From the parking area along Scotty's Castle Road, we were able to zoom in to the west and see Leaning BM (close center peak) and Leaning Rock BM (background range a little to the left):
Crossing a section of dry cracked mud early on in the journey:
Normal zoom shows the long desert crossing toward the Cottonwoods:
Looking to the southwest toward a distant large canyon fan and drainage:
We were hiking toward the center of the picture to keep our bearings:
After about 5 1/2 miles of hiking, we finally met up with the West Side Trail (formerly the old West Side Road which passes through the Niter Beds):
A nice view of Leaning BM in the morning sunshine:
Our next objective was to continue hiking toward the very small hillside or outcropping in the lower center of the picture. The western wall towering above Slab Canyon can be seen on the right side:
We followed the West Side Trail for a short distance and came across this wooden post and survey marker:
Taking a look at the BM which is still in place along West Side Trail:
It was fairly easy to follow the old road as the road edges are still faintly visible:
We soon entered the Niter Beds, which was an area I had long been wanting to explore. There are more pictures of the Niter Beds on the Middle Slab Canyon report:
If you check the hiking route on satellite imagery, you will see an area of dark rock which must be hiked up. This is that area:
While on the dark rock, we continued aiming for the small hillside seen in the center distance:
Looking back down the fan of dark rock toward the Grapevines:
Zooming in on the Grapevine Mountains and some of the canyons which drain from the range:
To reach Slab Canyon, we had to cut through these two hillsides:
Panoramic showing the giant rock slab above Slab Canyon:
We are now at the mouth of Slab Canyon and looking back out the canyon from the hillside just above it:
After getting a picture of that dramatic view, I dropped back down and walked into the start of Slab Canyon. It had been 8 long miles of hiking just to reach the starting point of the canyon:
The canyon was narrow right from the beginning. In fact, the canyon is narrow from beginning to end, something I had never experienced before:
The early part of the canyon features shallow narrows:
There were some steep portions early on which would give an indication of what was to come later:
One of the continuous and odd features of Slab Canyon was the presence of uneven sections of canyon. There were many spots where the canyon would have higher spots down canyon which would hinder natural water flow, thus creating dams and giant pools of water during flash floods:
The canyon transitioned from dirt hillsides into solid rock on both sides:
Polished rock and large shapes became a constant feature:
A pretty dry fall and spot in the canyon during the early going:
Steve getting a picture at this spot:
Another preview of things to come was this small boulder jam which we had to climb:
But most of the walking in the early canyon was easy like this:
All of us were already very impressed with Slab Canyon and the continuous narrows:
The narrows still remained mostly shallow as seen in the next two pictures:
But around this bend, things began to get a lot more impressive:
The giant rock slab which towers above Slab Canyon came into view:
Up ahead we could see that we were heading into an extremely steep and narrow gorge. We didn't know how much farther we would be able to get:
The wash was often filled with small boulders as seen here:
And larger boulders that have rolled down into the wash from above:
Up ahead we could see a spot where the rock slab high above the canyon came all the way down and touched the wash:
Looking up above the canyon, the cliffs were high and intimidating:
Arriving at the spot where the rock slab reaches all the way down into the bottom of the canyon:
A picture of Steve near this spot. The giant rock slab on the western wall of the canyon is the defining feature of Slab Canyon:
Two more pictures of the rock slab extending down into the canyon:
Notice that the cliffs on the right side did not allow for a bypass or access to the ridge above:
Starting with this climb, things got considerably steeper:
Tobin took this picture of Steve climbing up this small obstacle:
After I climbed this part, I had a better view of the giant polished rock slab:
And a little bit higher up, there was an even better view showcasing the slab:
As we continued up canyon, there were more small climbs to make:
A huge overhanging rock that we passed under:
Things finally leveled off for a short distance in the canyon past the overhang:
A very narrow wash with diagonal walls sloping down from both sides of the canyon:
More easy dry falls to climb up:
And some sections that were steeper and more difficult:
One of the neatest rocks which has fallen into the canyon from above is the flat piece of rock slab seen in the distance:
Steve getting a picture with the flat rock slab behind him:
Patrick enjoying the scenery in the narrows:
Another climb past a wedged boulder. Up until this point, we didn't come across anything which was too difficult for us to handle:
Looking back down canyon you can see some of the smaller obstacles we had been contending with:
This polished curved dry fall was the start of the first harder section:
Tobin above the curved dry fall looking ahead:
The canyon suddenly got very enclosed and much steeper:
Patrick doing a tricky climb in order to continue up canyon. We found an easier route to the right:
Looking back after coming up a beautiful section of enclosed narrows:
This area was starting to get too difficult for us or any other regular hikers to handle:
Reaching the top and looking down at the smaller climbs we had just done:
Patrick looking up at the 1st major dry fall which we encountered:
This is what he saw. As you can see, there was no way to climb this dry fall. Our hearts sank as we realized that this could be the end of our hike:
Tobin tried to find a way to bypass the 1st major dry fall on the right side, but it proved to be too treacherous as you can see here. The bypass on the left side was just as bad and had even more exposure. You can see why we strongly recommend stopping here:
Looking back down canyon, we realized that we would have to head back down:
One last look at the 1st major dry fall of Slab Canyon. This is a good spot to turn around and exit the lower canyon. The middle canyon can be accessed from the ridge above the canyon, as you can see in our report for Middle Slab Canyon:
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