Jeff Kropp dragged me out of my recent gourmet dining/weight gain
program (visit of girlfriend's sister and mother led to duelling
Armenian gourmet chefs) and back onto the rock.  Had not even been on
fake rock since Nov.  We went to the "2 Mile Bar" area in the
Stanislaus River gorge, same basalt as Jailhouse Rock and the Grotto.
Casual approach - a 15 minute walk up a hill and across a cow pasture
to the, well, 30 ft. crag.  But the cracks are nice and pretty sustained
so it is rather like real climbing just, well, shorter.

We did two 9's and a 10 then worked on the four 5.11 cracks listed in the
guide.  All were attempted on lead, but all free ascents involved either
a pink point lead or a TR.  They are all harder (steeper) than they look.

10d  15' of 1-1/4.  Classic, straight-in
11a  25' of fingers, nicest rte. there
11a/b  fingers to thin hands - nicer now that I cleaned the vines
11+  Dave's Dihedral - neither of us could leave the ground.  Tips crack
     stemming?

There is a 11+ bear hug problem that we did not try.  Nice view of the river
and of some undeveloped but possibly hideous crags.  1:45 from Oakland, very
casual drive.  Worth a visit.

Joel