Twelve students from Kingsburg High School joined us for our final WildLink expedition of the Fall 2009 semester. We spent a cold but dry week along the North Rim in Yosemite’s backcountry, keeping warm with lots of laughter and some very steep uphill hiking. Our four-day route started at the Old Big Oak Flat trailhead, taking us through an area that had been recently burned this past summer and then to our first day’s camp at Cascade Creek in just under five miles. The next day was our most challenging—we gained 1,900 feet of elevation over five and a half miles before settling down for the night near Ribbon Creek. Our third day found us on an eight mile hike that included the breathtaking summits of both El Capitan (7,569 feet) and Eagle Peak (7,779 feet). On our final night in the wilderness we enjoyed one another’s company with celebration s’mores, more laughter, and sharing about ourselves and our lives around the campfire. We woke up early and determined on our final morning and followed the 3.5 mile path down Yosemite Falls to end our fantastic, laughter-filled journey in Yosemite Valley.

Here are some student excerpts describing each day’s activities:

Preparation Day: Today we met the people that are in our WildLink trip. We played a name game. Later we got our daypacks and went on a little hike down to the Giant Sequoias. When we came back, we received our gear needed for the trip. After that we packed our bear canisters. Then we had dinner, which was really good, as well as dessert. After our meal we played the “Have You Ever?” game and the hand game. Later Mr. Harness talked about the stars and afterwards we had some free time. Later, it was good night. Journal entry by Brian (Bro-prah)

Expedition Day 1: The Beginning On the way to our adventure, it was pretty difficult. Some had troubles with backpacks and walking up the mountain. At first, we had trouble keeping a steady pace for the entire group. But gladly, we pulled through together as a family. We saw three deer, three other hikers and tons of bear poop. Zephyr introduced us to peeping and pooping in the wilderness. We then set up camp and unpacked. Luckily we all made it through the first day! Journal entry by Marla

Expedition Day 2: We start off the day with warm hot chocolate and then moved on to the main course, instant oatmeal! Then we played a fun game of Everybody’s It to get us moving for the day. Packing up wasn’t best because I tend to wrestle the sleeping bag. All packed up, we hit the trail to Ribbon Creek. Most of the way it was very difficult physically. Lunch was delicious! Tuna sandwiches, corn nuts, and organic oreos. Finally we started to head downhill to our “home.” When we hit Ribbon Creek, we stopped to fill up water bottles. On our way to camp we had to head up a steep, rocky hill to find flat land. That was the worst! I had extra weight in my bear canister and I just wanted to eat. While dinner was getting started, we sat on a giant log and looked up at the stars while talking. It was almost like a family moment. Dinner was great, but snuggling in the sleeping bag was better. I slept with a nice adventure in mind. Journal entry by Morgan Expedition Day 3: When I woke up my water bottle had ice in it and so did other people’s water. We had more oatmeal and hot chocolate. Then we cleaned up and packed up. When we looked at the maps, we figured out that we were losing more altitude than we would gain today and we would walk a total of about 8 miles. We started walking pretty fast toward El Capitan, the largest rock in the world…When we got there I was scared for my life because I am really scared of heights. After that me and Brian, the other leader of the day, decided to have lunch there at El Capitan. We finished up lunch and started to hike to Eagle Peak…We stayed at the summit for about thirty minutes and wrote in our journals. Up there I felt really scared and accomplished because I made it up there in one piece.