Mystery routes in Sycamore Canyon Wilderness?

My climbing partner and I set out to potentially do what we thought were some first ascents on a large red butte of the Schnebly Hill formation in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness last Saturday. The roughly 170' formation is approximately 3 miles west from the Doggie Trail trailhead west of Sedona. It has a large detached tower on its west side, a beautiful, steep splitter up the left side of the south face (near the tower) and a ramp on the east side.

After powering up the stellar, 90', at-time overhanging and slightly sandy/western, fingers to thin hands to fists splitter, I thought that I had pulled off an awesome first ascent only to find a well disguised anchor around the corner to the right of the pitch. It was a drilled baby angle and a 3/8" bolt (I think). The next pitch (5.6ish) led to the top and some well worn 1" webbing tat on a tree. Bolted rap anchors marked a route (which we did--5.8?) on the east shoulder.

I was a little surprised to find an anchor on the route but not nearly as suprised as I was to find nothing about these great routes on Mountain Project. Does anyone know anything about these routes?

Bummer man! I bet Chris Tatum at VR would know. I feel like he once told me about a route he put up off of that trail. I'll ask him the next time I see him.

Was the butte a big ole cube? "Get along Doggie" goes up the east side of it. There's a fat crack on the south west side that is a puzzler to get off due to all the nopales at the bottom that will stick to your rope. Does that sound familiar?

Steve

Hi Steve,

We climbed a great crack on the SW face (steep 5.10ish?) though it wasn't fat except the last ten feet or so. We did drop our ropes into a patch of prickly pear. Maybe that was it.

-Cody

Cody,

Years ago, I went out to that same spire with Burcham and we thought we were climbing an unclimbed spire... then we saw the splitter on the west side and could see the anchors. So... disappointed that the spire had been climbed, we decided to 'put a new route up' and chose that east shoulder... we called it "Javelina Highway" and didn't put any anchors in because there were already anchors on that splitter. Then... when Bloom was collecting info for the guide book, he noticed my topo and told me HE put that East shoulder route up years and years ago and called it "Get Along Little Doggie" and rapped that splitter route on the west sid!!! Hahaa... thwarted again! Well a few years later, we climbed it again and put those anchors in so you can climb it with one 60m rope and avoid the dreaded raps off the splitter, which I did the first time we climbed it and resulted in a new 60m rope going in the garbage from that damn prickly pear patch. We agreed that the route was worth having it's own rap anchors... fun route eh? I sort of consider the 3rd pitch (corner) one of the best moderate pitches in Sedona, long hike though! Anyway, a little history that I know of. As for that original crack route on the west side...? I know nothing and have never heard anything about it... a big mystery.

Chris