WildLink Family Weekend

Here's a big thank you going out to everyone who made the 2004 WildLink Family Weekend a great success. On the weekend of October 1 - 3, 2004, here in Yosemite National Park, six WildLink alumni from last year's program joined us with their families for a very special reunion. We had families join from as far away as Los Angeles, and four out of six of our participants were from the same expedition! Activities included: free bicycle rentals for touring the Park Saturday; a special wilderness walk with Yosemite Wilderness Ranger Laurel Boyers; an awards presentation for participating alumni and their families; a special outdoor dinner Saturday night complete with campfire; and a Leave No Trace skit which included almost all of the attending alumni. There was also a special screening of "American Values: American Wilderness", a special PBS film due to air sometime this year, with prominent appearances of WildLink alumni.

This was an important weekend because we were also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, the first piece of legislation to really set aside and protect the wilderness areas that we so value today. To commemorate this special anniversary, wilderness managers from all over the Sierra Nevada came to Yosemite to talk about current issues of wilderness management, and to meet our WildLink families! Activities included an activities fair on the main mall, with representatives from Search and Rescue, Trail Crews and the Discovery Center in Fresno.

We also gave a special recognition to WildLink alumni from Parlier High School, who were amazing ambassadors for wilderness at this summer's Grizzly Stadium Great Outdoors event. One of the highlights for everyone involved with the wilderness fair was the way the six alumni shared their thoughts on wilderness with all of the attendeees of the fair.

This event is one that we're committed to here at WildLink, and we hope to see more alumni take part in it next year. Rember, our WildLink families are just as important to us as our alumni! Enjoy the following images from the weekend, and we hope to see you next year!

WildLink Expedition I Braves Wild Yosemite Weather

WildLink's Expedition I was not for the faint of heart. The morning the group set out for their backcountry destination of Hites Cove, the heavens opened up and hit Yosemite with one of the biggest first fall storms in forty years. Students from Kingsburg, Turlock and Jill Kinmont Boothe High Schools came together in the way that a group that faces a big challenge can.

A constant pouring deluge, wet conditions and a runaway tent caused instructors to call an early return to Yosemite Valley, where tired and soaked WildLink students were greeted by a crazy combination of sunshine and snow that only Yosemite can offer.

The group conducted a Level III Aquatic Biomonitoring study of the Merced River Thursday. Led by Yosemite Institute Field Scientist Todd Newburger, the students were literally knee deep in the river, collecting macroinvertebrates, taking hydrology measurements and recording habitat data. They wrapped up the day with an intensive macroinvertebrate identification and counting session using microscopes and other scientific instruments.

By the end of the expedition, everyone had stories to tell and new people to call their friends. Thank you, Expedition I, for your great attitudes and refusal to give up in the big storm!

To learn more about Expedition I, click here.