It's the line you always look at on the way back from Sedona. A striking arete, but the climbing isn't as good as it looks.
Pitch 1) 5.8 Start just left of the base of the arete. Belay at 2 drilled angles below the bulge 80 ft up. One of the angles doesn't look so good. You can't see the belay from the ground.
Pitch 2) 5.9+ R The business. Place a micro nut or two and a black alien, then crank over the bulge. Once on top of the bulge traverse out left a little ways and look for the path of least resistance up the slab. Good gear can be found every 20 feet or so in solution pockets. Keep an eye out for them! If you miss one you could be run out in a hurry on a sandy 5.9 slab. Aliens or tri cams work best. Belay on a big ledge.
Pitch 3) 5.8 Continue up the arete. Belay on another nice ledge.
Pitch 4) 5.7 Continue up the arete. The books call this pitch R or X, but I thought the gear was good. Just a little tricky to find and place. Like the rest of this climb, look around for horizontal cracks, and when you find one take the time to place good gear because it might be a little while to the next one. There is a 5.8+ variation on the face to the left that I didn't do. Belay on a huge ledge.
Pitch 5) 5.8 Move the belay to the back of the ledge, and continue up the arete. Belay at a small ledge where the ridge levels off.
Pitch 6) 5.8+ A wild and fun pitch. Worth the trip up here all by itself. Climb up the steep face past a roof using some really weird looking holds. Belay on the ledge just below the summit, or on the summit itself.
Descent: This is how we did it. I do not recommend this descent, but it's the best we could find. Does anyone know of a better way off?
Scramble down off the summit, then 3rd class up to the top of a ridge. a sketchy 4th class down climb off this ridge takes you to a dead tree with a sling around it. Rap 60' off the dead tree and scramble down the gully to your packs.
Location
Take 89a to Cave Spring Campground (mile post 385.4). Park just before the bridge. Hike across the bridge, then down the road to the campground. Look for the first small drainage going up the hill on the right. Hike up this until past the small cliff band, then take a right and hike to the base of the obvious arete.
Protection
Nuts, including micros for the crux, 2 each #0.1 - #2 Camalot, 1 each #3 and #3.5 Camalot. Tricams useful. Extra slings for threads.
A little detail that has been lost over the years concerning protection on this climb is to carry a bunch of tied cords (small perlon loops) that can be untied and threaded through solution pockets, then re-tied with one hand. We were inspired by stories of just such techniques from the real Dresden region, and when we got the chance to try it out here we found that it provided protection where nothing else would work.
It's not for everyone but I thought the slab climbing on this thing was just great fun.
Second pitch has the blue ribbon finish which goes straight up the steep headwall where normally you traverse left. Pretty sure that was 5.10R climbing.
Miscellaneous Routes
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