Canyoneering Route Description

Humperdinck Canyon - 3A III
Death Valley National Park, California.

Quick Facts

11-17-13, 3 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 12.5 hours) -- Time for doing BOTH Buttercup and Humperdinck Canyons.
12-29-13, 8 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 5.7 hours)  
02-16-14, 12 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 5.7 hours)

Time Required - 5. 5 to 7.5 Hours
Distance - 5.6 miles Total, 0.4 miles Technical
Rappels - 7 Rappels, Longest Rappel 40 feet.
Elevation Range - 210 - 1440 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Vehicle - High Clearance, 4WD Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 40 feet and 50 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement.

A dry bag will likely never be used but may be handy?  See General Notes about pothole below rap 6.

A compass and or a GPS can be very useful to point you toward your cars on the exit.  The exit involves about 2 miles of walking the open desert and the cars will not be in sight.  See the exit details for more info.

General Comments

The Princes Bride area is a collection of canyons north of Stovepipe Wells in the Cottonwood Mountains on the Panamint Range.  The Princess Bride Collection offers a few fun semi short canyons.  But you do need a high clearance 4WD vehicle to safely go enjoy them.

Thanks to Scott Swaney for locating these canyons, initiating the explorations of them and freely sharing the information.

Parking spots are limited and the spots are only large enough for one or two vehicles.  When driving out to the Princess Bride Canyons try to leave excess vehicles at Stovepipe Wells and take only one or two vehicles to the parking spot to start the canyons.  When choosing vehicles it is best to use the ones with 4WD and some clearance since there are a couple spots with deep rutted sand.

The vehicles will likely not be visible after exiting the canyon and you walk back across the desert toward them.  A GPS or a compass and map can be very helpful to get you pointed back to the cars after exiting the canyon.  If you follow the natural flow of the open desert and the wash like areas, you may find yourself wandering off course.

Humperdinck Canyon uses the the South Approach route.  When we first looked at Humperdinck we thought there would be very little of interest in there.  When we first got down it we were greeted with the surprise of a fun little canyon which offered a lot more than we thought possible.  The first time through it got dark on us since we started the route after we had already done Buttercup Canyon that day.  We liked it enough to go back and do it again in the day light a few weeks later.  Lots of small drops and some fun down climbs in a pretty slotted canyon.  Definitely one of the fun ones to return to.

There is one pothole below Rap 6 that has a very defined water line indicating there are times it holds water for a long time.  The pothole would be a swimmer for 20 or 30 feet and easy to get out of.  It would be a very rare day to see this thing full of water but it could happen.  If it does happen there is no way around it and you WILL need to swim.  It would be a good idea to pack a dry bag in the bottom of your pack incase you are there after some freak rain storm that filled it up.

Note:
There are two approach routes used for the Princess Bride Canyons, North Approach or South Approach.  While each approach route keeps the distance to a minimum for specific canyons, either approach can be used to access any of the Princess Bride Canyons.  There is an easy 0.7 mile route connecting the upper ends of the approaches running between the tops of Fire Swamp and Inconceivable Canyons.

The North Approach is best used for;  Pit of Despair, Cliffs of Insanity and Fire Swamp Canyons.
The South Approach is best used for;  Inconceivable, Buttercup, Humperdinck, Prepare to Die and Miracle Max Canyons.

Travel from upper end of North Approach to upper end of South Approach:
To travel from Fire Swamp to Inconceivable route find your way south about 0.2 miles to a saddle (wP-BrideCct01).  From the saddle route find your way down the slope south about 350 feet down into a wash (wP-BrideCct02) traveling down to the south.  About 900 feet down the drainage is a confluence where side drainage join from east and west (wP-BrideCct03).  Of note the drainage going east from here leads up to the top of what looks like a steep canyon running down the face of the mountain when viewed from the valley floor.  Continue south down the main wash about 500 feet passing another drainage joining in from the west (wP-BrideCct04).  Follow the drainage south about 0.2 miles to where it bends and begins to travel almost due east (InconceivableTp).  This is the top of Inconceivable Canyon and is the upper end of the South Approach route.

