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December 28th: The Wasteland on Wasteland Dome

Shirley on the summit of Wasteland Dome following our climb of The Wasteland.

Shirley wants to lead this route – touted by Green as the best 5.8 in the state. We relocate to the East Stronghold and after consulting Kerry at first, we decide to trust Green’s directions (his redemption after the Oak Creek Spire disappointment) for the approach. The approach is quick and easy. We decide to swap leads with me taking the odds. First pitch is crap – sandy, run-out 5.7. Shirley gets the better 2nd pitch – clean and well protected 8. My third pitch starts up an easy chimney but with little pro. The wake up call is at the top as you need to commit to a 5.8 face with pro far below and a bad fall potential. Some sweat and cursing brings me to the fun chickenhead-studded arête. Steep but very positive going ends at a hanging chickenhead and gear belay. Shirley comes up and (despite my reservations) takes the rack and sets off on the next (crux) pitch – long traverse on chickenheads beneath a huge roof which eventually tapers down to a 5.8 bulge. She dispatches the pitch quickly. I feel sick as I follow her – the pro opportunities are a bit sparse and the crux bulge is protected by a tiny nut loooong way down. Shirley is smiling at another hanging gear belay.

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The final rap on the way down involves this natural anchor – kind of cool

I take the rack and do another traverse in opposite direction, now above the big roof (and beneath another smaller one). I head up into more chickenheads as another roof above me tapers down. I stop when the chickenheads run out and the terrain angle kicks back. Shirley comes up and takes us to the Dome’s summit via some 5.7-ish cracks. Best 5.8 in the state? It’s a fun one definitely – exposed and adventurous (more so than Warpaint IMHO) – but I haven’t climbed enough in Arizona to make that call myself. Probably the second best 5.8 we’ve been on (though a big notch below Crimson Chrysalis in Nevada). It’s a good thing we’ve been climbing a lot (for us) as the beer drinking at trailheads is getting to be ridiculous. Though climbing and the weather in the stronghold are sweet, we want to fondle some more sandstone. With that intention, we head back towards Sedona.

Photos

Wasteland Dome from the approach wash. The 600-foot east face (home to The Wasteland) is visible in photo (December 28, 2005).

Leading pitch 1 of The Wasteland. Top of the dome is visible above (Dec. 2005).

Shirley beginning the lead of pitch 2 of The Wasteland. Entrance Dome is in the background (December 28, 2005).

View down towards the trailhead and the pretty arid plains of SE Arizona (Dec. 2005).

Shirley leading pitch 2 of The Wasteland – a meandering 5.8 pitch. Upper pitches visible above (December 28, 2005).

Beginning the lead of pitch 3 of The Wasteland – a short 5.7+ chimney with not much pro. The pitch curx comes above as you need to step onto a thin face above the chimney with little pro below your feet (December 28, 2005).

Looking down the opening chimney of pitch 3 of The Wasteland. Shirley is belaying me from a small stance and gear (December 28, 2005).

Leading pitch 3 of The Wasteland through exciting and steep chickenheads on an arête! Great climbing if a bit runout (December 28, 2005).

Shirley leading pitch 4 of The Wasteland – a chickenhead traverse to a slight bulge pull (Dec. 2005).

Beginning the lead of pitch 5 of The Wasteland. A fun, exposed face traverse on funky chickenheads (December 28, 2005).

Shirley belaying me from a semi-hanging belay stance atop pitch 4 of The Wasteland. Pretty cool exposure on a 5.8 route (December 28, 2005).

Well featured granite near the top of The Wasteland route (Dec. 2005).

A view of Entrance Dome’s summit from high on The Wasteland route (Dec. 2005).

Shirley topping out on pitch 5 of The Wasteland. Fun chickenhead pulling. Approach gully is down below (December 28, 2005).

Shirley on the summit of Wasteland Dome following our climb of The Wasteland. Entrance Dome is in the background. This is looking roughly east (December 28, 2005).

The final rap on the way down involves this natural anchor – kind of cool (Dec. 2005).

Shirley & Blondie hiking down after our climb of The Wasteland on Wasteland Dome (in background; Dec. 2005).

Approximate line of The Wasteland with belays as we did them. All belays are on gear with P3 and P4 being mostly hanging. P1 is mostly obscured by trees. Red line on left shows roughly the lower third of the descent (mix of scrambling and single rope raps).

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