The Mormon Point sign is located off in the distance where Badwater Road takes a sharp left turn and continues out of the picture. As you can see, the starting point for the hike is relatively close to the sign placement:
Catching us by surprise, we ended up following the tracks of an old closed road which headed into Mormon Point Canyon:
Cairns marked the spot where the old road continues but has now become just a path:
Looking back out the very wide mouth of Mormon Point Canyon towards the Badwater Basin salt flats:
Huge block-like conglomerate rock walls in the early canyon:
After about one mile of hiking, the canyon begins narrowing down:
Up ahead is the first junction. The main canyon continues left while the 1st side canyon splits off to the right:
We decided to explore the 1st side canyon for a few minutes:
The 1st side canyon contained a section of shallow narrows:
There wasn't a lot of space for movement between the walls:
A couple of cuts could be seen in the canyon wall on the left. Perhaps a section will break off here in the near future and drop into the wash:
The walls grew in height toward the end of the 1st side canyon:
View as we headed back out of the side canyon to rejoin the main canyon:
Just past the junction we found some old remnants of a mining camp. Notice the top of a stove and other assorted items:
This rusted barrel container is slowly being buried in the gravel of the wash:
These rusted coils are all that remains of an old mattress:
After checking out the mining camp remnants, we continued farther up canyon:
The canyon walls were still not very high but the canyon began constricting significantly:
Ahead we could see the fallen boulders from a collapsed wall:
Check out the footprints in the wash. It is clear that this is a fairly popular canyon to visit, despite the fact that it is officially unnamed, not marked on any maps, and not mentioned in a single guidebook:
From this point on, Mormon Point Canyon took on a unique beauty as we reached the central narrows:
The rugged texture of the walls with such a confined space to walk through make these narrows special:
Soon the walls grew in height, which made the scenery more extraordinary:
If you look up to the right here, you can see a huge overhang that we were walking under, towering far above us:
An extremely beautiful spot in the narrows of Mormon Point Canyon:
A picture of Steve walking through this spot gives you some perspective on the height of the walls:
Around the next bend was another very colorful and scenic spot where dark and light contrast:
Jeremy and Jordan heading around the bend, very impressed:
The passages were small but without any major obstacles all the way through the narrows:
The reflected sunlight made things colorful in the narrows and the walls featured regular sharp turns:
A natural dent in the wall on the right side:
Sunlight filtering into the canyon at another spot where light and dark walls contrast:
The walls were not vertical at times but instead hung over out into the wash:
More footprints in a sandy wash to walk in which makes progress quite easy:
Even if you are hiking in a group through this canyon, there is plenty of space to spread out and enjoy solitude due to the frequent sharp bends:
Mormon Point has more narrows within the main canyon than Sidewinder Canyon does:
Check out the beautiful curved streaks across the canyon wall:
Notice how partway up the left side canyon wall there is a section which cuts into the conglomerate rock:
Walking through twisting narrows always makes you excited to find out what is around the next bend:
Slot canyons are nice to hike on warm days because they always provide shady areas of relief from the sun:
Intense beams of sun shining down into the canyon:
Check out this stunning entrance into another side canyon. We explored it briefly but progress was quickly stopped:
An exclusive panoramic of the central narrows of Mormon Point Canyon:
Mormon Point Canyon has a rare conglomerate rock slickenside:
The slickenside contains a mural of naturally polished streaks. Definitely a rarity in these types of canyons:
Notice how the right side wall curves up almost like a wave forming:
Finally out of the lengthy narrows as we headed into the upper canyon:
Most of the way we did continue to have a nice sandy pathway to walk on:
Looking ahead to the upper canyon split. The main canyon continues to the right:
Looking back, we had a nice view of the snowy Panamint Mountains and Telescope Peak:
Finding a balloon which we needed to pop and pack out. Usually, I find balloons during all my Owlshead Mountains hikes, but other places as well:
This 1st dry fall in the upper canyon was where we stopped and turned around. We could have bypassed it and gone farther, but we were satisfied reaching this spot:
Heading back down the canyon, this huge slab with pretty streaks on it high above our heads caught our attention:
