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Canyoneering Route Description

Kakos Canyon - 3A II
Death Valley National Park, California.

Pictures 12-04-11

Quick Facts

12-04-11, 6 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 5.2 hours)

Time Required - 4 to 6 hours
Distance - 2.0 miles Total, 0.6 miles Technical
Rappels - 6 Rappels, Longest Rappel 150 feet.
Elevation Range - 1320 to -250 feet below sea level.
Shuttle Required -No Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - No

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 150 feet and 70 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

Kakos Canyon is not one I would suggest.  Most of us on the first descent did not particularly enjoy the canyon.  While the route itself is not a shinning example of a good canyon, it does make for a short day out which may be attractive since there are few short days on the Black Mountain Range.  There are not many short routes in Death Valley so this may be on your radar if you want something short.

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

To get to the Trailhead

From the junction of highways 178 (Bad Water Road) and 190, drive 16.6 miles south on highway 178 to Bad Water.  From the Bad Water Parking lot on Badwater road, drive 1.6 miles south and find a place to pull off the road (pkKakosBt).

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

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

Maps

Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the entire route.

GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From the parking spot (pkKakosBt) walk south east across the alluvial toward the mouth of Hades Canyon.  Aim for the base of a ridge (wBad-Up-RP-01) near the north side of the mouth of Hades about 0.5 miles from where you parked.

From the base of the ridge start north east up the ridge from the alluvial fan, the climb is steep for about 300 feet until it hits a section with an easier grade.  Once at the top of the initial short climb and on the easier grade, follow up along the right (east) edge of the ridge.  This section is wide open and flat with a view of Hades on the right (east).

About 800 feet further up the ridge is a section of loose crumbled earth with large dirt clod like boulders.  Climb up to the top of the dirt clod (wBad-Up-RP-02) section to get to the first long steep section of the climb up the ridge.

After getting to the top of the dirt clod section, the first long steep climb of the approach starts.  The slope is covered in sections of talus but has pretty solid footing.  A short distance up, look for a shallow drainage and follow it up the slope.  The drainage has a fair amount of solid rock not covered in talus that offers good footing.  About 850 feet from the top of the dirt clod section is an almost level section (wBad-Up-RP-03) good for taking a quick breather if needed.

About 350 feet from the large level section is a cairn (not in good shape but there) marking a path up the next section of the climb (wBad-Up-RP-04).  From here a faint path can be seen and easily followed leading further up the ridge.  Great views of the salt flats and down into Hades Canyon can be seen all along this portion of the route.

About 0.25 miles up the ridge the upper portions of Krakos Canyon are close to the ridge.  Continue up the ridge looking for a spot to traverse north over to and down into Krakos Canyon.  Look for a point that is about 170 feet from Krakos and a slope to traverse that is gradual (jKrakosCyn).

As you leave the ridge and get closer to down into Krakos you will be dropping down a semi flat slope of rock on the south side of Krakos which is distinctly different from the near vertical wall on the north side.  The canyon is shallow as you drop in (yKrakosTp)

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
After dropping down into Krakos Canyon (yKrakosTp), continue southwest down canyon enjoying a couple easy but long sloped down climbs.  About 650 feet down canyon is the top of rap 1.

Rap 1 (dKrakosR1) is anchored from a large rock about 15 feet from the top of the drop and drops down a mostly sloped wall for about 95 feet with a ledge part way down.  Rap 1 can be bypassed LDC down an annoying slope full of loose rock.

Down canyon of rap 1 is a series of ledges to scramble down in the semi wide open canyon.  The down climbs along the ledges are between 4 and 12 feet.

A little over 300 feet down canyon of rap 1 is the confluence of the upper forks of Krakos Canyon (wKrakosRP-01).  This is where a fork of the canyon joins in from LDC.

After the confluence are a few easy down climbs / scrambles mixed with walking.  A little over 500 feet down canyon of the confluence is rap 2.

 Rap 2 (dKrakosR2-3) is anchored from a rock about 25 feet back from the drop.  From anchor to the bottom of rap 2 is about 150 feet.  Rap 2 drops over 2 stages the first being a vertical wall and the second stage being a slightly sloped wall.

Rap 3 is about 40 feet down canyon of rap 2 anchored from cairn anchor about 15 feet back from the drop.  Rap 3 drops 120 feet down sloped wall over 3 stages.

At the bottom of rap 3 is the confluence of another fork of Krakos Canyon joining in from RDC.

After rap 3 are a couple of down climbs of about 15 feet each spaced about 80 feet apart.  There is a lot of loose rock on these drops so take your time while down climbing.  A third drop of about 20 feet is shortly after but the rock quality is very bad so we called it rap 4 for saftey.

Rap 4 (dKrakosR4) is a little over 200 feet down canyon of rap 3, is anchored from a rock embedded in the wash about 35 feet back from the drop and drops about 20 feet.  Rap 4 can be down climbed but would be sketchy due to loose rock.

Rap 5 (dKrakosR5) is almost 300 feet down canyon of rap 4, is anchored from a large boulder about about 30 feet back from the drop and drops about 95 feet from anchor to the bottom of the rap.  The actual drop is about 60 feet down a vertical wall full of loose rock.  Rap 5 is very different from what you expect as you walk up to it with a drop down a vertical wall into a semi narrow section of canyon.

Down canyon of rap 5 is a down climb of about 30 feet down a chute. about 90 feet before getting to the top of rap 6.

Rap 6 (dKrakosR6) is about 400 feet down canyon of rap 5, is anchored about 20 feet back from a large white rock and drops about 40 feet.  The first part of rap 6 is in a sloped slanted chute then a final vertical drop of about 15 feet.

Almost 300 feet down canyon of rap 6 the canyon walls drop down and you are dumped out onto the alluvial fan (yKrakosBt).

The Exit:
From the end of the canyon (yKrakosBt) walk southwest about 0.2 miles across the alluvial back to your car.

GPS Waypoint Information

Back to the Canyoneering Trip Report List page.

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