Wingate Slot Canyon

TRIP REPORT PHOTOS

This is the mouth of Wingate Slot Canyon. As you can see, it is very unassuming and there is no indication of there being anything amazing up canyon. It's easy to see why this canyon stayed undocumented for so long despite draining directly into Wingate Wash:

Early on, conglomerate rock walls began to form on both sides which had quite an interesting texture:

We climbed up the first of several boulder jams and dry falls that we would encounter on the hike:

The walls didn't grow in height right away, but they did quickly come close together on both sides:

This area can be labeled as the beginning of the 1st Narrows of Wingate Slot Canyon:

We were now completely enclosed in the canyon with no easy exit point:

There were sections containing many quick turns in the narrows:

And there were sections of longer straightaways:

Notice how the walls have already doubled in height since the earlier part of the 1st Narrows:

The canyon walls contained beautiful layers of rock and high overhangs:

One of my favorite aspects of Wingate Slot Canyon was that the narrows were very tight for extensive lengths of time. Many times, it was easy to touch both sides of the walls:

This long, uninterrupted straight wall on the right side created a stunning visual:

Extremely beautiful passages to walk through. Wingate Slot Canyon was already proving to be one of the best conglomerate rock slot canyons in the park:

We began to observe different colors within the canyon walls:

This felt like we were walking through a wonderland of narrows:

The morning sunlight finally makes its way into the narrows:

Check out this huge overhang which was high above us:

Notice how the composition of the walls has changed to having larger blocks of rock:

A brief opening in the canyon leads to this spot where a massive boulder is resting above the right side canyon wall:

The canyon transitions into the 2nd Narrows which contains vivid colors:

The 2nd Narrows feature a different type of rock and interesting designs on the walls:

The colors are not distributed evenly but are spread all around kind of like at Artists Palette:

In the midst of more stunning and colorful narrows:

The canyon walls were not smooth like earlier but had all kinds of odd shapes and openings on them:

There were impressive features even high above us on the upper canyon walls:

Continuing to navigate through very tight passages, knowing that any major obstacle could result in the need for a very lengthy bypass:

Sections of solid rock ground on the canyon floor interspersed with gravel and dirt:

Some fallen boulders ahead which we would need to navigate through:

Climbing a small conglomerate rock chute in an area which was slightly more open:

At this dramatic spot in the canyon, an impressive slot turns to the right and a wide open side canyon turns to the left:

The slot is the main canyon, so we continued into it:

The tight slot had this massive overhang which felt somewhat frightening to stand under. Imagine how many tons of rock must be above my head here:

The 2nd Narrows and the tight slot passage ended right here with a dry fall which we climbed fairly easily:

The canyon opened up above the dry fall just briefly before closing back down into the 3rd Narrows:

The narrows became more shallow once again for a while:

At times, the canyon would twist into the direction of the morning sun:

Tan coloring on the left side and shades of blue and grey on the right:

It was mostly a smooth wash with a bit of rockfall here and there:

The colors mentioned earlier really come together and blend well on this spectacular chute we climbed:

A perfectly rounded curve at a quick bend in the narrows:

Notice how these larger boulders which fell into the wash are partially buried from water sweeping down the canyon:

At this unusual area which is like a puzzle that must be solved, the main canyon enters the small slot seen on the right:

Here we have entered the slot and found that giant boulders have fallen into it and gotten wedged at the top:

A closer look at these boulders which have created a false natural bridge to walk under:

Just beyond, there was a tall dry fall which was too difficult to climb. Thus, we exited the slot and found another way up:

Looking back down at the dry fall and boulders we had just bypassed:

The canyon opened up again momentarily and then entered what I will label as the 4th and final narrows:

During the 4th Narrows, the walls grew in height once again:

There were also back-to-back boulder obstacles which had to be climbed, as seen in the next two pictures:

The canyon soon split into two minor forks and petered out. We turned around here:

As you can see, the far reaches of the upper canyon had what could better be described as a narrow trench rather than narrow canyon walls:

The next two pictures show two beautiful spots in the canyon where we dropped down conglomerate rock dry falls:

The eerie mini-caves and unique texture of the conglomerate rock made this spot special:

