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Six students
from Madera and Kingsburg High Schools joined WildLink for its
second expedition this year, from November 10-14. Their adventures
included a challenging hike up into Little Yosemite Valley,
as well as summitting both Liberty Cap and Cloud's Rest.
What quickly
turned into an incredible, outrageous adventure started out
with many surprises. The expedition instructors Sarah and Sal
greeted the students at Yosemite Institute’s Crane Flat
campus that morning to find out that there were only six students
coming on the expedition. Originally the number had been twelve.
Though it was disappointing that more students could not have
this phenomenal experience, the small number sped up our bonding
process and intensified the friendships that developed.
The other major surprise was that the Glacier Point Road closed
due to snow the night before we left into the backcountry. We
had planned on starting at the Mono Meadow trailhead, so that
our first day of backpacking was the easiest. At the time we
thought it was unfortunate, because it meant we had to start
in Yosemite Valley and climb 2,000 feet of elevation with heavy
packs on the first day. However, the challenge that was place
in front of these students was too much for them. One of the
recurring themes of this trip was overcoming difficulties. That
first morning with fully-loaded packs, we started our hike at
Happy Isles, making it a mile and a half and over 1,000 feet
of gain to the top of Vernal Falls by lunch. Our timing was
anything but perfect, because the only rain during our trip
fell while we were sitting still and eating lunch. It successfully
chilled all of us to the bone, but we warmed up pretty quickly
during the next mile and a half to the top of Nevada Falls.
We made it to Little Yosemite Valley before sunset and set up
camp, got water from the river, collected wood, and enjoyed
our hot burrito dinner by a warm fire. The temperate in Little
Yosemite Valley easily dipped below a freezing 32 degrees every
night.
The next morning’s surprise was that we were going to
be unable to move camp. We were planning on packing up our tents
and hiking two miles up another 1,000 feet to Sunrise Creek,
where we would set ourselves up for hiking to the top of Cloud’s
Rest the next day. But while the students were filling their
water in the morning, Sarah ran to bottom of Sunrise Creek to
find that the riverbed was dry. The rangers in the Visitor Center
had been unable to tell us if the creek would be running or
not, but they supposed it would be. So rather than pack up and
move camp, we left our tents where they were and set off on
a somewhat short, but exciting adventure for the day. By this
point the students had taken over much of the leadership and
learned how to use topographic maps, so they led the way as
we attempted to climb Mt. Broderick and Liberty Cap, which perch
at steep domes above Nevada Falls.
We made it within fifty feet of the summit of Mt. Broderick
until we stopped for lunch beneath a headwall. It wasn’t
disappointing at all, because we knew we could make it up Liberty
Cap, which is a few hundred feet taller than Mt. Broderick.
After lunch, we crossed a nearly-dry creek bed in order to begin
climbing Liberty Cap, which turned into a fantastic adventure.
While we never felt as though we were in danger, many of us
faced a fear of heights, and we were all forced to work as a
team and communicate well. We succeeded in reaching the summit
of Liberty Cap by scrambling up a small gulley up the back side.
There were incredible old-growth Sierra Juniper trees on the
summit, as well as an unbelievable view in all directions. Everyone
felt a sweet sense of victory, because of the work that was
put into the achievement.
We all enjoyed another great, warm dinner in front of the fire
and the first person to retire to bed was in their tent by 7:30.
The long night of sleep may have been one of the secrets to
success the following day. We woke up between 5:30 and 5:45
on Day 3 of our backcountry expedition, with the goal of reaching
Cloud’s Rest’s summit at 9,946 ft. Sal and Sarah
had already prepped the group that we might have to turn around
early, if we hadn’t reached the summit by lunchtime. It
was a long and strenuous hike, but it only took 4 ½ hours
to gain the 3,800 feet from our campsite to the summit. We enjoyed
the 360 degree view of the entire Yosemite National Park during
lunch and some time for journal reflection. Despite our hike
being ten miles roundtrip, we made it back to camp at 3:30!
That made for an early dinner and a few hours to tell stories
and laugh, laugh, laugh!
The last day seemed extremely easy, despite carrying our full
packs again. The six miles of downhill back to Curry Village
took only a few hours, and we had some extra time to unpack
and say our goodbyes. The greatest memories from the trip would
begin with the hours of laughter, especially because of Jonathan’s
jokes and Trevor’s stories. The sense of accomplishment
due to our intense achievements was directly because of Yesenia
and Luceli’s hard work and inspirational attitudes, and
the quick friendships that developed were promoted by the fun,
kind, easy-going compassion that Bryan and Kevin gave to everyone.
Sal and Sarah are so grateful to have had the greatest Wildlink
group imaginable!
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