french_de
02-19-2014, 12:17 PM
Vinegaroon - Death Valley
Vinegaroons, the locals call them scorpion wannabes. They look like scorpions but do not have the stinger and when bothered spray acetic acid venting a vinegar smell. They have a whip like tail.
The canyon Vinegaroon sits pretty much parallel to Scorpion Canyon. From a technical standpoint Vinegaron doesn’t quite have the moves of Scorpion canyon. Scorpion has more technical stuff with bigger and more rappels. Vinegaroon still has some nice technical stuff including 5 rappels, an amazingly scenic 85 foot free hang and some great down climbs.
Where Vinegaroon really shines is with the amazing scenery. Scorpion and Vinegaroon both have the same entrance but once up high on the ridge heading down into Vinegaroon the views out over Scorpion, Death Valley, Furnace Creek, Gower Gulch and Zabriskie Point are out of this world. The route starts from the Twenty Mule Team road on the Furnace creek East side, intersects the Black Mountains and pops out on the Death Valley, Bad Water West side.
Death Valley Canyoneering for the most part is a little extreme – some tough logistics, long days and much technical stuff. It is nice to have canyons like Vinegaroon and Scorpion to run through on off or rest days in between the more epic ones. Vinegaroon requires a shuttle but it is short and convenient
We all felt that it was the perfect time to be in Vinegaroon. It was overcast with temps in the mid 70’s and a slight breeze.
Thanks to Bluugnome for the Beta writeup.
Thanks to my canyoneering partners, sons Justin and Lorin, who joined me in this canyon and made it a really fun day and took soem great pictures.
More pictures can be found at
https://picasaweb.google.com/114970282734125511588/VinegaroonInDeathValley02152014
Vinegaroons, the locals call them scorpion wannabes. They look like scorpions but do not have the stinger and when bothered spray acetic acid venting a vinegar smell. They have a whip like tail.
The canyon Vinegaroon sits pretty much parallel to Scorpion Canyon. From a technical standpoint Vinegaron doesn’t quite have the moves of Scorpion canyon. Scorpion has more technical stuff with bigger and more rappels. Vinegaroon still has some nice technical stuff including 5 rappels, an amazingly scenic 85 foot free hang and some great down climbs.
Where Vinegaroon really shines is with the amazing scenery. Scorpion and Vinegaroon both have the same entrance but once up high on the ridge heading down into Vinegaroon the views out over Scorpion, Death Valley, Furnace Creek, Gower Gulch and Zabriskie Point are out of this world. The route starts from the Twenty Mule Team road on the Furnace creek East side, intersects the Black Mountains and pops out on the Death Valley, Bad Water West side.
Death Valley Canyoneering for the most part is a little extreme – some tough logistics, long days and much technical stuff. It is nice to have canyons like Vinegaroon and Scorpion to run through on off or rest days in between the more epic ones. Vinegaroon requires a shuttle but it is short and convenient
We all felt that it was the perfect time to be in Vinegaroon. It was overcast with temps in the mid 70’s and a slight breeze.
Thanks to Bluugnome for the Beta writeup.
Thanks to my canyoneering partners, sons Justin and Lorin, who joined me in this canyon and made it a really fun day and took soem great pictures.
More pictures can be found at
https://picasaweb.google.com/114970282734125511588/VinegaroonInDeathValley02152014