Dark Shadow Canyon 3AII, Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park continues to hold my interest after nearly 7 years of visiting. Every year a gathering of canyoneers meets up to check out some of Death Valley's finest. Our group of 9 — Justin Pugh, Brie Aseltine, Eileen Beall, Yannick Chaigneau, Brian Shin, Jessica Leila, Nick Kowalczyk, Fredrick Farnstrom, and myself — headed out at around 8AM and followed the ridge up to the plain that leads to Dark Shadow Canyon.

Dark Shadow had around 10 raps all under 200ft (likely under 150ft — check ropewiki.com). The canyon was quite open with some nice views of the basin below with short-lived narrow sections. The best part was the last two drops into Fall Canyon.

The anchor and webbing at the V-slot overhang were shot — we built a new anchor with backing and a redirect to safely lower everyone. Dark Shadow was ok — it had its moments — but Deep Chasm was more interesting and Crater of Doom was one of the best surprises we've had in a while. Still nice to do another second descent in Death Valley.