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Canyoneering Route Description

Typhon Canyon - South Fork - 3A III or IV
Death Valley National Park, California.

Pictures 02-21-10

Quick Facts

02-21-10, 10 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 7.5 hours)

Time Required - 9 to 11 hours
Distance - 6.6 miles Total, 2.5 miles Technical
Rappels - 18 Rappels, Longest Rappel 185 feet.
Longest vertical rap is 100 feet.  The 185 feet is for the rap with the longest rope travel as it drops over stages.
Elevation Range - 5700 - -200 feet below sea level
Shuttle Required -Yes 38.2 miles  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, two 200 foot ropes and 70 feet of 1” webbing for sling placement.

General Comments

Typhon Canyon requires a car shuttle.  One car needs to be left at a point on Badwater road for the exit vehicle.  Another vehicle(s) are driven to the Dante’s View parking area to begin the route.  

Typhon Canyon is like Erebus and Purgatory Canyons in that the rock colors and swirls are amazing.  The colorful sections of rock are captivating in some areas.  Rap 5 has a rock bridge over the bottom of the rappel making which is quite unusual.  

Typhon Canyon has a lot of down climbs on the route.  So much so it would be very difficult to include a description for or mention all of them in a route description.  Be prepared for a lot of down climbing in this canyon.  None of the down climbs are too difficult but there are a whole bunch of them.  

Typhon is my personal second choice of the three canyons in this section (Typhon, Erebus and Purgatory) although it is a close runner up for Purgatory, my first choice.

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 about 10.7 miles east on highway 190 to the turn off for Dante's View.  Follow the signs to Dante's View (sDantesView) which is another 13 miles.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

From the junction of highways 178 (Bad Water Road) and 190, drive 13 miles south on highway 178 to the turn off for Natural Bridge.  Continue south past the turn off for Natural Bridge 1.5 miles and park alongside the road.  There is no parking spot, just find a comfortable place to get off the road (pkTyphonBt).

Maps

Map showing entire route.

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Map showing zoomed in for the technical section trips.

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GPS Waypoint Information

Details

The Approach:
From the Dante’s View parking area head north and follow the well worn use trail toward Mount Perry (tMntPeryUseTrl).  The use trail is well worn and passes by Dante’s Peak (pDante'sPeak) about 0.4 miles into the trail.  

About 1.8 miles from the trail start, the trail fades away as it heads west (wMntPeryRP-01).  Do not follow it west, instead turn right (north) and go about 250 feet to the start of a hill heading up and west (wMntPeryRP-02).  Starting up the hill you will begin to see rocks with a white dot painted on them to help with following the trail.   

A little over 500 feet the hill tops out on a ridge (wMntPeryRP-03).  Turn right (north) and follow along the ridge using the white paint spots to help keep you on track.   

After about 200 feet, will be another short section of the trail that is clear and easy to follow.  As the trail fades away again (wMntPeryRP-04), another section of painted rocks is set to help with staying on route.  Another 0.2 miles and the trail will cross a small saddle which feels more like a wide flat area (wMntPeryRP-05).  

From the small saddle (wMntPeryRP-05) follow the trail north and it will soon curve around west.  

About 0.3 miles from the small saddle will be another saddle (jTyphonSouth) that is much more of a defined saddle.  As a visual land mark, the north side of this saddle is a hillside that is made up of red and white layers of dirt.  This saddle is where the route to the South Fork of Typhon Canyon leaves the Mount Perry Use Trail.

Leave the Mount Perry use trail and follow the ravine / wash down and to the west.  About 0.4 miles down the wash from the trail is the start of a ridge (wTyphnSF-RP-01) running up and west.  Shortly before reaching the ridge is a cairn in the wash.

Climb west up the ridge.  About 600 feet along the ridge is where the grade begins to level off and the ridge turns south west.  Continue about another 600 feet to the highpoint on the ridge (wTyphnSF-RP-02).  This is labeled as peak 4870 on some maps.

From the highpoint on the ridge (peak 4870), follow down another ridge to the west.  The ridge is wide and mostly featureless.  About 0.5 miles down from the highpoint will be an out cropping of rock (wTyphnSF-RP-03).  Just before reaching the out cropping, turn left (south) and start to drop into the drainage on the south side of the ridge.

