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Canyoneering Route Description

Helios Canyon - 3A I
Death Valley National Park, California.

Pictures 03-05-11

Quick Facts

05-16-11, 8 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 6.2 hours)

Time Required - 5 to 6 hours
Distance - 2.0 miles Total, 0.7 miles Technical
Rappels - 9 Rappels, Longest Rappel 170 feet.
Elevation Range - -250 feet below sea level thru 1695 Feet
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - No
SHORT ROUTE OPTION...... See General Comments for a shorter more bang for the buck version
Route would be about 4 hours, 6 raps to 160 feet and cover the best part of the canyon.

See the Canyoneer Trip Report Explanation Notes page for an explanation of how the technical mileage or the gear used list is determined.

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 170 feet and 100 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

The final rap sequence of raps 5 through 9 is a fun section right near the end of the canyon.  The views down the canyon and out over the salt flats and to the exit vehicles is very dramatic here and makes this a worthwhile route.  This last part is where all the fun is.

The total route should take about 5 to 6 hours.  There are a couple of points to drop down off the ridge do do only lower portions of the canyon.  The lines of the approximate routes are drawn on the map.  The first is between rout point 5 and down to the canyon floor between raps 3 and 4.  The second is between route points 6 and 9.

The scenic and technically fun portion of the canyon is the lower portion near the end of the route.  If you desire a quick fun run of only 3 hours or so consider dropping down to the canyon floor from rout point 05 down to above rap 4.  This will provide a shorter route and take your through the more enjoyable portion of the canyon giving a higher bang for the buck.

Note on the Short Route Option:
If doing the first bypass you can shave about 2 hours off the expected time to do the canyon.  Technical distance would then be 0.3 miles and the total route distance would be 1.4 miles with 6 rappels to 160 feet.

Getting to the Trailhead and Exit Vehicle (Escape Pod) Parking

To get to the Trailhead

You will need to park alongside the road near the alluvial fan for Hades Canyon. From the junction of highways 178 (Bad Water Road) and 190, drive 16.5 miles south on highway 178 to Bad Water. From the Bad Water Parking lot on Bad Water road, drive 2.7 miles south and find a place to pull off the road (pkHeliosBt).  The parking spot is about 0.15 miles almost due west of the mouth of Helios and at the southern end of the alluvial fan of Hades Canyon.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop route.

Maps

Map showing entire route.

Click for High-Res version.
Right Click then select "Save Target As" to save the Hi-Res version.

GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From the parking spot look east to the mouth of the canyon.  Look at the base of the of the mountain and note an obvious scree pile (wHelios-RP-01) about 750 feet to the left (north) of the mouth of the canyon.  Walk about 0.2 miles across the open desert to the base of the scree pile.

From the base of the scree pile veer left and walk north along the base of the mountain for about 700 feet to where a small drainage like spot starts up the side of the slope (wHelios-RP-02).  Find a suitable point to start climbing east up the slope.

Route find your way east up the steep slope working toward the ridge line above.  About 600 feet up will be a small cliff band running along the slope which you will need to route find your way up on top of.

Once on top of the small cliff band (wHelios-RP-03) continue up the slope and route find your way east up the slope.  Shortly before reaching the ridge there will be some light scrambling to get over some larger rocks before topping out on the crest of the ridge.  The crest of the ridge (wHelios-RP-04) is about 0.2 miles after getting to the top of the small cliff band.  When you get up onto the ridge you will have views down into most of Helios Canyon.

Once on the crest of the ridge (wHelios-RP-04) travel north up the ridge line.  Travel up  the ridge line above this point will have a few spots that feel almost knife edge like and require some definite scrambling to get over.

About 700 feet up the ridge from here is the top of a gully (wHelios-RP-05) that can be scrambled down to get to the canyon floor between raps 3 and 4 in the canyon below.

0.25 miles up the ridge will be the top of a gully (wHelios-RP-06) on the right (east) leading down to the floor of the canyon.  This gully is about 250 feet before reaching an obvious colorful band of dirt on the ridge with yellow, pink and orange dirt.  From this point on the ridge you have a good view over to the head of the canyon and the cliff of rap 1.  The cliff above the obvious crack low on the head wall is rap 1.

Note:
This is an optional drop in point if you wish to skip some of the upper part of the canyon.