Travel from upper end of South Approach to upper end of North Approach:
To travel from the top of Inconceivable to the top of Fire Swamp, walk north up the Inconceivable drainage about 0.2 miles to where a small side drainage joins in from the west (wP-BrideCct04).  Continue north up the drainage about 500 feet to where a couple side drainage join from east and west (wP-BrideCct03).  Of note the drainage going east from here leads up to the top of what looks like a steep canyon running down the face of the mountain when viewed from the valley floor.  Continue north up the drainage about 900 feet to the upper end of the wash (wP-BrideCct02).  Travel north up the slope about 350 feet to a saddle (wP-BrideCct01).  Thee route find your way north about 0.2 miles down to the top of Fire Swamp Canyon (yFireSwampTp).

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

The drive directions start from the gas station in Stovepipe Wells Death Valley.  Stovepipe Wells is a small community on Highway 190 about mid way between Panamint Springs and Furnace Creek. 

From the convenience store / gas station in Stovepipe Wells (wStovpipeStore) look for the paved road on the southwest side of the store that leads west away from highway 190 which leads out toward Marble and Cottonwood Canyons (Cottonwood Canyon Road).  Drive west on the road passing the camp ground along the way. 

About 0.5 miles from highway 190 will be a fork in the road (ExtStovAirStrp).  The fork to the left goes over to an airstrip and is paved.  Stay right at this fork and travel on the dirt road going west. 

Note:
Be aware that a few spots early on in this road have deep sand with ruts that will give some vehicles trouble.  High clearance 4WD is recommended for travel on this dirt road.  Road conditions do change depending on rains, vehicular traffic and if the roads have been graded recently.  While it is possible to get passenger vehicles with all wheel drive through the sand it is not recommended.  A vehicle with clearance is helpful to get through the deep rutted sections.  The 4WD may not be used most of the time but with the sand it could make the difference between being stuck and being able to pull through a rough patch

Follow the dirt road west about 5 miles to where it bends to the right to the northwest (Pk-PrBrideS).  This bend in the road is a good place to park if you are following the South Approach route.

If you are going to be following the North Approach route, continuing past the bend about 0.4 miles to a wide spot in the road where you can park a couple vehicles (Pk-PrBrideN). 

Note:
There are various turnouts or wide spots in the road which are generally intended to be used for vehicles to pass one another and are only large enough for one or two cars to park.  The locations of the wide spots will change over time depending on what is done each time the the road is grated.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as an out and back route.

Maps

GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom.  For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the Glossary page.

Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the drive into the route.
Map of the entire route.
Map of the technical section.

Details

The Approach:
From the parking spot (Pk-PBrideS) begin the South Approach by walking southwest across open desert.

To follow the South Approach walk southwest across open desert on a bearing of about 204 degrees (true) toward the bottom of a ridge about 2.25 miles away.  From the parking area the ridge to aim for is toward the south end of the visible range.  The picture below will help.

About 2.25 miles after leaving the parking spot is the base of the ridge (wP-BrideS-01) you will start to travel up. 

Start walking southwest up the steep ridge.  After about 0.37 miles the ridge tops out (wP-BrideS-02) about 700 feet higher than the base. The canyon on the right (northwest) of this top out is Humperdinck Canyon.

From the top out continue southwest down the other side toward a saddle (jPBrideS) about 330 feet away.

Note:
The saddle (jPBrideS) is where you will choose a direction depending on your chosen route.  If you are going to Miracle Max or Prepare to Die Canyons you will follow up the ridge to the southwest.  If you plan to do Humperdinck, Buttercup or Inconceivable Canyons you will drop down the west side of the saddle down the steep slope into the Humperdinck drainage.

To continue to Humperdinck, Buttercup or Inconceivable Canyon drop down the steep slope on the west side of the saddle down into the drainage for Humperdinck Canyon (yHumperdinkTp).

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
Once you are down in the Humperdinck Drainage (yHumperdinkTp) turn right and walk north down canyon in the wash.

As you start down the wash you will soon start seeing little boulders appear then larger boulders.  About 450 feet down canyon of the drop in will be a couple down climbs RDC along and over boulders (wHumprdnkRP01).  The last 6 feet of one of these is a little difficult and may require a partner assist since the bottom bells out.  Just after the boulder downclimbs area a couple more easy downclimbs of 6 to 8 feet.  Shortly after is the top of rap 1. 

Rap 1 (dHumprdnkR1) can be anchored from either a rock pile on the LDC side or from two small arches in the wall on the RDC side about head high.  Rap 1 drops about 30 feet down a mostly vertical chute.

Just after rap 1 is a difficult downclimb of about 12 feet where a partner assist may be useful. 

