help us downclimb several of the rapels. The downside was that the canyon was in full sun 90 percent of the time. With all the climbing and rapels a couple of us started to get heat exhaustion.
At around 5pm, Rick says to me, “Its gotten to the point of the day where we need to start double and triple checking everything so we dont do something stupid.” On that same rap, we got two of our three 200′ ropes stuck. The rap was 140-160 feet off a rock cairn. I was having so much fun I tried to convince them to just leave it so we could come back the next day and do it again, but they disnt like that idea. It took us about 45 min to finally get it unstuck. The biner block had gotten trapped in a crack. We were at 1300′ and everyone in our group was totally out of water. We had no idea how many more raps were left and we were all pretty miserable at this point. Then something amazing happened, the sun went down. At that point the canyon became enjoyable again, with beautiful lighting. A few more raps and a half hour of downclimbing in the dark and we were out. We got back to the car at 7:30, and we were enjoying good drinks and good food back at camp by 9.
It was an epic day, and a great Death Valley experience. I definitley reccomend Purgatory. The canyon is a beast by itself, so do yourself a favor and dont start from the top.
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Lisa
Thanks for the great write up! I still wish I could have been in three different places that day and done Purgatory with you. It sounds like a great canyon. Next year!
Kevin
Nice TR Marlowe! It was fun hanging out with you and everyone else.
One of the things I enjoy about Death Valley is the mental/physical challenge. The amount of vertical gain/loss is huge(from Dantes view it’s 5600+ vertical ft down) and the people we shared canyons with were awesome! My legs are still sore. Julie and I were done after 3 canyons, yet now I wish we were still there. Can’t wait for next year!
Jman
Cool! Thanks for sharing that Ram, Dan, mrAdam and Kevin.
Ram, I think I relate to your pre-view of DV. That’s exactly how I see DV, not that it can’t have great canyons – but the heat, long approach, no water, the heat, oh… And one more thing..the heat!
With reasons like that how can I not go now?
Ram
As if on cue, the NPS offers another reason to go
Release Date: February 20, 2013
Contacts Cheryl Chipman, cheryl_chipman@nps.gov, 760-786-3207
Amee Hennig (International Dark Sky Association), amee@darksky.org, 520-293-3198
Chad Moore, chad_moore@nps.gov, 970-267-7212
Death Valley National Park’s Dark, Starry Nights Earn International Dark Sky Recognition
DEATH VALLEY, CA – Most famous as the lowest, driest, and hottest place in North America, Death Valley National Park also harbors some of the darkest night skies in the United States. That dark sky is key to its recent certification as only the third International Dark Sky Park in the U.S. National Park System.
“Death Valley is a place to gaze in awe at the expanse of the Milky Way, follow a lunar eclipse, track a meteor shower, or simply reflect on your place in the universe,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We greatly appreciate the International Dark-Sky Association certification. It illustrates the park’s commitment to protect natural darkness and supports the wider mission to protect nightscapes in the entire National Park System.”
“As the world becomes more urbanized,” Jarvis added, “the value of a starry sky only increases and our ability to offer visitors these incredible experiences is an integral part of the National Park Service mission to preserve our nation’s most cherished places for this and future generations.”
Death Valley’s natural darkness, along with National Park Service actions to reduce excessive outdoor lighting, led the International Dark-Sky Association to designate the park as the third and largest International Dark Sky Park.
“The Dark Sky Park designation represents not only the efforts of the park and its partners, but the dedication of avid amateur astronomers who have sought the park’s world-class starry skies for decades,” said Dan Duriscoe, of the National Park Service’s Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division.
To qualify for the dark sky designation, the park improved external lighting at facilities in the Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells areas, reducing energy consumption, sky glow, and glare. The designation requires the park to sustain its efforts to protect night sky resources and visitor education. Implementation of the park’s lighting guidelines will improve the natural character of the night and leave the stars untarnished in other areas of the park.
Park rangers offer monthly night sky programs and hold stargazing events with astronomy organizations. Using high-powered telescopes, visitors can explore the mysteries of Death Valley’s dark, night skies.
“At Death Valley the sky literally begins at your feet,” said Tyler Nordgren, Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Redlands (Calif.) and International Dark-Sky Association board member. “When my students and I look up at night from our southern California campus, we can usually count 12 stars in the sky. However, less than a five hour drive from Los Angeles there’s a place where anyone can look up and see the universe the way everyone could 100 years ago.”
