After hiking down Upper Corridor Canyon from Round Valley, some hikers will be able to make it to the rim of The Corridor. I don't have an overview picture from that spot, but if you turn around, this is the first minor dry fall which will have to be climbed on the hike back:
Two pictures showing a completely enclosed spot in the canyon with solid rock walls and floor:
The bottom portion of Upper Corridor Canyon definitely contains the most beautiful scenery for those who can make it this far:
Another minor polished dry fall which is easy to climb up:
Check out the amazing scenery here with the canyon floor being completely covered by solid rock. There is no sign of a gravel wash here:
The rock floor continues for quite some time:
This is the 12-foot dry fall as seen from the bottom. Don't climb down this unless you are positive you can climb back up. There are poor handholds and footholds. I had to stack rocks to climb it but if a friend is with you, perhaps you can get a boost:
View from the top of the 12-foot dry fall after finally managing to climb it:
Nothing has ever been written about Upper Corridor Canyon beyond the dry fall in the last picture. Notice the afternoon shadows coming into the canyon:
The canyon continued to be narrow for quite some time after the dry fall:
Also, there were high peaks all around which added a lot of character to the canyon:
Progressing through Upper Corridor Canyon was a lot of fun, especially with the lack of information:
Here I am climbing through some more narrows and small dry falls:
I love the polished rock with white streaks. In fact, the rock surfaces throughout all of Corridor Canyon are very pretty:
Getting a picture while enjoying the exploration of Upper Corridor Canyon:
The canyon walls on the right side drop a bit in height at the upper canyon mid-point. Perhaps there is an easier way to cross back over to the east on the hike back and save some time and mileage:
Upper Corridor Canyon is probably only hiked a few times per year, I would imagine. This is a very isolated stretch of canyon:
In the distance, there is less solid rock visible above the canyon. Instead, there are high dirt hillsides:
The canyon continues winding toward the hillsides:
More narrow sections are encountered in the upper canyon:
There are a number of small dry cascades to climb in the upper canyon mid-section:
The canyon walls are still quite high but this is not an enclosed slot:
Passing by a beautiful canyon wall on the left side:
A very long stretch of canyon is visible looking ahead:
In the morning, I was hiking in the shade in the lower canyon. In the afternoon now, I was hiking in bright sunshine with just occasional shadows from canyon walls:
Although these two high triangular peaks stand out when viewed from the canyon, neither peak is Cameo BM or Warm BM. Warm BM is actually located at the rounded hillside bump seen on the top right side of the picture:
After hiking just over two miles from the overlook point high above the upper end of The Corridor, Corridor Canyon ended here and the vast open space of Round Valley came into view:
Steve successfully wrapping up his exploration of Corridor Canyon:
Panoramic of the first view of Round Valley from ground level in the Corridor wash:
I knew that in order to get the best view of Round Valley and have a full appreciation for it, I would need to climb up to a nearby peak. So that's what I did. I headed up the hillside to the south (which was pre-planned) and the view started getting better and better:
Getting even higher now, Round Valley really starts to stand out and look awesome. Dry Mountain is the small peak on the extreme right side of the picture:
Steve getting his picture with Round Valley in the background after reaching the summit:
The summit of Warm BM is hidden slightly behind the high rounded bump seen in the center of this picture:
In this picture, Dry Mountain is the small peak at the far right side. Dry Mountain is set a lot farther back in the range and is actually over 4,600 feet higher in elevation than where I'm standing:
To the right of Dry Mountain, the eastern side of Round Valley is visible:
I zoomed out as far as possible to try to get most of Round Valley in one picture. It is about 9 air miles to Dry Mountain (which is once again visible as the small peak on the right side of the picture) from this viewpoint:
One final panoramic view of Round Valley taken from the viewpoint:
Turning around to the south, this is looking the other direction toward the side canyons I would need to rejoin to complete my loop hike. P5201 is visible as the high point at the upper right:
It was actually easy to head down the other side of the viewpoint peak and drop into the small canyons and washes:
Eventually, I ended up in like three different smaller canyons as seen in the next four pictures, but all heading in the right direction:
Finally, I reached the junction. To the left up ahead, there is a side canyon leading to Ubehebe Lead Mine. To the right, there is a side canyon leading into The Corridor. I turned left and returned to my truck after a very long day of hiking:
