The Cleavage 5.5

I took a quick jaunt to Indian Joe Caves today and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share. Sunol Regional Wilderness is definitely my favorite Bay Area park. Not only does it have a cool canyon (called Little Yosemite) you can do in 1 hr car-to-car, but it has climbing on rock that doesn't dissolve whenever it gets wet like the sandstone found in the rest of the Bay Area.

The caves are really just pockets between huge boulders which are inexplicably perched in the middle of a grassy hill. It takes ~1/2 hr to hike from the parking lot to the crag. I've only brought a rope to the crag once and found the roped climbing kind of awkward to set up and not that great. But there are some great 5.easy chimneys to solo and just cruising around on the rock is fun. I think I like it because the climbing feels more like Yosemite than the local sandstone areas. I probably wouldn't drive from the Valley to climb here, but if you happen to be in the area and have a few hours it's well worth the effort. Instead of following the trail back I followed the drainage; this ended up being a nice little adventure in its own right (though I'm off to a tecnu shower now).