About 200 feet after leaving the ridge will be the first down climb.  This down climb is marked as the top entry for the South Fork of Typhon Canyon (yTyphonSF-Tp).

The Canyon / Technical Section:
At the top entry (yTyphonSF-Tp) is a short drop that is down climbed LDC.  Shortly after is another drop down climbed LDC then another down climbed RDC.  

About 0.2 miles down from the top entry the canyon widens out a little.  Then another 600 feet is a large drop which is bypassed LDC.  Along this bypass you get a taste of the great rock layers and colors you will be introduced to along the canyon.  

Rap 1 (dTyphnSF-R1 ) is about 0.4 miles down canyon of the top entry.  Rap 1 is anchored from a large rock laying in the drainage about 20 feet back from the rap.  The drop for Rap 1 is about 65 feet and has a short section of free hang about half way down.  

Down canyon of rap 1 is easy wash walking mixed with a few easy down climbs.  

Rap 2 (dTyphnSF-R2) is about 550 feet down canyon of rap 1.  Rap 2 is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 50 feet down a smooth narrow fluted section of wall.  

Rap 3 (dTyphnSF-R3) is about 250 feet down canyon of rap 2.  Rap 3 is anchored from webbing around a pinch point between a large rock and the rock of the canyon floor.  The anchor is about 15 feet back from the rap.  The drop for rap 3 is about 45 feet giving a total rope distance of 65 feet.  

Slightly down canyon of rap 3 is a down climb of about 15 feet.  The down climb starts down a slightly fluted almost smooth wall then begins to get rougher as it goes vertical further down.  It is best to provide a meat anchor for all but the last person.  

About another 150 feet down canyon is another drop of about 15 feet.  This drop has a dark gray layer of rock at the top and a light pink layer at the bottom of the down climb.  

About another 400 feet down canyon is a drop of about 30 feet down a fluted wall.  This down climb has distinct color layers on it as well.  The down climb looks challenging but is relatively easy with the fluted portion of the wall being shaped well for stemming down it.  

Rap 4 (dTyphnSF-R4) is shortly after the fluted down climb and about 700 feet down canyon of rap 3.  Rap 4 is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 85 feet.  

Down canyon of rap 4 are a lot of down climbs mixed with a little wash walking.  About 0.2 miles down canyon of rap 4 is a drop of about 60 feet with a pothole near the bottom.  The drop can be down climbed and bypassing the pothole on either side.  

Next the canyon opens up with a section of easy wash walking for about 0.3 miles.  The wash walking ends with an easy down climb of about 15 feet.  Then a few hundred feet down canyon is a large sloping drop which is easily bypassed RDC.  Then a little over 150 feet down canyon is rap 5.  

Rap 5 (dTyphnSF-R5) is about 0.5 miles down canyon of rap 4.  Rap 5 is anchored from a cairn anchor about 15 feet back from the rap and drops about 35 feet.  Rap 5 offers the rare treat of a natural bridge near the bottom of the rap.  The bridge is positioned oddly so it feels almost like a tunnel but is not.  It is possible to bypass or climb back up rap 5 RDC.  

About 150 feet down canyon of rap 5 is a drop of about 25 feet that can be a tricky down climb.  All but the last person can be given a meat anchor to get down quick and easy.  The last person can then bypass the drop totally by climbing up and over LDC.  The climb around is not quick and giving people a belay on the drop while only the last person bypasses the drop may save some time.  Shortly down canyon is rap 6.  

Rap 6 (dTyphnSF-R6) is about 175 feet down canyon of rap 5.  Rap 6 is anchored from a cairn anchor and drops about 40 feet down a slightly sloped wall.  A short distance after rap 6 is the the confluence where the Middle South Fork and the South Fork of Typhon meet (jTyphonMSF-SF).

Down canyon of rap 6 are a couple short down climbs before reaching a large rock fall blocking the canyon (wTyphnMn-RP-01) about 500 feet down canyon of rap 6.  The rock fall debris is easy to climb up and over.

