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01/22/2007: "My Yosemite Trip 01-14-07 to 01-19-07"

Spent my whole last week off line chaperoning a trip in Yosemite for my 6th grade daughter and her classmates from Dodson Magnet. It was a very rewarding trip but also a lot of work. We left Dodson Sunday morning at 7:30 am and it took most of the day to get to Yosemite. After we arrived we got everyone into the cabins and had dinner. Monday started with a bang as we had breakfast at 7:00 and then headed out to ampitheatre to meet our instructors. Our instructors name was Scott and then we took a bus out to the valley where we would start our hike. The theme for learning for the day was blueprint. We learned the major sites of the Yosemite Valley and how the valley was formed over a few million years. The hike amounted to a total of like 6 miles from where we were dropped off in the valley back to Curry Village. We had dinner and then did a night hike to a clearing outside of Curry Village in the dark with no lights which was an interesting experience as you had to get over the whole being in the dark thing but you actually could make out quite a lot once the night vision kicked in. Day 2 we hiked out to Yosemite Falls and went to Spider Cave which is a little cave used by the Awanichi indians of Yosemite. The cave was fascinating because it was pitch black inside and in order to pass we all had to work together as a team. Everyone in our group made it through ok and it became a highlight of the week for most of the kids. After that we hiked to the base of Yosemite falls where we took some pictures then had lunch and later hiked back to Curry Village. After dinner the night hike was from Curry Village to the Yosemit Information Center for a presentation on Astronomy. It was a long day after all. Day 3 we took a bus up to Crane Flat where we did a tough hike through steep hills and over a creek before stopping for lunch. After lunch we took a short hike down to the Seqouia groves and took in the huge trees. We visited Dead Fred a fallen hollowed out Sequoia that you can crawl through from its base to the top. We then hiked through the Redwoods back to the YI camp and caught the bus back to camp. The night hike was back to the Yosemite Information Center for a presentation on bears which was amazing. The presenter was a wild man who was also very entertaining. Day 4 was another bus trip out to Yosemite Falls where we hiked up the Yosemite Falls trail which is almost all uphill through switchbacks about two and a half miles or a half mile above columbia rock to what the instructor called Oh My Gosh rock. It was a challenge but the kids toughed through it. We hiked back down and caught a bus back to the village and had the kids start packing up before dinner for the next day departure. The chaperones or at least most of us got the night off and went to the Ahwahnee for drinks where it became obvious we had been cooped up to long with the kids as we had a serious case of the giggles. We had a fun well deserved night out. Day 5 was a short day as we met the instructor at 8:30 and hiked out to a spot at the bridge over the Merced river where we threw rocks at the icy river and were read a book by Dr Seuss that basically talked on the theme of stewardship. We packed it up after the kids gave Scott a mug and a YI bandana that they had all signed. We had a fairly uneventful trip back home where we arrived late Friday. All in all it was a great experience where I developed a great respect for nature and developed a desire to help protect it for future generations. Hopefully the kids got the same message as well.