Trip Report Jan 19 & 20 2008 - Dolomite Canyon and Hades Canyon - Death Vall

Good trip report, Ken. I'll second that Hades is a great canyon. The -2nd- greatest one I've done in DV!

CP

--- In Yahoo Canyons Group, "Ken" <ken_m_hoffman@...> wrote:
Pictures are posted at > http://picasaweb.google.com/sierrasclimber/DeathValleyDolomiteAndHade
sCanyons
Dolomite > We did Dolomite canyon on Saturday (Jan 19th). The weather was > perfect not too hot not too cold just right in a jacket and pants. > On the approach we observed a steep canyon in the South Fork of > Dolomite, it looks really steep and probably good rock anyone run > this? We had planned to traverse to the Albatross plane crash site > but felt we might run short on time so instead of climbing Towne > Peak and traversing down to the crash site we just entered off the > south shoulder of Towne Peak. My guess is it saved us about 2 hours > or more and made it into a 7 hour/10.5 mile day. We still > encountered the 6 lower raps in Dolomite and 2 in the upper main > north fork. Rap #1 50 ft in the upper main is optional because it > could be traversed around the side slope, there is an option to do a > 200 ft dry fall rap which would require bolts or construction of a > large rock stack. Rap 2 is about 20 ft and we did a partner anchor > and then I did a pack rap which was exciting for my partners because > they had never heard of such a thing. Overall it was a fun canyon > but has a long approach hike and long hike out to the car after the > last rap.
Rough times > 2 hours at top of canyon > 2.25 hours 50 ft rap optional > 2.5 hours 20 ft partner belay > 3.25 hours 2 piton rappel #3 > 3.75 hours the slot rappel #5 > 7 hours car
10.5 miles > about 8 rappels none over 100 ft. > 1) 50ft at 5,400 2) 20ft at 5,200 ft partner belay 3) 45 at 4,580', > 5) 85' "The Slot" at 4,480', 5) 80' at 4,360', 6) 30' at 4,240', 7) > 20' at 4,180', 8) 40' at 3,980'
Hades > Sunday (Jan 20) we did Hades, it was great! All the anchors had > been upgraded to rock stacks and almost all had clean new webbing. > Thanks for whoever did that. We started at 6:20 am from Dantes but > by 11 found ourselves far ahead of Brennen's times due to the > quality of anchors and exited leisurely at 1:30. Great canyon.
Hades > 2.5 hours canyon bottom > 3 hour to first rap > 3.75 hours canyon junction were two large dry falls are seen up the > tributary > 7.5 hours to car
about 10-15 raps; none greater than 200 ft.
Monday the college students with us headed home to study so we took > a drive around to look at some of the other canyons we might be > interested in the future like Rainbow Canyon or Hall Canyon. If you > want more detailed information about anything just ask. >