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2.21.03

Last week Jocelyn and I took a little road trip, we went to Berkley and Fresno to talk with the students who were going on the WildLink trip the following week. The meetings seemed to go well; the students and parents had lots of questions and comments and we knew this bunch would do well. Then Friday it was back to the office to finish up some work before the backpacking trip.

Sunday, February 16, we met up with the students at Curry Village and checked them into their cabins and got them situated. Monday we met bright and early and left on a hike in the Valley. We played "Educational Learning Activities," or better known as games and talked, taught, wilderness stuff with the students. Then we stopped by the Ahwanee Hotel and went over what was needed for the backpacking trip

Tuesday morning we all boarded a bus heading toward Badger Pass. Once we got there we met up with Kristin, a Y.I. Instructor. We packed more stuff, "group gear," into our packs, put on our snow shoes, and headed our toward our destination.

About one and a half to two miles before Dewey Point we found the perfect spot and set up camp. This included putting up our tents, building a kitchen and seating area in the snow and finding the perfect tree for our bathroom. Then we settled down for dinner, went on a night hike and slipped into our sleeping bags for the night.

Wednesday morning we woke up to clouds and cold feet. Shortly after eating breakfast and starting our hike to Dewey Point the storm hit us. It snowed and it didn't seem to want to let up until dark. When we got to Dewey Point we were expecting this incredible view of the park, but all we got was this huge cloud of white. We couldn't see anything, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

When we got back to camp we got out our shovels and started to build us a quinsy, which is like an igloo, but made from snow instead of ice. It was huge. We were able to fit all 15 of us in there to eat dinner. That night Jocelyn, Kristin, Marcus, Chyrace and I all slept in there. It was so warm.

Thursday morning some of us woke up to cold feet again, but we all packed our bags and took down camp in the presence of the sun. Most of us had to take off layers on the hike out because of the heat. Once we got back to Badger, we unpacked our equipment and got back on the bus.

We arrived back at Curry Village around 3 in the afternoon and the students were reassigned to cabins and able to take showers. Then we all met for a little closing meeting Thursday night.

Friday morning we had another short closing meeting with everybody together, gave out awards to everybody and reminisced on our experience in the snow, then took our final pictures and watched everybody head for home.

This week went well. We had a great group of students from Stockton, Berkley, and Fresno. They were all such leaders and so giving of themselves, not one complaint. I hope to hear from everybody soon.