Just after the 12 foot downclimb is a drop of about 20 feet that looks like you will need to rappel.  This 20 foot drop can be easily bypassed by going going around a ledge on the LDC side then an easy downclimb / scramble to the canyon floor.  This bypass is not noticed at first and you may find your self trying to build an anchor.  Take a moment to look to the left and you will find the easy bypass.

 Shortly after the bypassed 20 foot drop is an easy downclimb of about 5 feet then an 80 foot walk down to the top of rap 2.

Rap 2 (dHumprdnkR2) anchored from a pinch point in some choke stones near the top of the drop and drops about 25 feet down an almost vertical polished chute to a pothole that would be about 3 feet deep if full.  The rocks at the top of the drop where the anchor is set also form a false floor so be careful about what you step on.

Just after rap 2 is an easy downclimb of about 6 feet.  Just after is a drop of about 12 feet that is downclimbable but will require an aggressive partner assist for the last 5 or 6 feet.  Just around the corner is another drop of about 20 feet where the top 15 feet is easily downclimbed and the last 5 or 6 feet goes vertical and will also likely need a partner assist.  Rap 3 is about 30 feet down canyon.

Rap 3 (dHumprdnkR3) is anchored from a cairn anchor and uses about 40 feet of rope travel.  The first 10 to 15 can be downclimbed while the last 25 feet will be a rappel.  There are pinch points that will grab your rope when pulled so be careful of rope placement.

Optionally rap 3 can be bypassed with a downclimb on the RDC side of the large boulder.  The downclimb is a little sketchy feeling and not recommended for everyone.  But if you enjoy squeezing down a tight downclimb that bells out near the bottom you may enjoy the bypass.

Rap 4 (dHumprdnkR4) is shortly after rap 3 out on a big rock patio like area, is anchored using a rock protruding up from the ground LDC side and drops about 35 feet between a large boulder and the LDC wall.  The rock protruding from the ground works well to just pull the rope around the rock so no webbing is needed if you choose this option.

Optionally rap 4 can also be bypassed with a downclimb on the RDC side of the large boulder.  The downclimb is a little sketchy feeling and not recommended for everyone.  The bottom of the bypass downclimb bells out significantly and my be difficult for some downclimbers.

Rap 5 (dHumprdnkR5) is about 50 feet down canyon of rap 4, and drops about 12 feet into a slot.  The easiest plan for rap 5 is to send a person down on a meat anchor, wrap the rope around the boulder at the top, then have the person at the bottom be a counter weight for others to rappel on.  The rope pulls easily around the rock so no webbing is needed at this drop either.

A tall person with long reach can stem down rap 5 but most people will not be able to do this.

Rap 6 (dHumprdnkR6) is shortly down canyon of rap 5, is anchored from a pinch point between a rock in the wash and the RDC canyon wall about 8 feet back from the drop and drops about 30 feet down a mostly vertical chute to a large pothole.  The pothole at the bottom of rap 6 has a very defined water line showing it can hold water and would be a swimmer for about 25 feet if full.  The chances of seeing this thing full are rare but if it has water you can not avoid it.

After the pothole below rap 6 is a short easy downclimb then a combination of wash walking and boulder hopping for about 300 feet down canyon to the top of a drop about 50 feet high (wHumprdnkRP02).  This drop is bypassed on the RDC (east) side of the canyon.  Scramble down a chute like area then climb up and over on the RDC side to get to ramp to scramble back down to the canyon floor.

After the bypass of the drop continue about 275 feet down canyon  to rap 7 with some light boulder hopping and scrambling around large boulders along the way down canyon.

Rap 7 (dHumprdnkR7) is anchored LDC from a pinch point between two boulders and drops about 20 feet on the LDC side between a large boulder and the canyon wall.

Just after rap 7 is a drop that drops a total of about 50 feet but is an easy sloped downclimb over multiple mini stages.

Next is wash walking for about 400 feet to the top of the final drop at the end of Humperdinck Canyon (wHumprdnkRP03).  The final dropping section of the canyon has 4 fluted downclimbs that can be downclimbed by a combination of sliding and stemming movements to get to a steeply sloped rock face down to the end of Humperdinck down into the Buttercup Canyon drainage. 

When you get to the top of the final slope of rock, traverse down and to the right (east) then scramble your way down a crack to the wash below.  This is the end of Humperdinck Canyon where it dumps into the Buttercup Canyon drainage (yButterHumpBt).

