Pahrump Canyon trip report

PAHRUMP CANYON is what I call an interesting canyon on the east side of Pahrump, Nv. Vic Priebe and I went down it on Nov 19, 2015. We had 3 rappels. The first was about 100 feet and the last 2 were much less and had bypasses on the right. From the Maverik at the south end of town, we drove 4 miles south on SR 160 to mp NY 3.5 at a sign for Carpenter Canyon. We went east there for 3.2 miles on a crude road to a road on the left. We spotted one 4wd a mile down that road, staying left at a fork. Then we drove back almost to the Carpenter road then turned up a wash along the base and stayed on the main road for 2 miles and parked. We walked the flats for a half mile to a little valley at N36 11488, W115 49926 el 4300. We went up the center of that on the high ground and thru a low saddle then down a little and over to the right to a rim at 11732, 50506 el 4600. We dropped down there to the big rap with good anchors. We went down a single 150 foot rope with pull cord and had 30 feet left over.  That put us in the main canyon. Next we came to an oblong pothole with a pictograph. A few feet past we came to the second rappel into what I call the Sewer Hole.It would be 5 or 6 feet deep when full. This pothole and the oblong one contain water longer than any limestone potholes I've ever seen. We rappelled along the side of that one to stay dry. The 3rd drop was about 30 feet then we got to the mouth and stayed left on the flats back to the road. It took us nearly 5 hours with the shuttle and didn't involve any steep uphill hiking. No shuttle would mean 3 miles of road walking. Some cars might make the 3.2 miles up Carpenter road then just hike the loop from there. I hiked the upper main fork of this canyon and found it boring. Posted 2015. We are around Pahrump in October and again in April. Send us a note at canyonsATgmx.com if you want someone to go with. We only check our email once a month.

Agave roasting pit

Stonewall Falls trip report

This canyon is south of Goldfield, Nv. From Lida Jct, go a quarter mile north on US 95 to a graded road. Go east for 6.2 miles to a fork reading N37 33434, W117 06389. Go right for nearly 3 miles on a crude road to Stonewall Falls on BLM land, truly a bizarre sight. 2wd trucks and mtn bikes could make it as of 2014.  Go up the canyon to the right of the falls. Soon there is a gully on the left with 2 huge boulders. A sheep trail goes up the right side of the gully then moves to the left side above the boulders. Stay along the gully until it gets close to the rim at el 6100 (where a big cairn is set up) then drop over into the falls canyon. It's not much more than a 100 foot loss. A path goes along the right side of the brush in the bottom then comes the drops.Vic Priebe and I went thru the Stonewall Falls slot on Sept 14, 2013. The first minor drops had rock horns where we wrapped the rope around. Then came 3 big drops close together. We rapped the first 2 from the same anchor using a 150 ft rope doubled over. The 3rd drop is overhanging and we used a stopper knot for anchor in a crack near the lip on the right in the streambed.The 150 ft rope doubled over worked easily here. Next is the last rap and biggest. It's a double fall totaling about 130 feet with a good anchor. Right after that we handlined down the last sloping fall using small hook in a hole on the right. We only had to anchor 3 times with webbing, and the stopper knot was the only nervous anchor. Next time we'll back that up with climber nuts or hardware store nuts for a half inch bolt. Or we may try rappelling past that anchor with a 200 foot rope and pull cord. 150 foot rope and pull cord is the minimum needed, but taking 2 150 ropes ensures not getting trapped. Only the last rap can't be done with a 150 ft rope doubled over. We used less than 20 feet of webbing. The whole adventure should take 3 hours. We never got our socks wet because pools were tiny, but that could change.

Thimble Canyon trip report

Note the hand line

THIMBLE CANYON is what I call a short technical canyon north of Oatman, Az. It's near Thimble Butte. Here's how we did it. At mp 38 on old 66 is where Navajo Rd joins in. We went west on that for about 3 miles to the end. The last 2 miles are 4wd. Near the end is a nasty down hill. And right at that is the best camp spot. From the end of the road at the mouth, we went up canyon for nearly half an air mile on a burro trail to a main fork where the narrows start. The GPS reading at that fork is N35 03294, W114 18219. Next we went up the left fork using a trail on the left bank. We followed that drainage as it curved right and paralleled the narrows. At 03277, 18461 is where we dropped in. There is one bolt and a ladder. Right away we entered the narrows and encountered another ladder in a dark hole. That ladder is dangerous as it's really 2 ladders tied together. But there are new double bolts there to rap off of. After that comes a nice section then 3 raps near the end. The first 2 are short and the last is 90 feet and double bolted. 3 hours, 500 gain. To sum up, if we don't use the ladders,  there are 4 short raps and then the 90 foot one at the end, all bolted. A 100 foot rope and pull cord are all we need for this. Webbing won't be needed unless bolts are missing. Knotted hand lines were at every rappel, and the 90 footer had one going only half way down. But we didn't see any corpses at the bottom. We stayed dry.