About 250 feet up the ridge is the colorful band of dirt with yellow, pink and orange dirt (wHelios-RP-07).

About 450 feet up the ridge after the colorful band of dirt is where you will leave the crest of the ridge (wHelios-RP-08).  Look over to the obvious crack low on the head wall of the canyon.  Traverse about 200 feet from the ridge over to the top of the cliff above the obvious crack to get to the top of rap 1 (yHeliosTp).

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
The head of the canyon is the top of rap 1 (yHeliosTp).  The views from the top of rap 1 are good as you look over most of the canyon and the salt flats in the distance.

Rap 1 (yHeliosTp) is right at the head of the canyon, is anchored from large rock about 6 feet back from the drop and drops about 170 feet down a mostly vertical wall to a large shelf.  The shelf at the bottom of rap 1 (dHelios-R1) is large and sits above the obvious crack that could be seen from the ridge during the approach.

Drop down off of the shelf at the bottom of rap 1 by walking LDC (south) to the top of a long scree pile.  Slide your way down the scree pile to the canyon floor.

A little over 500 feet down canyon will be three down climbs of 10 to 15 feet each.  The 3rd down climb drops under a boulder through a rabbit hole.

Just after the down climb under the boulder is the bottom of a gully (wHelios-RP-09) on the RDC (north) side of the canyon.  The bottom of the gully is where you would drop down into the canyon, if you followed down the gully from the ridge above as the alternate drop in noted in for the approach.

Continuing down canyon is a series of drops ranging from 10 to 30 feet.  Each of these are gently sloped and are easy to scramble down.  One of the drops part way down this series will be about 40 feet down a steeper slope which is bypassed on the LDC side to a ramp about 200 feet down canyon.

Rap 2 (dHelios-R2) is about 400 feet down canyon from the bottom of the side gully of the optional drop in.  Rap 2 is anchored from LDC from rock horn about 15 feet back from the drop and drops over two stages about 80 feet.  The first stage is about 15 feet and easily down climbable.

A little over 15 feet down canyon of rap 2 is a drop of about 15 feet and moderately difficult.  About 40 feet after that drop is another drop of about 60 feet and is an easy scramble.  About 200 feet farther down canyon is rap 3.

Rap 3 (dHelios-R3) is a little over 500 feet down canyon of rap 2.  Rap 3 is anchored LDC from two small choke stones wedged in cracks and webbing slung between the the two.  Rap 3 drops about 80 feet down a gently sloped wall.

Rap 4 (dHelios-R4) is about 100 feet down canyon of rap 3, is anchored LDC from an interesting rock feature on the wall and drops about 60 feet down a vertical wall.

Optionally rap 4 can be quickly bypassed up and over LDC then scrambling the side of the canyon back to the floor.

About 400 feet down canyon is the start (wHelios-RP-10) of a section that drops fast and is easily scrambled and down climbed.  The drop down this section is about 450 feet over about 0.2 miles.  This section is all easy scrambling with the exception of a few short (6 to 15 feet) moderately difficult down climbs.

Rap 5 (dHelios-R5-6) is about 0.3miles down canyon of rap 4, is anchored LDC from a choke stone in a crack and drops about 35 feet down a vertical wall. 

From the top of rap 5 you can see that the remainder of the canyon will be a quick succession of rappels down to the exit a short distance from the road.  You can also see the vehicles parked on the road waiting for you.

Rap 6 is about 30 feet down canyon of rap 5, is anchored from a large rock about 8 feet back from the drop and drops about 55 feet.

Rap 7 (dHelios-R7) is about 50 feet down canyon of rap 6, is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 160 feet down staring out sloped then going down a vertical wall in an alcove like area.

Rap 8 (dHelios-R8) is about 70 feet down canyon of rap 7, is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 25 feet down sloped semi fluted wall.

 Rap 9 (dHelios-R8) ) is about 90 feet down canyon of rap 8 with two 10 foot down climbs between.  Rap 9 is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops over two stages for about 60 feet.

The canyon opens up to open desert about 100 feet after rap 9 (yHeliosBt).

The Exit:
From exit of the canyon (yHeliosBt) walk west about 500 feet to the road, turn left and walk about 400 feet to the vehicles.

GPS Waypoint Information

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