Alamo Canyon trip report

Upper canyon

Top of the big drop

Big drop

ALAMO CANYON is what I call the canyon 5 miles due west of Alamo, NV. There are 3 rappels up to 100 feet and it's all downhill. There are shuttle options depending on how much driving you care for. From the Sinclair in town, we drove west on Broadway for .6 mile to Park, then right for .4 mile to Lincoln, then left for .3 mile to a major dirt road. We took the dirt road for 2 and a half miles where the road makes a jog to the right. We left one truck there reading N37 22703, W115 13234. Then we stayed on the main road for another 1.8 miles to where it merged with another main road at the mouth of a canyon. That other road is the best way out at the end of the day. We drove up into the canyon where the road becomes 4wd then climbs steeply up the left slope and exits the canyon. We stayed on the main road to a crude road reading 22075, 16110 about 5 and a half miles from where we left the lower truck. We parked then walked down the crude track and stayed right at a fork to get in the south arm of the canyon. The first drop is bolted  then there are some minor drops that 2 people can help each other down. Next are 2 short rappels close together using the same anchor. The canyon opens up to the last rap which is the big one and mostly mid air. We anchored from a chokestone in a right side crack. A 300 foot rope doubled over got us down with several feet to spare. It's likely a bit over 100 feet. A tiny pipe spring is at the bottom. We walked over a mile on easy flats to the lower truck. This canyon is smooth gravel and the big rap can be bypassed. All anchors except the bolts had been washed away, but big rocks were available to restore the 2 missing anchors. The minimum needed is a 150 foot rope and pull cord, 30 feet of webbing. It took us 3 and a half hours to get from truck to truck,  about 4 miles, but will take less next time. It would be hard to get trapped in this one.   Posted October 2015.