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Double Clutching Wall, The 
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The Waterfall

Submitted By: manuel rangel on Jun 14, 2009
Administrators: Greg Opland, James DeRoussel
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The whole Oak Creek Waterfall area.

From left: th...


Description 

This is a year-round crag located uphill and east of the Encinoso Picnic Area in Oak Creek just north of Sedona. The walls are south and west facing in a bowl shape. It's basalt, predominantly fingers to hands-sized cracks with lots of great 10s and 11s. All routes have bolted anchors, bring a 60m rope and double rack of cams, nuts, etc.


Getting There 

Drive north from Sedona along Oak Creek (hwy 89) til you pass Encinoso Picnic Area and look for small (3-4 car) pullout on right. The Waterfall basalt is east of and uphill from there. A drainage is gained across Oak Creek, boulder hop across this. Walk up the drainage for 30-40 mins. and the area is split in half. Left is the south-facing wall, right is the west-facing wall.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Waterfall:
Black and Tan   5.10     Trad, 1 pitch, 100 feet   The Main Amphitheater
The Sword   5.10c     Trad, 1 pitch, 80 feet   The Left Wall
Smoke Big Doobs, Suck Big Boobs   5.10+     Trad, 1 pitch, 100 feet   The Left Wall
Spite and Malice   5.10+     Trad   The Left Wall
Brother From Another Mother   5.10d     Sport, 1 pitch, 100 feet   The Right Wall
Lord Humongous   5.11     Trad, 1 pitch, 100 feet   The Main Amphitheater
False Prophet   5.11c     Trad, 1 pitch, 90 feet   The Main Amphitheater
Giardia Crack   5.11+     Trad, 90 feet   The Left Wall
Browse More Classics in The Waterfall

Featured Route For The Waterfall
Dan Foster, casually onsighting the second ascent of Speaking in Tongues.

Speaking In Tongues 5.11c  AZ : Oak Creek Canyon : ... : The Main Amphitheater
Speaking In Tongues is between Dark Arts and Fade To Black and it tackles a beautiful panel of black rock via stemming between twin seams. High on the route there are two bolts protecting some exciting moves traversing across the face. Save a yellow Alien or Metolius cam for the next section, and then clip two more bolts and a fixed wire before performing a difficult move up to the anchors....[more]   Browse More Classics in AZ


Photos of The Waterfall Slideshow Add Photo
One reason to be alert on the approach hike to the Waterfall: a young Crotalus viridis (western rattlesnake) buzzing a warning under the talus.

BETA PHOTO: One reason to be alert on the approach hike to the...

Oak Creek Waterfall in full flow. March 2008

Oak Creek Waterfall in full flow. March 2008

Chris on Smilin Jay (climb follows crack left of the bulge above his head)

Chris on Smilin Jay (climb follows crack left of t...

The remains of the old anchor of off Natural Enhancement. The # 10 nut was flopping around in the crack when I came upon it. The Single biner, marked with a mysterious hand etched "M" remains the only clue to who first established the lower section. A fine effort for sure.<br /><br />Makes me wish the boys and I had documented the old anchors more when we were updating the anchors starting in the late 90s, but that was before the digital age, and for that matter, trails along the base of the cliffs... I am lucky enough to have a few black and whites of our early days there. I would love to see any older photos of the place posted!

The remains of the old anchor of off Natural Enhan...

Two of my best partners at the waterfall, Barley and Roggen, happy to see me on the ground again.

Two of my best partners at the waterfall, Barley a...

The Waterfall area after storm.

The Waterfall area after storm.

As far as I know, this is the last bit of true oldschool tat to be taken down from the Waterfall. Found on the next column right of the Labor Day belay ledge. This single piece of webbing was threaded through 2 old #3 stoppers. The single SMC biner has RJ stamped upon it. Any Ideas? Rick James? JJ

As far as I know, this is the last bit of true old...

Keith finishing False Prophet 11d; it begins with pro and ends with bolts. Nice line near the falls.

Keith finishing False Prophet 11d; it be...

A swollen Oak Creek and the beginning of the approach, spring 09

A swollen Oak Creek and the beginning of the app...

The Main Amphitheater, Right Wall, and Double Clutching Wall as seen from across the way...

BETA PHOTO: The Main Amphitheater, Right Wall, and Double Clut...


Comments on The Waterfall Add Comment
Show which comments —
By Jeremy Schlick
From: Flagstaff, AZ
Aug 18, 2006

A couple things to add to the description... Some of the routes on the left wall are longer than 100 feet. Spite and Malice for sure. Be careful when lowering. The Pinche Tribe dedicated a lot of time and money in late 90s, early 2000 to replace old and create new anchors. Many of these we left fixed biners on. Sort of wish I had a few of those back now. So if you get to the top of these routes, please leave the biners up there for future use. I know some of them disappeared, most likely by people who just didn't know the program.

Also, watch out for rock fall. If it has been raining or snowing a lot the top band of choss is primed for a let loose. We were all up there one Christmas day when a huge section gave way. More or less terrifying. I watched whole trees drop, not to mention tons of stone.

All in all it is an amazing, unpopulated crag which is stacked with 10s, 11s, and a handful of spicey 12 trad routes.

The approach takes about a half hour, unless you have it wired.

Peace-

By Jeremy Schlick
From: Flagstaff, AZ
Sep 12, 2006

For many of the harder lines on the right side we had a set of Lowe Balls on the FAs. Having a set or the equivelant may make them seem a lot more protectable. I am going to get on Fosters case and see if he can fill in a lot of blanks on that side. He has a better memory than I do...

By Josh Janes
Administrator
Jun 13, 2009

I heart the Super Forks.

By Sevve Stember
From: St. Paul, MN
Sep 20, 2009

What is the large off-width route on the "left wall" rated? It is in a left facing corner and is about 95 feet tall. It gets BIG (like #6 camalot big) for a while.