Passing through a very colorful bend while heading back down canyon:

High colorful cliffs which were better viewed and photographed on the hike back:

A close-up of the colorful cliffs:

Looking down a dry fall into a narrow dark slot area:

This is the slot which has a dramatic entrance at a side canyon split:

Remember the earlier picture where I was standing under this massive rock overhang? This is the view in the opposite direction:

Three more very dramatic and impressive photos taken while hiking back down Wingate Slot Canyon:

One final picture of Steve with the sun shining brightly into the narrows. After this, we hiked back to camp, packed up, and backpacked down Wingate Wash one mile:

Our group split up in Wingate Wash. I turned off into this major canyon to do some solo exploration while the rest of my group backpacked out:

This major canyon splits off from Wingate Wash and heads south. I have given it the informal name Wingate Canyon (not to be confused with either Wingate Wash or Wingate Slot Canyon):

Let's test your Death Valley knowledge. Can anybody guess the name of the high peak on the right?:

After hiking 3/4 of a mile up the main canyon, I turned off to the right here to head for Wingate Slot 2. It didn't look like much from here:

A huge block of quartz formed part of the left side canyon wall:

Looking back down Wingate Slot 2 after the hillsides started turning red:

The red cliffs come very close together to form a dramatic entrance to the slot:

Wingate Slot 2 begins with some very tight narrows:

Walking through a very narrow passage with different shades of red:

A darker shade of red on the left and a lighter shade on the right:

There was no indication from the main canyon that this hidden red slot was going to be in here:

Passing through more high walls of red narrows:

The slot finally straightens out a bit and takes the form of a long corridor:

While not extremely long, Wingate Slot 2 was very interesting and beautiful:

At this spot, the slot contains a major dry fall which must be bypassed with minor difficulty:

I managed to climb up to the ridge despite the slippery slope and took this picture looking back down Wingate Slot 2:

This shows the upper portions of Slot 2. Because getting back down into the wash seemed burdensome, I decided to hike back down and exit the canyon:

I then hiked directly across the wash of the main canyon to the other side and found these mining ruins:

I attained the very small ridge right next to the ruins and began hiking toward Wingate Slot 3:

Here are two beautiful specimens of quartz rock that I found along the way:

This was the very simple beginning of Wingate Slot 3:

As expected, based on my satellite research, a beautiful slot canyon soon began to take shape:

The walls of the slot got high very quickly and I was immersed in a world of narrows:

The lighting was perfect for the hike up the slot:

This was the type of scenery which I had long hoped to be able to find in here:

A very pretty curve in the slot with sunlight taking over part of the right side wall:

Wingate Slot 3 had a lot of very tight quick turns where you couldn't see very far ahead:

As with the other two slots, this one was also made of conglomerate rock:

The slot appears to open up a bit just ahead:

Looking back, note the immense vertical height of the left side wall:

At this spot, the main canyon continues to the left with a side slot turning off to the right:

The side slot had a few twists and then a dry fall to climb:

The side slot appeared to go on for a while but I had to turn back:

Back in the main slot once again and heading up canyon:

Note the long shelf along the canyon wall which has been carved into the rock by natural forces:

Hiking got a bit steeper in the slot about halfway through:

A large boulder jam obstacle in Wingate Slot 3 which was easy to climb:

There continued to be major bends in the slot:

As well as long straightaways which had wide open scenery:

Another side canyon breaks off to the left here at this junction marked by a rock tower:

The narrows continued as I took the right fork at the junction:

Note the flat rock slab high above the wash with a chalky-like substance on it:

There were more beautiful narrows to find in the upper slot:

The walls closed in very tight with no escape routes for a while:

Wingate Slot 3 had definitely lived up to expectations:

The next two pictures showcase two dramatic bends in the canyon as I neared the end:

I decided to turn around at this spot since the walls dropped in height and I was near my GPS end point:

My report on the Wingate Slots ends with four pictures taken while hiking back down Wingate Slot 3. The exploration of this area truly was very successful:

So how did the Wingate Slot Canyons compare with other conglomerate rock slots in the park like Sidewinder and Mormon Point? At the very least, I consider them to be equal in beauty. But this area probably will not see many visitors due to the extremely long distances involved to get here: