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Expedition
III set out on a beautiful and cold November week with eleven
participants from the one.
success Program of the San Joaquin County Office of Education
in Stockton. With three red tailed hawks circling overhead,
we began our adventure at the trailhead for the historic Old
Big Oak Flat Road, the first road into Yosemite Valley. Between
bright sunshine and low-hanging clouds, we hiked four miles
and ascended 1,000 feet that first day. After a significant
amount of scouting by group members, we camped that night just
above the footbridge across Cascade Creek. That night we learned
how to set up our tents, bear-proof our camp, drink our cleaning
water, and how to sleep warm through the nearly freezing temperatures.
Our second day began with a quick downhill warm-up along the
old pavement of the Old Big Oak Flat Road before our trail split
off north in the direction of Ribbon Meadow. This difficult
section of trail took us up and up and up another 1,600 feet
of elevation. Along the way we saw spectacular views to the
West, looking out on the Merced River Canyon, the foothills
of the Sierra, and all the way across the Central Valley to
the faint Coastal Range Mountains in the distance. Challenged
by heavy packs and the unrelenting uphill, our team came together
to motivate and even take extra weight for one another. We reached
our high point at Ribbon Meadow exhausted, sweaty, and accomplished,
and enjoyed celebratory gummy worms before starting the last
mile downhill to find camp near Ribbon Creek. After considerable
searching, we found a flat camp spot (and our last challenge
of the day) on top of a steep hill just west of the creek. We
set up camp as the purple alpine glow of the sunset drenched
the snowy ridges in the distance. That cloudless night was especially
cold but beautiful, with billions of stars illuminating the
dark sky. We devoured make-your-own-burritos and celebrated
Marcela’s and Cynthia’s joint birthdays with ‘Happy
Birthday’ sung in Portuguese!
On our third day we headed out strong and motivated, ready to
reap the rewards of all of our hard work the previous days with
the spectacular views that awaited us along our trail. We didn’t
have to wait long—less than twenty minutes into our hike
we caught our first view of El Capitan, one of the largest single
rock monoliths in the world, and one of the jewels of Yosemite
Valley. As we scrambled onto a small boulder for a better view,
we could also see across the canyon to the Cathedral Rocks and
Bridalveil Falls on the Southern cliffs of Yosemite Valley.
Although we didn’t know it at the time, that view was
just the beginning of an amazing day! Just a mile later we reached
the summit of El Capitan at 7,569 feet. From this breathtaking
spot we could look east across the entire expanse of snow covered
peaks in Yosemite’s high country and west beyond the Sierra
foothills to glimpse the Coastal Range Mountains rising above
the clouds in the Central Valley.
From there we continued another two miles and had a delicious
lunch of tuna and laughter before leaving our packs and taking
the last steep section of trail to our ultimate summit. At 7,746
feet, the summit of Eagle Peak is the highest of the three mountains
known as the Three Brothers. Getting to that high point was
both a physical and a mental challenge for many of us, as it
forced us to face and overcome our fears of heights and exposure.
We spent nearly an hour sitting on this blocky summit taking
in the expansive view and journaling, sketching, reflecting
on our wilderness experience and our lives back at home. That
time, as well as the sharing and discussion that followed, was
one of the highlights of our experience together.
We spent our last night in the Wilderness camping on a small
granite ridge above Yosemite Creek. We ate dinner and shared
stories around a campfire that night, and even celebrated our
wilderness experience with s’mores for dessert! The next
morning we descended nearly 3,000 feet along the Yosemite Falls
trail (and the longest waterfall in North America) and into
Yosemite Valley. Thank you to the strong and determined students
of the one success Program for pushing yourselves far beyond
your perceived limits and being open to this new experience
in the wilderness, and to Ms. A for her faith in our group’s
abilities. You have shown that there is truly no limit to what
a person can accomplish!
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