Conditions:Quandary Canyon-20250430190143
Latest: |
22 Apr 2025 (2 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | Eddyl (76 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Good |
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| Waterflow: | Very Low |
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| Wetsuit: | Full wetsuit |
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| Water temperature: | 60F? deg C |
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| Difficulty: | Normal |
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| Time: |  8 hours
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Team: 2 people with experience level Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: Fun canyon! Pothole section is great; beyond that, it's hours and hours of walking. Some potholes were swimmers, others were dry. We used the potshots a bunch of times. All anchors fine.
In my opinion, the first keeper is the crux. If you can get past this, I can't see why you'd struggle with the subsequent potholes.
We started from the Factory Butte side, walked up Muddy Creek, and then went up the Bypass in order to drop into the slot to run the pothole section. Some minor routefinding issues on the bypass route, but this way could easily allow be run in seven hours car-to-car. We took eight hours.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Very Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 8 hours
| 2 people Advanced | Eddyl (76 reports) | |
Comment: Fun canyon! Pothole section is great; beyond that, it's hours and hours of walking.
Some potholes were swimmers, others were dry. We used the potshots a bunch of times. All anchors fine. In my opinion, the first keeper is the crux. If you can get past this, I can't see why you'd struggle with the subsequent potholes. We started from the Factory Butte side, walked up Muddy Creek, and then went up the Bypass in order to drop into the slot to run the pothole section. Some minor routefinding issues on the bypass route, but this way could easily allow be run in seven hours car-to-car. We took eight hours. | |||||||
| | | |  10 hours
| 7 people Intermediate to Advanced | Cheveran (94 reports) | ||
Comment: Fun day! 10 hours from the old car and back to the our starting point via Ramp canyon. Most potholes were closer to empty than full, but enough water to merit bringing wetsuits (some swimming and deeper wading).
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| Amazing | Very Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Advanced | 8 hours
| 5 people Beginner to Expert | Ingalls (28 reports) | |
Comment: Fun romp through Quandry to introduce some folks to their first keeper potholes. Several potholes had water but none that you can't stand up in. Definitely come prepared for what quandry is known for - pothole escapes! We took the Muddy Creek back and did the canyon from the Muddy Creek campground car-to-car in 8.5hrs.
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| Great | Deep pools
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 10 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Advanced | Tcarlisle (77 reports) | |
Comment: -
SUMMARYGroup of 3. Intermediate to advanced. Descended Quandary Canyon via the direct route with an exit up Ramp Canyon. 10 hours car to car. Wetsuits ranged from shorty, farmer john, to full. Could probably be fine without them but uncomfortable. Took a little extra time to teach a group member about sandtrapping, fiddlesticking, potshots, and how to navigate keeper potholes. TRIP REPORTThe Canyon: The canyon is quite full of water. I would say water levels are around 75% full. The water is on the gross side, but not too bad. Expect oily sheens and algae blooms in a few, but not all potholes. There are two potholes that are black and stinky but the only reason you would need to enter them is if you accidentally tossed the rope bag into one and had to retrieve it. Ask me how I know. Most drops we set up natural, retrievable anchors on. The first drop we built a bridge cairn known as a Death Valley style cairn as it was developed by canyoneers in that area. Personally I like to call it a DEVA (DEath VAlley) Anchor, and we fiddled off of that. There are few natural anchors already in place in the canyon: A deadman that has good webbing on it and held firm upon testing (we didn't unbury to inspect, but yes, that would have been the best practice.) A cairn with good webbing though it is wrapped, not tied, around the base rock. And the chockstone with the long webbing. That one the webbing is also in good shape but it has a few pieces tied together and there is a spot with some wear forming so inspect it well before use as time goes on. I did notice a few spots where bolts have been chopped. I've only done the canyon once, two years ago, and I don't remember bolts or bolt chops being present then. If anyone is entering Quandary expecting bolts, well, don't expect them. The Exit: Exited via the dry wash and Ramp Canyon. The wash is typically full of loose sand that saps energy and forward momentum. Currently, though, the sand is drying out from recent rains. It is no longer muddy or damp, but has just enough internal moisture that it is firmly adhering to itself even under footsteps. This allowed us to navigate the wash pretty quickly. This likely won't last long though. Ramp Canyon has some good cairns directing the best path up the ridge on the Left, Up-Canyon side (LUC) and back down into the canyon to bypass the first dryfall obstacle. The rabbit hole climb wasn't too bad. It has fixed, knotted orange webbing to climb up on. The webbing seems to be in ok shape but future groups may consider replacing it as it gets more wear. It is fuzzy but not really showing any obvious wear spots. Alternatively the Rabbit hole can be skipped if you friction climb the LUC side holding onto the crack, but you will reach a featureless slope at the top that is spicy. I've done it before but not my favorite.
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| Great | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Great | Very Low
| Rain jacket
| Advanced | 9 hours
| 4 people Intermediate | Exitfiftyone (22 reports) | |
Comment: Quandary was a great adventure navigating through a series of keeper potholes. A thin wetsuit was helpful for me but hardier teammates went without. The Muddy Creek (car shuttle) exit was a nice refreshment on the way out.
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| Good | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Good | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Good | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| | | | | Candition.com (287 reports) | |||
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at Candition.com
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| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||