The park’s actions to reduce unnecessary lighting also tie in with “Starry, Starry Night,” one of the goals in A Call to Action—the National Park Service’s stewardship and engagement priorities for its second century.
For more information about Death Valley National Park, visit http://www.nps.gov/deva. A selection of night sky images is available at http://www.nps.gov/deva/parknews/newsreleases.htm.
For more information about the National Park Service’s Night Skies Program, visit http://www.nature.nps.gov/night/.
The International Dark-Sky Association is online at http://www.darksky.org.
http://www.nps.gov
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 398 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at http://www.nps.gov.
cirrus2000
Awesome report, Marlowe! Sounds like quite an adventure. I love how plans can change at midnight after a few drinks!
Edited to add: Jman – everything those guys said. Last February was my first Death Valley canyon trip. I couldn’t make it this year due to family health issues, but I will be back!
Jman
Thanks for the TR.
Now here is a dumb question if you don’t mind answering. What’s the big appeal to DV slots? I’ve been there once but never canyoneering.
They have big drops, I guess. But what’s the appeal? Is because “no one” else has really explored them and that’s the appeal? I guess my reasoning behind asking is do you get your bang for buck out there?
MrAdam
The DV slots are amazing. The pictures may not show it, but Purgatory is one of the most beautiful canyons I have ever been in. The raps really werent that big, I think 120-140 was the biggest, but they were all stunning. The rock in the canyon changes types and colors and swirls together as you descend and the canyon throws you spicy down climbs and natural anchor challenges around every corner. I can not stress enough how amazing Purgatory Canyon is. I have been lucky enough to do close to 100 canyons now all over the southwest and our day in Purgatory on Sunday is easily in the Top 3 canyon days ever.
I went to sleep on Saturday night thinking we were doing Erebus the next day, the guys forgot to let me know that we were doing Purgatory until half way into the approach and I couldnt have been more stoked! Thanks again to Marlowe, Jeremy and Rick for a day I wont soon forget.
Dan Ransom
Madness! I still can’t believe y’all went from the top of the ridge. It’s kind of hilarious now that everything is said and done. Purgatory is probably my favorite death valley canyon, man that thing packs a punch.
The appeal to Death Valley is that it’s fun. It’s beautiful. It’s different. The scale is mind-blowing. You will learn more about natural anchors, ropework and canyoneering techniques in one day then you would in a week in most other locations. There are huge crowds of fellow canyoneers if you want to meet new people. It’s warm in February.
Purgatory would be a fine canyon in any location. It’s an awesome and bizarre challenge in a rugged and foreboding environment. It’s got around 17 mandatory rappels, perhaps 20 additional downclimb obstacles, some fun routefinding challenges, and a ridiculous amount of opportunity to learn to build and evaluate anchors, practice partner assists and sequencing, and test your overall fitness level.
Great write up Marlowe, thanks!
Ram
I hardly know where to start. before i ever went there, I thought the pictures I had seen were unimpressive. Lots of pictures of raps etc. Colors seemed muted. Didn’t do much for me. It is prettier in person.
1-A big thing for me is its a REAL break from winter. You sleep at 4000+ feet so the nights are that wonderful cool ideal for sleep, but the days, down lower, are often in the 70’s and 80’s, with a nice breeze. It breaks the winter when you go in February, which i consider an ideal month. longer days before it gets too hot when few other venues are in season.
2- The views. Sunrise in the AM at 5,500 feet. The view down into the valley is awesome. And as the day progresses, the valley views change angle, flatten out and get closer. You get to “live” the transition as you descend
3-The area lends itself to social encounters. large groups can do the canyons together. last year, we did Deimos. It has as many raps as we had people…about 20. Whoever led, set up a rap station and let everyone play through, having a chance to chat with everyone, then find themselves in the rear, after cleaning the rap, they would play through everyone elses station. Great fun. And at camp it is enough fun that you don’t get enough sleep. I heard it was huge amounts of people this year!
4-The micro world is very pretty
5-It is great for fitness
6-It is free of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. Hopefully the new management plan keeps that intact. Go American Canyoneers! Support them. They are working for your access!
Anyone else care to elaborate further or name their own reasons for loving the area?