Route Editor
Route Scout
| Guide | ♦ | 1 Triplog | 0 Topics |
details | drive | permit | forecast | route |
stats |
photos | triplog | topics | location |
| 0 | 1 | 0 |
Canyons are inherently risky. Flash floods occur without notice on sunny days. Technical skills & surrounding topography knowledge required yet does not eliminate risk.
enjoy the rappels by autumnstars Overview
A short loop is made ascending Sheepbone and descending Quarry Canyon. Bone dry, so good for cold weather. Good up climbing practice in Sheepbone. Warning Be smart! This is not a frequently-visited canyon, so always be prepared with enough gear to replace webbing and rapides in case they are worn or missing. Sometimes ropes have been left in place on the upclimbs in Sheepbone Canyon. With any fixed line the condition can never be fully known, so use them minimally and at your own risk. A safer strategy is to bring along at least one good climber and/or brush up on your partner-assist techniques. At minimum, you will need: helmet, harness, rappelling device and biner, and 2x80 ft ropes. Raps here use natural anchors, mainly boulders. As always, carry extra rope.
From your parking spot, hike essentially due west for approx 3/4 mi toward the obvious canyon. At this point, the canyon begins to close in, then narrow sharply, and you will come to the first upclimb after approx 0.5 mi. In total, there are 7 upclimbs of varying difficultly, most around 20 ft high. After the upclimbs, the wash widens out and then curves far left. At this point, there is a dry fall / gully to the right that will connect you to Quarry Canyon. After some mild scrambling, this gully widens out a bit and tops out at a saddle (nice views). From the saddle, hike north to drop into the head of Quarry Canyon. Once in Quarry Canyon, there are 8 rappels. Some can be down climbed and some can be bypassed, but why not enjoy the rappels? No bolts in this canyon - anchors are mostly boulders, along with a few cairns. The last rappel is the longest - depending on your anchor, you will need up to 80' of rope for the rappel side. Less than 1/4 mile easy hiking down canyon of the last rappel, you pick up a graded dirt road. Follow this road past the park's water treatment ponds (on your left) and greenhouse (on your right). Continue to follow the dirt road until it meets up with the paved road. From here, either follow the paved road approx 1 mi back to your vehicle, or cross the paved road and walk along the paved River Mountain Loop trail back to your vehicle. Check out the Official Route and Triplog. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your canyon trip to support this local community. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
