Expedition Members

steve
luis
lalo
jo
faeza
alejandra
j.j.
kevin
leah
stephanie

Instructors

viren
mandy
cathy

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Dear Wilderness,

Thank you for everything you have given me in the past 17 years of my life. I love the way you make me feel about myself. I feel confident, relaxed, and I also feel like if I was to be alone in room full of the wonderful natural surrounding you are providing me with at this moment.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enjoy the nice waterfalls that gave me water to drink. Thank you for the quietness that made me feel so relaxed and helped me get my thoughts straight, also made my way of thinking of life different. I am really glad to have found such a wonderful place that I can actually feel comfortable with without anything and anyone to make me feel like I don’t belong.

I would of never done such a thing if it wasn’t for my friends, my true friends. You made me realize how important they are to me. My friends have helped me through a lot. Also you made me realize that true friends always stick with you during the good and the bad. You have taught me how to pass any obstacle that gets in my way.

I want to also thank you for letting me see a new side of me. The new me that I thought I would never become. I didn’t think that you would actually make me feel this way. Everything is so clear to me. Know that, I guess, that things that I have done here are kind of not so silly anymore.

As time has passed by I can actually say that I am really proud of myself to do something I was actually scared of doing. Nothing will ever make me feel better than what you have made me feel.

These weather changes have made me realize that we are lucky to have water because without water we wouldn’t be able to come places like these.

You have discovered the new me, and I want to thank you for letting me realize how life outside the material life is better for me in order to actually enjoy day by day. Not by shopping, or fixing my hair, nails, or even by making me look fancy, but the Natural and the inner me.

Thank you for everything!!!

Love,
Alejandra

What makes Yosemite special to you?

This place is special to me because I can actually feel unique and comfortable to be around the wilderness. Many people think that the wilderness is a really scary and frustrated place to spend their time in, but actually they are wrong.

The wilderness is the best place to spend time if you have problems or if you are stressing a lot. May say that the ones who go into the wilderness are crazy, actually I used to think that, too, but after this trip everything changed completely. The way I thought was that nothing mattered. The only thing I would think about was myself and how to look good for others. But this has made me realize there is more to life than to have to look good and to spend time in front of the mirror. Everything showed me to appreciate life more.

My life in the wilderness has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have learned so many things that I had never thought of learning before. I started to get along with everyone really quickly and it makes me realize that I don’t need expensive clothes or really fancy looking to make a friend. Things have been pretty hard for me but I’m hanging in there. Everything seems to be easy when it really isn’t.