Conditions:Sheepbone and Quarry Canyons Loop-20240326011703

Latest:	25 Mar 2024 (1 yr, 1 month ago)

Reported by:	ArmstrongHikes (1 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:	N/A deg C
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	4 hours

Team: 2 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Pretty standard S/Q. All but the last fixed lines in Sheepbone were good. We removed a core shot from the uppermost fixed line, but some of the butterfly knots have worn through the sheath. It’s time to replace, but we didn’t bring any.

We used the alternate entrance into Quarry. We replaced the first sling. On the second stage of this rappel, we toggled the tree. The webbing here was a little faded and we only used it to clip our tethers while rigging below our toggle. (Aside: I preferred the standard entrance.)

The rest of the webbing was fine, though we CEM/toggled everything for practice and we did skip one anchor completely because our pull cord made it easy to do so.

The last cairn wasn’t DV-style inspectable and we ended it up rebuilding it completely due to biggest rock being loose. Unfortunately, we also didn’t build it inspectable (sorry).

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
25 Mar 2024	Good	Dry	None	Normal	4 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	ArmstrongHikes (1 reports)
Comment: Pretty standard S/Q. All but the last fixed lines in Sheepbone were good. We removed a core shot from the uppermost fixed line, but some of the butterfly knots have worn through the sheath. It’s time to replace, but we didn’t bring any. We used the alternate entrance into Quarry. We replaced the first sling. On the second stage of this rappel, we toggled the tree. The webbing here was a little faded and we only used it to clip our tethers while rigging below our toggle. (Aside: I preferred the standard entrance.) The rest of the webbing was fine, though we CEM/toggled everything for practice and we did skip one anchor completely because our pull cord made it easy to do so. The last cairn wasn’t DV-style inspectable and we ended it up rebuilding it completely due to biggest rock being loose. Unfortunately, we also didn’t build it inspectable (sorry).
9 Dec 2023	Great	Dry	None	Normal	5 hours	5 people Advanced to Beginner	Eshi-1 (33 reports)
Comment: Another great run of this super-fun canyon combo. Sheepbone - All handlines seemed fairly new and in good condition, even though most of them are not needed at all. You can easily free-climb most of the falls. Quarry - All anchors were in good shape and fairly new. We did some top-rope climbing on 2 of the waterfalls. Bonus - On the way out, we went into the water tower, climbed up the ladder inside and rappelled of the top. Such Fun!
21 Mar 2023	Amazing	Very Low	None	Normal	6 hours	4 people Brand new to Advanced	Mfeingol (52 reports)
Comment: Had a great half day with a couple of newbies in the group: it was just the right difficulty level for them. Fixed lines in Sheepbone are all in good condition. R1 into Quarry has red webbing that is probably nearing end of life; we decided not to replace it and then regretted it later. The rest of the anchors were in great shape, many with fresh black webbing.
17 Mar 2023	Good	Dry	None	Normal	5 hours	12 people	Nclegg (407 reports)
Comment: Rebuilt one cairn anchor at the drop-in to Quarry. Somehow ran into another group at the final rap sequence despite our large team and relaxed pace. Sheepbone was more scenic than expected and the climbs were a lot of fun. Handlines were in fine condition.
1 Jan 2023	Great	Dry			4 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	RFontaine (270 reports)
Comment: Super fun and engaging route requiring relatively little effort to access. We drove our 4runner all the way down the dirt approach trail almost right up to the first climb. The narrows is fairly pretty and the climbs are easy and fun to do. All climbs have fixed ropes installed and are in good shape. Once past all the climbs it is easy to miss the scramble out of the drainage to the ridge line, keep an eye on the GPS file! The rappels on the descent were fun enough, each being straight forward, down clean walls. Many of which are off well built cairn anchors that always require full inspection. All webbing seemed fairly new! Very nice views on the ridge line and on the descent. Some neat rock formations throughout! We did not have a 2nd vehicle to shuttle with, so we cut over cross country, down the wash, following the powerlines around the base of the mountains, picking up another access trail, then over until we picked up the trail we drove in on. While there are certainly prettier canyons over in the Redrock area, that is roughly 1hr away. So I give this canyon 4 stars for ease of access and huge bang for your buck on a lovely half day adventure!
26 Nov 2022	Great	Dry	None	Normal	4 hours	8 people Brand new to Expert	Xenonrocket (102 reports),Screutz (13 reports),Rbowru (54 reports)
Comment: Fun upclimbs! Fixed ropes were in good condition
11 Nov 2022	Great	Dry	None	Normal	6 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Eshi-1 (33 reports)
Comment: Great day. One of my favorite Canyon approaches. Most of the anchor Webbing are fairly new (1" black). A couple drops with Green Webbing that's still ok but should be replaced soon.
27 Feb 2021	Great	Dry	None	Special challenges	7 hours	2 people Beginner to Advanced	Battaglia.evan (4 reports)
Comment: Fun scrambles on the way up. Fixed lines are in good condition. One is a bit tricky, I used rock shoes and brought my brother up on a rope. Anchors on the way down are in good condition.
1 Nov 2020	Good	Dry	None	Normal	5 hours	4 people Intermediate	Cesar (21 reports)
Comment: All the ropes in the approach are in good shape. It was a little bit hot as we started a bit late but once in the canyon the shade provide relief from the sun. We did not have any issues with the ropes section with the exception that some of the climbs required multiple attempts to get up the walls. The canyon anchors are all natural with a few cairn and tree anchors. The last rappel is about 60ft and the cairn anchor is safe but could be built better to allow for the webbing check to be faster. This is an entertaining and fun canyon.
13 Apr 2019	Ok	Dry	None	Easy	5 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Johnbcaves (158 reports)
Comment: Saw a rock with legs! = desert tortoise on approach. Otherwise, the climb up was more fun than the descent.
27 Dec 2016	Ok	Dry	None	Special challenges		4 people Intermediate	CC (93 reports)
Comment: Sheepbone was ascended with a climber to inspect the various rope/webbing before the rest of the group went up. The hand lines that are there have some wear which have various knots to isolate the damage. For the first climb & various others we used on own rope to ascend once the climber got up instead of the hand line.
26 Nov 2014	Ok	Dry	None	Easy	4 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Tiffanie (139 reports)
Comment: We took our time practicing building different types of anchors. This canyon is better off for little kids - explore the other nearby options if you are looking for a more challenging/scenic canyon.