A Red Rocks route with Sedona atmosphere. Great views, well protected on very good rock, this is one of the best face routes in Sedona. All day shade.
Pitch 1) 40' 5.9 Sport. Start in a pointy tree, or campus in from 5' left of the tree on jugs (V2). Follow 4 bolts to a big ledge, then walk left to belay under a roof.
Pitch 2) 90' 5.11 Sport. Pull the roof and follow bolts to a sweet little belay seat. 10 bolts. Great Pitch!!!
Pitch 3) 60' 5.9 crack. Traverse right past 3 bolts to a corner. Don't place gear too soon in the corner (drag). Follow the corner to a belay out left on a small ledge. Save a #3 and #3.5 Camalot for just after the chimney.
Pitch 4) 90' 5.10- sport. Follow bolts to the top. Another great pitch!! 11 bolts.
Descent: Rap the route with 1 60m rope. Be careful not to let go of the ropes, as the 2nd rap requires a big swing to the left. With 2 ropes you can reach the ground from the top of pitch 3.
Location
We've decided to recomend approaching this route from the top because it has a trail approach. The approach from the bottom involves difficult scrambling and has erosion problems. Here's the better approach. It has been done in 35 minutes, but an hour is a more reasonable time.
Park at Bear Mountain Trail Head. Hike up Bear Mtn Trail, past Clan of the Cave Bear, to the top of the big hill. From here follow the big hiker's trail down to the base of a second steep hill. Climb this hill for about 10 minutes. Look for the biggest pine tree on the hill, next to the trail, and exit the trail here on the right. If you reach the neck of Bear Mountain with big cliffs on your left and right, you've gone just a little too far. From where you turn off the trail, follow cairns down to the top of a spectacular 180 degree overhung amphitheater. Look for rap anchors a little left of the small nose/arete in the middle of the amphitheater. Rap the route with 4 single rope raps or 1 single + 1 double. If rapping with a single, be careful not to let go of the ends on the 2nd rap! With 2 ropes you can reach the ground from the 2nd rap station (see topo). If for some reason you have to bail, you can walk out Fay Canyon.
GPS (of the bottom of the route): 34,54.707 N 111,52.562 W
Protection
11 draws, Nuts, 1 each to #3.5 Camalot. Extra yellow Alien, #3, #3.5, and #4 Camalot helpful.
I thought you could use a #4 camalot also. I lead the crack pitch and it was fine, well protected and very solid sedona crack. I think you could do this route into the summer. Awesome route Kole, Dustin.
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