Parking along the rough gravel 4WD East Side Panamint Valley Road:
Nemo Slot is the canyon directly in the center of this picture with the large headwall containing fluted cliffs at the back:
Williams Canyon is located off to the east (right side of picture). It is one of the few major officially named canyons in the Panamints to remain completely undocumented:
Zooming in on Williams Canyon and the summit of Telescope Peak rising up behind it:
Looking back down the terrain of the hillside or foothills we were hiking on:
The foothills route took us up high above the main wash and cost us some unnecessary elevation gain:
From the top of the foothills, I could zoom way in on the back headwall of Nemo Slot:
Tobin taking the steep descent down onto the main basin:
Upon returning to the wash below, we had to contend with some rough terrain filled with many small drainages:
Approaching the entrance to Nemo Slot Canyon:
First view up Nemo Slot Canyon with the headwall located at the back:
There are some minor conglomerate formations up high as the canyon takes shape:
Looking back out the mouth of the canyon into Panamint Valley:
The wash finally smoothed out which made the hiking a little bit easier:
I thought the formation in the middle was interesting, how there is a small crack separating two blocks of conglomerate:
Panoramic taken at the major junction in Nemo Slot Canyon:
View to the left from the junction showing the main canyon closing into the area that we call Nemo Slot:
This tower-like formation could be seen off to the left on top of the hillside:
Zooming in on the beginning of Nemo Slot. We would save this part of the hike for later:
As we began hiking up the right fork, we noticed this potential short slot in the background (left side). But we did not check it out. If anyone reading this ends up doing this hike, please check out this slot for us and let us know what you find:
Many of the canyon walls contained these kinds of dry falls which are set a little bit back into grooves:
The background scenery started growing as we explored the side slot:
There is always so much interesting scenery and designs to take note of in conglomerate rock narrows:
This picture shows Tobin in the distance being dwarfed by the canyon wall behind him:
The side slot constricts quite a bit at this spot:
Absolutely massive blocks of conglomerate rock in the next two pictures:
The side slot definitely has narrows that are worth visiting:
We didn't try to climb up this area, but this view shows a small drainage pouring into the main canyon:
Zooming in on the odd formation seen at the top of the previous picture:
Tobin took this picture showing a cave that we passed by while heading up the side slot:
More narrows and tall canyon walls just ahead:
Looking back at the incredibly beautiful massive walls we passed by earlier:
The curve on the right side canyon wall almost matches that of the left:
The side slot continued to constrict and almost looked like an actual slot up ahead:
The first of many mud drip structures which caught our attention. One interesting aspect of the mud drips in this canyon is that they always seemed to pour all the way down from high up the canyon wall:
Two close-ups of the mud drip structures located up the side slot:
The side slot abruptly came to an end at this impassable dry fall:
Because the rock was conglomerate, it was way too risky to attempt a climb:
Heading back down the side slot toward the main canyon:
Now back at the major junction in the canyon with our sights set on exploring the narrows in the distance:
This is the spot which I consider to be the beginning of Nemo Slot. It is a section of canyon with high walls and increasingly tight narrows:
This unusual angle shows a high wall right at the entrance to the narrows:
There is always a sense of anticipation and excitement when entering into undocumented narrows:
The next two pictures show mud drip structures which resemble natural hanging chandeliers:
One attribute of this canyon is a continuously steep wash. That remained true as we entered the narrows:
The canyon almost seemed to transition into a mud drip gallery as they were everywhere:
Giant boulders were part of the conglomerate rock walls:
Heading into more nice narrows up ahead:
There were more signs of deeply indented canyon walls, as seen in the next two pictures:
Towering vertical walls of conglomerate rock rose hundreds of feet straight up:
Zooming in on a raven's nest set into the canyon wall which is surrounded by mud drips:
It is amazing to me that obscure canyons like this can have walls so beautiful that they rival places like Golden Canyon:
Every section of wall that we passed by had a unique look to it:
Notice the thin conglomerate formations rising up at the top left:
Taking a closer look at the formations. This will sound a bit strange, but these formations actually reminded me of the facade of the House of the Blackheads in Riga, Latvia:
Rounding a dramatic bend in the central narrows:
The next two pictures showcase the sheer height of the walls:
Looking straight up at a very unusual formation high above us:
The formation on the right is overhanging the canyon wall quite far:
As the canyon gets narrower and steeper, the wash becomes more challenging:
For instance, this large fallen boulder must be climbed around:
Nice lighting within the deep narrows:
Another steep section which contains fallen rocks and boulders to climb over:
Angling the camera upward to get the top of the walls. It often wasn't possible to get the wash and canyon rim in the same picture:
It was standing directly underneath towering walls like this which made us nervous about rockfall:
Another of the endless series of dry falls lining the canyon walls:
This is the spot where the main canyon transitions completely into a slot canyon:
As we stood here looking ahead, it really looked as if this would be a very short slot which would quickly end in a dry fall. But that wouldn't be the case:
The next two pictures show the beginning portion of the slot:
Looking back out at the larger portion of canyon we had been standing in a few minutes ago:
The walls of the early slot were overhanging above us:
Instead of encountering a quick dry fall, the slot had a steep but manageable climb:
More easy climbing in the midst of beautiful slot scenery:
On the right side of this picture, you can see how the slot continues going through:
Pictures like this are nice, but they really don't give a true sense of how impressive it is to pass through here:
This is the slot passage as it looks at walking height:
Gorgeous vertical slot canyon walls:
Water flow has created a deep undercut into the canyon wall at this bend:
It's always fun to get so immersed in a slot canyon that you can see nothing of the outside world:
There was a huge overhang to stand under at this dramatic spot:
Shadows and glows on the conglomerate rock slot walls:
High overhanging walls within the slot. Keep in mind that these slot walls continued for hundreds of feet up in the air:
More dramatic bends in the slot. From the time we entered the slot until the end dry fall, there were so many scenic spots:
The next two pictures focus on the beautiful composition of the walls:
Notice the undercut cave at the bottom of the picture below the high walls:
The slot continues to get tighter with an extremely narrow passage:
Looking straight up hundreds of feet. Take note of the mud drips flowing down the wall here:
Completely enclosed within the walls of the slot:
The same view but taken while standing a little farther back for more perspective:
One of my favorite pictures taken within Nemo Slot. There was just as much beauty above us as there was at ground level:
This shows the final bend in the passable canyon:
Here, we have reached the end dry fall. This is the view of the slot above the dry fall:
And this is the end dry fall, which is actually a wedged giant boulder. I was able to chimney climb this and get higher than the boulder, but ultimately decided to stop here for safety purposes:
This picture of Tobin shows that the boulder dry fall is about 12 feet high:
The next three pictures show some views of us within Nemo Slot in an effort to showcase the beauty:
This picture was taken back at the entrance to the slot portion of Nemo Slot Canyon:
And here's what it looks like with a person standing at the bottom. Notice that we couldn't get the highest part of the walls in the picture:
