Upon using the bypass gully to drop into Middle Slab Canyon from the ridge above, if you hike down canyon from there, this is the view from the top of the 4th major dry fall:
Heading up canyon from this spot takes you into an incredible world of polished narrows:
Notice how through these last couple sections of narrows, the canyon floor is made of solid rock:
Things get interesting quickly with small polished dry falls to climb:
This is probably the widest spot in all the middle canyon:
Middle Slab Canyon has quite possibly my favorite section of narrows in the park:
Notice the splashes of different colors such as white, tan, and grey within the rock:
Looking down at the massive dry plunge pool that we passed by in the canyon:
Tobin and Patrick looking over the edge into the dry plunge pool:
A good angle showing how deep the round pool is at the bottom:
Just beyond, the scenery continued to astound us:
A narrow passage cuts a path directly through the rock:
There were countless steep inclines that we walked up:
Sometimes the rock on the canyon floor would give way to patches of sand, dirt, and gravel:
This spot in the narrows really astonished me. It is more beautiful than words can describe. This rivals any other spot in the park:
Tobin rounding a bend and taking a picture. Notice here that the height of the narrows really encloses a hiker:
Steve standing at the top of a sloping dry fall:
You can imagine the sense of wonder that we felt while walking through this section:
At times, we could see up the walls of the narrows. We were really closed in here and a dry fall could have ended our hike at any time:
These were continuous tight slot narrows winding through the canyon, as seen in the next two pictures:
A brief open area where we could see more scenery and a giant boulder approaching:
Two pictures of Tobin hiking up Middle Slab Canyon:
The passable middle canyon came to an abrupt end at this wedged boulder dry fall:
Patrick scouting around for a way up the boulder:
This is the view back down the middle canyon from the boulder dry fall. As you can see, it is like a sea of winding narrows. The middle canyon started way back at the base of the ridge in the distance:
A close-up of the boulder dry fall. There was no way for us to safely climb past it:
Thus, we had to head back down. But there were some more beautiful spots that I photographed on the way back:
More of the gorgeous narrows found in Middle Slab Canyon:
Check this out. This is a reverse dry fall which appears on the opposite side of where it should in the canyon. The water must pool up really high and deep here during floods:
Steve in the midst of the narrows:
It is amazing that there are still spots like this to discover in Death Valley:
Standing down at the bottom of the plunge pool for a photograph:
At the major bend in the canyon, we turned left and began hiking up the bypass gully. This view shows the narrows we hiked through:
Looking out towards Lower Slab Canyon:
The next two pictures show spots where rock slabs have broken off and crashed to the ground:
Before exiting the canyon, we tried to find a bypass to get beyond where we were stopped by the boulder dry fall. This is the view looking down at an area in the canyon past that spot:
Another view down around the next bend. We were too high above the canyon and there was no safe route back down:
An incredible shot looking farther up Middle Slab Canyon. These are towering, deeply entrenched narrows:
Another angle showing the area we couldn't get into:
Thus, we turned around and headed back. This is the view into the lower canyon from about halfway up to the ridge:
From the same spot, this is an overview of the middle canyon that we hiked through:
Finally attaining the ridge and looking at the scenery past the canyon mouth:
Zooming in on a snow-capped Tucki Mountain far in the distance:
In order to access Upper Slab Canyon, it would be necessary to scramble up this steep ridgeline:
From up on the ridge, the view down into the narrows of Slab Canyon are breathtaking:
Looking to the right, the gigantic rock slab of Slab Canyon can be seen:
From above the long bypass, the view down into the slot narrows of Middle Slab Canyon is quite scary:
An incredible panoramic showing the slab of Slab Canyon and narrows from the eastern ridge:
The flatlands of Death Valley stretch out below the Slab Canyon ridge:
The massive rock slab of Slab Canyon is especially impressive from the ridge:
A panoramic taken from the Slab Canyon ridge showing the Death Valley flatlands:
From the ridge, we dropped at a diagonal angle into the next canyon to the east:
Somewhere within Middle Slab Canyon, we found outstanding ancient fossils. The following five pictures show some examples of them:
Hiking back down the section of dark rock which is mostly a large fan:
There were some minor beautiful peaks off to the north which we passed by:
Even though we were already hiking a 20+ mile day, we took the time to stop at the Niter Beds:
Looking at the ground surface of the Niter Beds:
The Niter Beds extend way out across western Mesquite Flat:
The guidebook Hiking Death Valley states that the Niter Beds are made of "clay and mud mixed with evaporites, perhaps the remains of an old lake":
Strange formations rise up from the Niter Beds:
The more time we spent walking around the Niter Beds, the more of these odd formations we found:
Our final picture is a panoramic of the Niter Beds:
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