Bottomless Pit Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A V PG (v4a1 V) Raps:26+, max ↨380ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Optional 1 mile Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Limestone/dolomite mostly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 2 Nov 2024
"At the time we did this, Ropewiki beta said there were 19 rappels. We did 26 rappels that were not optional and rapped another 5 or 6 times that would |
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| Best season: | Oct-Mar
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36.7974, -117.1361
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Introduction[edit]
If you like your canyons long and arduous, then this one is for you! The first rappel is at 4,100' elevation, only 200 vertical feet below the top of the approach. Then 26 rappels (including a 380' rappel) along with boulder hopping and downclimbs until the final rappel at 660' elevation. The sum of the rap lengths is just shy of 2,000 feet. And all of this is after a grueling 4,200' ascent.
The long rappel can be broken into 80' and 300' by using an anchor on a sloping ledge slightly undercut from the fall line from the upper anchor.
The canyon isn't especially pretty. It doesn't have many fluted rappels or polished features. The big rappel is pretty. It is next to a beautiful striped wall. In the lower section of the canyon, there are striking white veins in the dark rock. Of course, the fact this canyon is challenging to complete in daylight will also affect how scenic it is. Dark is dark anywhere.
Bottomless Pit is located south of Titus Canyon in the Grapevine Mountains.
Scott Swaney notes: "On the first descent, I went down first on the 380' rappel using a 300' & 200' tied together, & lowered by Rick Kent. After we saw how big the drop was and realized the rope pull issue, we decided to break the drop into two stages. So Rick and Kevin setup another anchor down 80' below and then did the second part as a 300' rappel. If you bring a 400' rope, you can drop the entire rappel and still get a good rope retrieval setup. Great canyon."
Approach[edit]
Setting up a car shuttle between the entrance and exit points will save you more than a mile of hiking.
Park off the road and walk up the alluvial fan. Hike up the prominent southern ridge, 4,200' over 2.9 miles to the drop-in.
You will be moving essentially away from Bottomless Pit to circumnavigate some smaller interstitial canyons (Dead Ram, The Creature, Lizard King, and Diabolic Passage) and attain the prominent ridge before heading west back down into the valley. This is the same approach as Devils Arch Canyon, which will be on your right going up.
Descent[edit]
From the saddle, hike only two hundred vertical feet to the first rappel.
R1 20 feet down a crumbly chimney from a fiddlestick anchor. At 4,100' elevation. Followed nearly immediately by R2.
R2 40 feet from pinch point down a crumbly wall.
Gully levels off with some downclimbs.
Optional R of 40 feet, can be downclimbed on right.
R3 80 feet anchored from a rock on the right wall near the edge. Rappel looks like it will land on a slope, but the landing space is actually flat and large. Descend slope on left.
Optional R two stage from a fiddlestick anchor on a pinch point about 40 feet.
R4 170 feet from a big rock near the edge. The last part of rappel is free-hanging. This rappel is at about 3,300' elevation and drops into a large open bowl area of the canyon.
R5 100 feet, anchored by webbing on a pinch point. Two-stage through a dry pothole. Nice rappel through limestone. At 3,000' in elevation.
R6 380 feet, anchored by webbing on a solid chockstone. Recommend extending the webbing to just over the edge to make rope pull manageable. A fiddlestick would probably work IF you pulled each rope towards you as they fall. There are a few rock flakes that could catch the rope as it falls. This rappel can be broken into two with an intermediate anchor on a so-called "ledge". The ledge slopes at least at 45 degrees (it looked more like 70 degrees). The only place to anchor is a shoulder of the ledge that is small, but closer to horizontal. The parties that used this anchor had webbing running about 20 feet to the actual edge of the ledge. It's supposed to be 300 feet from here. I don't know if you need that extra 20 feet for that, or if it was done just for ease of rope pull. The anchor looks sketchy. The ledge looks sketchy. The fall line from top anchor puts you at the outer/bottom edge of the ledge, so you'd either need to swing in, or scramble up while tied into the rope. I imagine anyone working on that ledge would need to be clipped in to either the top rope or the anchor at the ledge. There isn't much room, so wouldn't recommend staging more than one person at the station while people play through. The rappel is a pleasant one: not much loose material, most of it you rappel by gently bouncing off the wall, with some free-hang. The wall is striped and pretty from the ground (not as noticeable when on rope yourself). As of November 2024, there are two ropes hanging from the intermediate rappel, from the fatal incident in 2019. Please photograph the scene, cut what you can out, and pack them out.
R7 30 feet from webbing on a pinch point.
R8 20 feet over a giant chockstone from chocked rocks on the right.
R9 160 feet from a slung big rock (or could do a good, but solitary, knot chock).
R10 95 feet in three stages from a slung rock.
R11 drops 95 feet in two stages, anchored from webbing in a pinch point. Pretty white intrusions in dark rock.
R12 - 90 feet multistage from a pinch point. More pretty rock. Immediately followed by:
Downclimb down a sloped smooth wall 20 feet that appears to need to be rappelled.
Partner assist 8 feet
R13 10 feet from a pinch point, not climbable.
R14 80 feet from a sketchy tiny horn in an alcove in the right wall. It looks like a rock chock, but isn't. Immediately followed by:
R15 20 feet from a cairn anchor Immediately followed by:
Optional R 12 feet (or downclimb/partner assist)
R16 20 feet from a pinch point anchor
Next section of canyon (at about 1,700' elevation) has several downclimbs or partner assists
R17 20 feet from pinch point really far back form the edge
R18 15 feet down a vertical wall
R19 30 feet down sloping wall from pinch point.
R20 90 feet from pinch point on the left.
R21 95 feet, with two short stages, anchored from a . . . wait for it . . . another pinch point. Second stage could be done with partner capture.
R22 short rappel from cairn anchor
R23 20 feet from rock on left.
R24 60 feet down vertical wall, anchored from rock at the edge.
Partner assist
R25 30 feet from a pinch point.
Travel over boulders quite a ways to final rappel.
R26 25 feet from a pinch point. This rappel is at 660 feet elevation.
Exit[edit]
Soon after final rappel, the canyon turns into a wash with pleasant gravel. Later the gravel gives way to the normal jumbled cobbles of a Death Valley alluvial fan.
Red tape[edit]
No permits are required.
Placing bolts is prohibited in Death Valley National Park.
Beta sites[edit]
Super Amazing Map : Bottomless Pit
Trip reports and media[edit]
FIRST DESCENT TRIP - 1-28-12 REPORT:
Background[edit]
FIRST DESCENT TRIP - 1-28-12 - Originally explored by Scott Swaney, Rick Kent, et al, on 01-28-12. SEE Trip Report above for details & teammates