The Exit:
From the bottom of Humperdinck Canyon (yButterHumpBt) continue down the Buttercup drainage that soon starts cutting through a slot carved down into a conglomerate layer.  The conglomerate slot is a very pretty section of the canyon with nothing technical but a couple 3 foot scrambles.

About 0.2 miles down canyon of where Humperdinck joined in is the confluence where Inconceivable Canyon joins in (yIncnceiveBt) from the left (west).  Continue northeast down the Buttercup drainage still in the deep conglomerate slot.

As you pass the confluence of Inconceivable Canyon the conglomerate slot you are in will gradually get wider.  About 0.27 miles past the confluence of Inconceivable Canyon the conglomerate slot is coming to an end and is very wide.  When you get to a point where the side walls of the slot are only about 10 feet high (jP-BrideExt) you will be greeted with open desert ahead to the north east.  As you exit the conglomerate slot you will want to walk back to your cars but they will not be in sight. 

From the end of the conglomerate slot (jP-BrideExt) the cars are about 1.9 miles away and not in view.  If you have GPS you can plot a go to for the waypoint where you parked your cars and go for it. 

Note - Navigation Hint:
From the exit of the conglomerate slot walking directly toward the cars will have you walking across the alluvial fan and will be tedious walking.  The easiest walking for the exit is to veer right (north east) and walk out toward the more flat wash systems then follow them north back to the car.  This will save you from too much tedious walking.  However doing this with nothing to point you toward the cars could end you you wandering the desert for a while since the washes are wide and wondering and the cars or road are not visible until you get pretty close to them.

If you have a compass you can set a course of 18 degrees magnetic north (which is 31 degrees true north here) to be pointed directly at the cars.

To navigate back to the cars visually you can use the mountain range way off in the distance to the north.  Looking at the mountain range locate the pointed peak in the image below which is Thimble Peak.  Look for the dip along the range to the left of Thimble Peak then aim for the left side of the dip.  The image below will make this more clear.

Which ever method you chose to navigate back, walk 1.9 miles to the cars to complete the route (Pk-PBrideS).

GPS Waypoint Information

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........

Humperdinck Canyon (1) - Drive in to Trailhead

wStovpipeStore          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.60663   W -117.14688        Elev: 0 Feet Convenience store / gas station at Stove Pipe Wells. ExtStovAirStrp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.60696   W -117.15503        Elev: NaN Feet Turn off to go over to an airstrip. To drive out toward the Marble and Cottonwood Canyon area stay left at the fork to drive west. Pk-PBrideS          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.61036   W -117.24602        Elev: 210 Feet A bend to the right while driving the road out toward Marble Canyon. If following the South Approach route to the Princess Bride Canyons park hear near the bend in the road.

Humperdinck Canyon (2) - Approach

Pk-PBrideS          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.61036   W -117.24602        Elev: 210 Feet A bend to the right while driving the road out toward Marble Canyon. If following the South Approach route to the Princess Bride Canyons park hear near the bend in the road. wP-BrideS-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58107   W -117.26235        Elev: 640 Feet Bottom of the ridge to start the climb up the South Approach for the Princess Bride Canyons. wP-BrideS-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57768   W -117.26737        Elev: 1,440 Feet Top out on the first ridge of the South Approach. Continue southwest down the other side of the top out. jPBrideS          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57685   W -117.26773        Elev: 1,410 Feet A saddle about 330 feet after going over a peak along the ridge. To go to Humperdinck, Buttercup or Inconceivable Canyons drop down the steep slope to the north west down into Humperdinck Canyon. To go to Miracle Max or Prepare to Die Canyons continue southwest up along the ridge. yHumperdinkTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57689   W -117.26846        Elev: 1,330 Feet Top of Humperdinck Canyon. At this point the dranage is a wide wash with little to nothing of interest above here. To drop down Humerdinck Canyon travel north down the wash. If you are continuing to Buttercup of Inconceivable Canyons cross the wash and start up the steep slope to the west.

