Sunol Wilderness

I went with Belly's advice and took Mr. Shiny-toes-do-you-wanna-splitta-bagel out to the Sunol wilderness area. The green hills and clean air did wonders for us. Did you know you can gauge the cleanliness of air by what color lichens you find? Green is the hardiest. I think blue is the least tolerant of air pollution. We hiked far enough up the hill to find orange lichen.

We found a waterfall that feeds into Alameda Creek.

We played on top of Cave Rocks along the Indian Joe Trail.

We played under Cave Rocks, too. Here, Nick explores the space under a 300 ton piece of rock. I kept my nerves settled by considering how long that rock has been in place and how unlikely it is that this will be the minute it comes crashing down.

I took the time to do a little chimney climb. I wonder what kind of climbing I could do if I owned a real pair of rock-climbing shoes? Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Belly. Getting out into Nature is a habit I used to have. I appreciate getting prodded into developing it again.