This is one of the more unique southern Utah desert climbs I’ve done.
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Jeff and I drove down from Salt Lake on Friday night and spent the night at his in-laws’ house near St. George. We woke up at 6, drove into Zion National Park, and were hiking by 7:50.
The approach up Petroglyph Canyon wasn’t too bad. You just head up the canyon until you feel comfortable cutting up and right to the obvious saddle/pass between Aries Butte and the white, domed formation to the south of it.
We found the start of the route pretty easily and started on up. I thought the first pitch was actually the hardest because of how sandy the rock was. I climbed in my approach shoes and was second-guessing my decision on the pitch. But then the other pitches weren’t as sandy and I was glad that I wore the approach shoes. There’s nothing like rock climbing and not having your feet hurt.
Every belay on the route is at a good ledge. The second and third pitches were the best. The last one starts out just fine but then you get into some loose rocks that aren’t very fun. From the top of the last pitch it’s a short, easy scramble up to the top. We wandered around on top for a bit and saw mountain goat or bighorn sheep prints, which is ridiculous because they would have had to do fifth class climbing to get up there. But that’s apparently why the route is called Led By Sheep…
Overall, I really liked the route. It was fun and easy. I didn’t bring any trad gear and didn’t need any. I brought 7 or 8 slings, including 2 long (48”) ones that were great for tying off the small bushes between the widely-spaced bolts. I guess because of the long distances between bolts (up to 50’ in some places) it might be R rated, but it doesn’t really feel like it. I always felt pretty secure.
Here are our times:
- 6:00 – Woke up
- 6:45 – Left the house
- 7:50 – Started hiking
- 8:30 – Got to the start of the route
- 8:50 – Started climbing
- 10:40 – Made it to the top
- 11:40 – Got back to the base of the route
- 12:30 – Got back to the car
So it took 1 hour 50 minutes to climb the thing. Our car-to-car time was 4 hours 40 minutes. I’m really happy with that, especially considering that we took our time and enjoyed ourselves.
On the approach to Aries Butte. The route is on the other side of the right skyline.
Higher up on the approach.
Looking up at the start of the route.
Jeff belaying me at the start of the route.
Looking down pitch 1.
Indian Paintbrush was blooming on the route.
Looking down pitch 2.
Jeff eating.
Beautiful scenery.
All of the anchors were bomber like this.
Jeff climbing up pitch 3.
Rope management. Sorry the ropes took up the best spots on the ledges, Jeff.
Jeff
Me
Looking down on the butte to the south.
Jeff coming up the 3rd class section above the 4 roped pitches.
Us on top.
The angle and texture of the rock.
Tadpoles in a pothole in Petroglyph Canyon. Ugly little things.
Petroglyphs in petroglyph canyon.
Aries Butte. Led By Sheep starts about halfway up and goes to the top.
Checkerboard Mesa. Climbing this sucker is definitely on my to-do list.
On the way between Zion and I-15, we went through the town of Toquerville, where this guy (my great-great-great grandfather) was burried.
Panorama from near the top