Expedition Members

wes
chelsea
natalie
darin
jessica
shuria
emi
alex
michael

Instructors

echo
mandy

expedition index
<<

Expedition I

Students from Jill Kinmont Boothe, Kingsburg and Turlock High Schools joined Mandy and Echo for a WildLink expedition to remember! After a day of acclimation in Curry Village, our hopeful and excited crew set out for the last expedition of 2003 in the High Country near Tuolomne Meadows.

We started on a beautiful October afternoon at Tenaya Lake, and practicing our map-reading and orientation skills, set out for our first night's camp at Sunrise Lakes. After three miles of hiking and just over 1000 feet in elevation gain, we pitched our camp on a high granite slab overlooking one of the Lakes. The night sky put on a show for us, and we awoke to another beautiful day and an early start, as we had a big day ahead of us!

Our second day in the backcountry, we ascended Cloud's Rest Peak, one of the most impressive peaks in Yosemite! By the time we reached our second night's camp at Sunrise Creek, cooking dinner in twilight, we had hiked almost 18 miles. Needless to say, we slept well, despite several very persistant and bold bear visitors that kept us company, including two cubs.

We took it easy our final full day in the backcountry, taking a few hours for field science journalling at Sunrise Creek, then making our way down for a final night in Little Yosemite Valley, where we found functional composting toilets (and there was great rejoicing!)

After pitching our final camp, we spent an hour journalling by the river, and ended the day with an awards ceremony and campfire, complete with stories. We awoke before the sun on our last morning, and got an early start on our beautiful hike down Nevada and Vernal Falls, and back into Civilization.