Inconceivable Canyon, Death Valley National Park

As Vizzini once said — 'Inconceivable!' The Princess Bride Range in Death Valley has some very interesting canyons within a half-day's reach from a given trailhead. Each canyon is named after a theme from the movie, and this one holds a particular feel that begs the term. When you look over the edge of the final sequence it almost gives the impression that it's inconceivable to possibly get down — but the angles are not as bad as they appear and this canyon makes for a great half day.

The approach is a couple miles of flat wash hiking followed by a 1,400ft gain to a ridge with several canyon options. Inconceivable had great views and great drops — numerous rappels over 100ft in length.

For the 280ft drop, we descended 200ft into a pothole then re-anchored just below the pothole for another 80ft. We used a 300ft rope which had plenty of rope in the pothole — the pothole is fairly easy to negotiate at the bottom to avoid water. The following anchor used a 210ft rope. I passed the halfway point with approximately 40-50ft of rope below me to the bottom.

Not to be used as beta — research your own rope lengths. If you're looking for a great cliff canyon with interesting rappels and big views in Death Valley's Princess Bride Range, this is the canyon.

🎒 Gear for this: Sterling Canyoneering Rope · Petzl Grigri+ · Petzl Vertex Helmet · Petzl Canyon Harness