BETA PHOTO: My son Jon at the tricky spot in the chute. June ...
Description
Just about anyone that's been to Sedona knows the familiar shape of Bell Rock near Oak Creek Village. Is it climbable? You bet!
Approach from the trailhead on the east side of highway 179, just north of Bell Rock. Hike up to the west side of the formation, shooting for a large gully. Scramble and hike up the gully to a flat shelf at the top. Rack up here. To reach the start of the route, cross east and a bit north on the shelf to a notch leading to the east side of the summit towers. The route is accessed off a shelf on that side.
P1) We did a pitch to get up into the initial corner. From the shelf mentioned above, lead up and right to gain an alcove below the big right-facing corner of the second pitch. There's a single bolt here and a bush.
P2) Climb the right-facing corner (you'll see some old bolt casings) to the notch above, then traverse right and continue up another right-leaning crack to the top.
Descent: Single line rappel back down the east side. Then backtrack through the notch to your packs.
Protection
Light standard rack, nuts and cams from 1/2" to #3 Camalot size.
I did this route on Thanksgiving night. In the dark I couldn't tell which summit was higher, so I accidentally climbed up the left one. Some pretty wild unprotected full body bridging gets you there. I was pretty dissapointed to discover that there were no anchors, and I had to reverse the last 30 ft of chimney to get back on route. Moral of the story, don't climb with a stomach full of turkey and wine. What's up with all the old bolts next to cracks? This felt like it would have been a fun route if it were 20 degrees warmer.
Bell Rock
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