Kachina Women/ Bandito Spire ~4900′
Rock Climbing– Sedona
Total Time: 4:00
Distance: 1.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 350′
Crux: 5.10-
Pitches: 1
Trailhead: Boynton Canyon
Companion: Holly
After a successful outing up Sinagua and Sundeck Spires, we were both looking to do some more sandstone climbing on our second day in Sedona. I had my heart set on Goliath, a 4 pitch 5.6 spire with a 5.9+ summit block. But the approach is long by Sedona standards, and we found the normally dry approach wash to be a rapidly flowing stream. What would normally be an hour long approach was easily doubled, and after an hour of rock hopping, we decided to save it for drier conditions and turned back. Now with part of the day gone, we needed to find something short. Although I worried it was a bit above my abilities, I kept coming back to Kachina Woman (Bandito Spire) from the day before. Originally rated 5.10-, the consensus was that this was a bit of a soft rating, surprising considering the first ascent was by Larry and Tim Coats, known for many tough classics in the area including Dr. Rubio’s Wild Ride. But the crux section, a short dihedral, was well protected, and I figured worst case scenario I could just yard on gear to make it up. So we found ourselves back at the Boynton Canyon Trailhead for the second day in a row, this time lucky enough to score a spot in the main lot. We headed up the same trail, this time turning off right onto the Boyton Vista trail, taking tourists to the ‘Boynton Canyon Vortex’ between Kachina Woman and Warrior Rock.
We crossed over the saddle south of Kachina Woman and worked clockwise around to the north side, scrambling up some easy slabs to the base of the climb. The entire approach took around 15 minutes.
I was quiet as I racked up my gear, a bit more nervous than usual looking up at the slender spire. It didn’t look extremely difficult, but it was hard to see the crux from down low. After making a quick ground anchor for Holly based on the assumption that I may indeed fall, I started up the pitch on the northeast corner of the spire near some small caves. The nervousness melted away as I started climbing, and I placed a cam early to prevent me from careening off the cliff in case of an early fall. After a few loose moves, I stepped out onto a rib of rock, finding a piton just out of reach. The route actually cut hard to the right on low angled slabs at the piton, and I extended a quickdraw with a long sling to try and minimize drag as I moved around the corner into the crux dihedral. The lower part had some nice easy steps, and I was able to plug a cam in just below a ledge that split the crux into two sections. With a nice spot to rest halfway up the crux, I felt more confident and started climbing, finding both great hands and feet. At the small halfway ledge, I paused to place some more pro, this section having the slightest bulge to overcome.
But again, there were great hands and feet, and I pulled myself into the upper off width, gritty and loose but with easy moves. I stuck a #4 in the off width crack and mantled on to the ledge 10′ below the summit block. This spot was the first time I was in view of the tourists at the vortex, and I could hear the yells of surprise from below when people began to notice the climber nearly to the summit. The final move on to the summit was protected with an irregularly angled crack that seemed a bit loose.
I backed it up with a second cam before making the final moves, mantling onto the summit with faint clapping and cheers from the onlookers at the vortex below. It was quite the summit for my first 5.10- trad lead! I used the rappel anchor on the north side to make a quick belay anchor for Holly and pulled up the rope for her to join me. It took her a minute to take down the ground anchor before she started up. It seemed like she flew up the lower section, and I only took her weight once as she cleaned the cams from the dihedral.
With a bit more dirty off width climbing and the final mantle, she joined me on top of the small summit. The views from the top were much better than Sundeck and Sinagua Spires– at the mouth of the canyon, we had views across Sedona including Capitol Butte, Doe and Bear Mountains and the Cockscomb. Some rain rolled across the Central Arizona Highlands to the east, and we enjoyed a summit beer before starting the rappel down.
A single rope rappel down the north face brought us directly to our packs, and we threw the gear in our bags for the easy hike out.
To celebrate my first 5.10 trad lead, it made sense to head up the road to Enchantment for a celebratory drink, with all three spires from the weekend in view from the bar.
