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Arachnophobia, Northern Black mountains, Zabriskie Point area, Death Valley02/18/2018
Of the three Zabriskie Point Arachnid Canyons which include Vinegaroon and Scorpion,
I think Arachnophobia has a little more meat under the exoskeleton, as they say.
It is a little more challenging especially up top where there is very little anchor material to work with
and the rock is more crumbly and loose. We nicknamed the area "Cliffs of Insecurity"
We farmed some larger rocks from above and built a deadman/rock cairn anchor for the 170 foot free hang rappel. Our anchor,
further up canyon than the original, gave us a better start and a very easy pull. That put the rope length required a little over 200 feet.
We did use our 300 foot rope and a three hundred foot pull cord. Running the pull cord as far down canyon made the pull go like butter.
All three arachnid canyons share the same inital climb up with the amazing early morning background views.
We dropped an exit vehicle at the Desolation Parking head and used the 20 Mule team road to access the ascent.
We up hiked the wash opposite the Vinegaroon upclimb to get to the Arachnophobia valley.
There is some scrambling required at the top of that wash before dropping into Arachnophobia valley
The rock gets more solid towards the end of the canyon and drops into the scenic Desolation canyon.
The scenery is amazing all the way through the canyon.
Thank You to my Canyoneering partners Jessica, Carl, Jeremy, Justin and Lorin for great company and great pictures
My Flickr Pictures
https://www.flickr.com/photos/french...57692016213171
My favorite pictures
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