Humperdinck Canyon (3) - The Canyon and Exit

yHumperdinkTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57689   W -117.26846        Elev: 1,330 Feet Top of Humperdinck Canyon. At this point the dranage is a wide wash with little to nothing of interest above here. To drop down Humerdinck Canyon travel north down the wash. If you are continuing to Buttercup of Inconceivable Canyons cross the wash and start up the steep slope to the west. wHumprdnkRP01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57810   W -117.26836        Elev: NaN Feet Huge boulders to downclimb over or by on the RDC side. Followed by a couple more downclimbs of 6 to 8 feet each. dHumprdnkR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57849   W -117.26841        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 1 - Humperdinck Canyon. Can be anchored from either a rock pile on the LDC side or from two small arches in the wall on the RDC side about head high. Rap 1 drops about 30 feet down a mostly vertical chute. dHumprdnkR2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57881   W -117.26833        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 2 - Humperdinck Canyon. Anchored from a pinch point in some choke stones near the top of the drop and drops about 25 feet down an almost vertical polished chute to a pothole that would be about 3 feet deep if full. The rocks at the top of the drop where the anchor is set also form a false floor so be careful about what you step on. dHumprdnkR3          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57914   W -117.26834        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 3 - Humperdinck Canyon. Anchored from a cairn anchor and uses about 40 feet of rope travel. The first 10 to 15 feet can be downclimbed while the last 25 feet will be a rappel. There are pinch points that will grab your rope when pulled so be careful of rope placement. Optionally rap 3 can be bypassed with a downclimb on the RDC side of the large boulder. The downclimb is a little sketchy feeling and not recommended for everyone. But if you enjoy squeezing down a tight downclimb that bells out near the bottom you may enjoy the bypass. dHumprdnkR4          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57936   W -117.26842        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 4 - Humperdinck Canyon. Is shortly after rap 3 out on a big rock patio like area, is anchored using a rock protruding up from the ground LDC side and drops about 35 feet between a large boulder and the LDC wall. The rock protruding from the ground works well to just pull the rope around the rock so no webbing is needed if you choose this option. Optionally rap 4 can also be bypassed with a downclimb on the RDC side of the large boulder. The downclimb is a little sketchy feeling and not recommended for everyone. The bottom of the bypass downclimb bells out significantly and my be difficult for some downclimbers. dHumprdnkR5          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57953   W -117.26843        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 5 - Humperdinck Canyon. Is about 50 feet down canyon of rap 4, and drops about 12 feet into a slot. The easiest plan for rap 5 is to send a person down on a meat anchor, wrap the rope around the boulder at the top, then have the person at the bottom be a counter weight for others to rappel on. The rope pulls easily around the rock so no webbing is needed at this drop either. A tall person with long reach can stem down rap 5 but most people will not be able to do this. dHumprdnkR6          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.57968   W -117.26842        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 6 - Humperdinck Canyon. Is shortly down canyon of rap 5, is anchored from a pinch point between a rock in the wash and the RDC canyon wall about 8 feet back from the drop and drops about 30 feet down a mostly vertical chute to a large pothole. The pothole at the bottom of rap 6 has a very defined water line showing it can hold water and would be a swimmer for about 25 feet if full. The chances of seeing this thing full are rare but if it has water you can not avoid it. wHumprdnkRP02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58051   W -117.26850        Elev: NaN Feet A drop of about 50 feet that is bypassed on the RDC (east) side of the canyon. Scramble down a chute like area then climb up and over on the RDC side to get to ramp to scramble back down to the canyon floor. dHumprdnkR7          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58124   W -117.26853        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 7 - Humperdinck Canyon. Is anchored LDC from a pinch point between two boulders and drops about 20 feet on the LDC side between a large boulder and the canyon wall. Just after rap 7 is a drop that drops a total of about 50 feet but is an easy sloped downclimb over multiple mini stages. wHumprdnkRP03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58236   W -117.26878        Elev: NaN Feet The final dropping section of the canyon has 4 fluted downclimbs that can be downclimbed by a combination of sliding and stemming movements to get to a steeply sloped rock face down to the end of Humperdinck down into the Buttercup Canyon drainage. When you get to the top of the final slope of rock, traverse down and to the right (east) then scramble your way down a crack to the wash below. yButterHumpBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58270   W -117.26890        Elev: 735 Feet Bottom of Humperdinck Canyon where it drops into the side of Buttercup Canyon. This also below the end of the technical portion of Buttercup Canyon. yIncnceiveBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58528   W -117.26697        Elev: 635 Feet Confluence of the Buttercup and Inconceivable Draianges. This is in a deep slot carved through conglomerate rock. jP-BrideExt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.58765   W -117.26333        Elev: 560 Feet This is where the conglomerate slot is now very wide and comming to and end the side walls are about 10 feet high on both sides. Pk-PBrideS          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 36.61036   W -117.24602        Elev: 210 Feet A bend to the right while driving the road out toward Marble Canyon. If following the South Approach route to the Princess Bride Canyons park hear near the bend in the road.