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Helios - Death Valley 02/14/2014
Helios Death Valley 02/14/2014
Helios (god of the Sun) in Death Valley is canyon I have had my eye on for awhile. It sounded like a great canyon, with no
shuttle required, a climb up from 250 below sea level up to 1700 feet, 9 rappels, lots of down climbing and great views. It
sounded like a like a canyon that was a tad less epic than most Black Mountain routes, one that we could finish before day
light runs out. I am not usually a big fan of finishing a canyon in the dark.
The climb up is a hoot; it reminds me of the Coffin canyon climb up. It is steep in most places with 1950 feet of climb
over about 6 tenths of a mile with a few knife edged sections that require a four limbed scramble to get up and over.
We joined forces with another group doing the canyon that day. These guys/girls were fast up the mountain - really fast!
It was a lot of fun travelling down canyon and working the canyon together. Nice teamwork too.
There are shorter route options in this canyon, ones that miss the big top rappel. I don’t recommend the shorter routes.
The highlight of this canyon, for me anyway, is the views from the top rappel, down through the canyon, out on to the Death
Valley floor and on to the car park area. Fantastic!
Thanks to Bluugnome for the great beta write up on this canyon
Thanks to my sons Justin and Lorin for great pictures and a great time.
Thanks to our other canyoneering partners TeAhna Harris, Jeremy Freeman, Rick Davenport, Carol Petrelli, Adam Winstanley
and Kristin Murray for a great time.
More pictures can be viewed at
https://picasaweb.google.com/1149702...Valley02142014
Doug French
