Darwin Falls Dec 10

Death Valley has many distinctions, among them are the hottest, driest and lowest place on North America. Despite these distinctions, water can still be found in surprising abundance if you know where to look. The top of many of its side valleys are dry and only flow with water after the heaviest rains and before the surface water evaporates or sinks into the ground. Several of these valleys have year-round springs partway down them, veritable oases supporting Cottonwood trees and thick reeds. Signs of bighorn sheep and coyotes are common and birdsong is often heard. The water then flows for a distance, longer if the canyon steepens and sediment gives way to bedrock floors. Some of these canyons turn narrow and drop steeply in a series of waterfalls and pools, a delight to canyoneers looking for an adventure on a warm winter's day.

The particular spring we camped next to is known as China Garden, one of several springs that intermittently water stretches of Darwin Canyon. It was once the site of a gold miner's camp. These days its pond is home to a curious abundance of koi fish.





We embraced the unusual paradox as we set off down the dry wash in the driest place in the U.S....in our wetsuits. We passed several other springs in rapid succession, choosing to take to scrambling across the valley's sides rather than fight our way through the thick vegetation of the springs. After a distance, the small creek became permanent. We continued on until we found ourselves at the top of a dramatic drop- 80ft Darwin Falls with pools and smaller falls below. We opted for a wet descent and rigged our rope to go straight down the falls. I went first, savoring the water and all the time reminding myself that I was in Death Valley (Panamint Valley really).







After the main falls there are a few pools to wade through, one of which I stupidly dropped a small ascender into. I spent a brain-freezing five minutes diving to recover it, eventually succeeding. We continued on, downclimbing the remaining waterfalls and bridging some of the deeper pools. Ryan found a bypass to all the falls and was able to run up and retrieve our anchor- it turns out we did not need a car shuttle for this trip after all! At the last waterfall we began to meet hikers that had come up from the bottom, some of them interested in our mornings exploits. We continued downstream where the vegetation and water gives way to a dry wash. Still in our wetsuits and helmets, we got a particularly amusing reaction from a tourist who did not respond to our "hello" but instead hurried on like he had just seen a ghost or was worried he was hallucinating from a lack of water. It was an enjoyable trip, but much too short. Photos of me by Ryan.


You can imagine some of the looks we got from tourists