Down canyon of the rock fall more down climbs before reaching rap 7.  Just before reaching rap 7 will be a series of drops in a kind of wide open feeling section of canyon with the first drop being about 50 feet.  Bypass these drops by traversing along the rim RDC.

Rap 7 (dTyphonMnR7) is about 0.3 miles down canyon of rap 6.  Rap 7 is anchored from a rock embedded in the wash and drops about 30 feet.  

Rap 8 (dTyphonMnR8-10) is about 200 feet down canyon of rap 7.  Rap 8 is anchored from a large choke stone and drops about 30 feet down into a tight section.

Rap 9 is about 40 feet after rap 8.  Rap 9 starts from a tight slanting slot and is anchored from a choke stone at the floor of the slot.  Rap 9 has an awkward start due to the tight slanted slot it starts from but quickly becomes wide open and dropping vertically down a rough wall about 100 feet.  

Rap 10 is about 40 feet down canyon of rap 9.  Rap 10 is anchored from a cairn anchor about 15 feet back and drops about 85 feet down a slightly sloped wall.  Rap 10 has 100 feet of rope travel from anchor to ground so a 200 foot rope will just reach.  

Rap 11 (dTyphonMnR11) is about 500 feet down canyon of rap 10 and is anchored from a cairn anchor.  Rap 11 is a three stage rap with little to no anchor material on the intermediate ledges.  The total rope travel for rap 11 is about 180 feet over all three stages.  

Down canyon of rap 11 are a couple easy down climbs before reaching rap 12.  

Rap 12 (dTyphonMnR12) is about 400 feet down canyon of rap 11.  Rap 12 is anchored from a cairn anchor about 20 feet back and drops about 30 feet.

Shortly down canyon of rap 12 is a 25 foot drop that can be bypassed by climbing around RDC.  After bypassing the drop, there are several easy down climbs on the way down canyon toward rap 13.  

Rap 13 (dTyphonMnR13) is about 500 feet down canyon of rap 12.  Rap 13 is anchored from a couple choke stones RDC in a side cute.  Rap 13 has about 85 feet of rope travel as it drops over a couple stages.

Rap 14 (dTyphonMnR14) is about 275 feet down canyon of rap 13.  Rap 14 is anchored from a rock horn RDC and drops about 35 feet down an almost vertical wall.  It is possible to down climb the rap directly or down climb RDC of the rap.  Both down climb options are a bit sketchy and best done with a belay to be safe.

Down canyon of rap 14 are a few easy down climbs along the way down canyon toward rap 15.  

Rap 15 (dTyphonMnR15) is about 0.3 miles down canyon of rap 14.  Rap 15 is anchored from a large fractured rock embedded in the wash and drops about 40 feet to a narrow section with rock fall debris in it.  

At the other end of the narrow section with rock fall debris at the bottom of rap 15 is a drop of about 20 feet.  This can be down climbed but is a little challenging.  All but the last person can be given a meat anchor.  The last person can carefully down climbing the drop slightly RDC of the center of the drop.  

Rap 16 (dTyphonMnR16) is about 175 feet down canyon of rap 15.  Rap 16 is anchored from rocks placed in cracks to provide pinch points LDC about 10 feet back from the rap.  Rap 16 drops about 30 feet.  

Down canyon of rap 16 is some easy wash walking and a few easy down climbs.  

Rap 17 (dTyphonMnR17) is about 300 feet down canyon of rap 16.  Rap 17 is anchored from a pinch point between the canyon wall and a rock sticking up out of the wash RDC.  Rap 17 drops about 30 feet.  

Rap 18 (dTyphonMnR18) is about 60 feet down canyon of rap 17.  Rap 18 is anchored from a choke stone and drops about 20 feet.  

Just down canyon of rap 18 is a long sloped drop.  There is an anchor LDC if you wish to rap this drop but it is an easy down climb.  

At the bottom of this drop the canyon opens up onto the alluvial fan (yTyphonBt).

The Exit:
From where the canyon opens up onto the alluvial fan (yTyphonBt) travel south west about 0.4 miles to where you left the exit vehicle (pkTyphonBt).

GPS Waypoint Information

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