Where: Death Valley National Park, California
When: October 11, 2008
Partners: DB, Rick Kent & Mike Cressman
With cool weather in the forecast, it was time to return to Death Valley National Park for some more first descents of the fabulous canyons there. On the menu this time, a canyon Rick had dubbed 'Purgatory'.
With a 1.5 hour approach on trail, we eventually headed down steep terrain past mining ruins we'd discovered 7 months earlier on the way to the first descent of Abysmal Canyon.
We encountered the first of many fun downclimbs and 18 rappels shortly after getting into the drainage. And, as per the Death Valley norm, the views as we headed down the shallow but impressive canyon were awe-inspiring.
In my eyes, what made this canyon special (and different from other DV canyons we'd explored) were its rather shallow depth and its many potholes. Though none of the potholes could be called 'keepers', several were surprisingly deep (up to 15' or so).
Not just a rappel-fest (as many of the Death Valley canyons are), Purgatory had quite a number of substantial and tricky downclimbs, many of them requiring sequencing to negotiate safely.
Any first descent (particularly of a substantial system) requires time, so with speed, efficiency and plenty of team work, we car-to-car'd this bad boy in 13 hours.
The First Descent of Purgatory Canyon
