March 15, 2014 we went down to Death Valley from Sacramento, Ca. We were planning to do Darwin and later Rainbow Canyons but decided that Rainbow wasn't worth the effort. Darwin proved to be a really cool little route with 2 main rappels. The approach wasn't too long and the canyon itself was great.
The start of the hike. You follow a dirt road until you make a right turn and follow a faint trail up the ridge.
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Me climbing up a slope. We accidentally went up thinking this was the way, the actual trail started a bit further. However, after about a 5 minute climb we found the trail traversing the hill.
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View from the ridge.
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The trail to the top.
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Another view. You can start to see the Panamint Valley and its dunes.
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Yet, another view of the area.
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Starting the descent down to Darwin Canyon. You start to see vegetation.
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After descending to the bottom you find this desert oasis.
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Inside the vegetation.
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Me getting ready to start going down canyon.
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The first small waterfall you can get down by climbing on the left side of the canyon.
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Pool. The ledge on the right can be used to jump into the shallow end and avoid waist deep water.
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Starting the first 110 foot rappel.
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On rappel
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The pool at the bottom of the rappel.
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The last rappel off a small waterfall. We added some webbing here around a tree.
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After finishing rappel 2 off the small waterfall you walk down the canyon floor until the walls start to open. The vegetation starts to disappear and after about 20 minutes you get back to your car in the parking area.
