Expedition #1: Backpacking in Sequoia National Park

Pictures coming soon....


Monday, June 25th, Day 2
“It had never occurred to me before that music and thinking are so much alike. In fact, you could say music is another way of thinking, or maybe thinking is another kid of music.” Ursula K. Le Gun

We started very early on the morning at 6 am. and with everyone cooperation we took breakfast. Then we started backpacking and then hiking. During the hiking everyone did a pretty good job. Everyone talking to each other, learning new things, and putting a big effort to get to the campsite. I think it was a hard but exciting day. And we are just starting.

Tuesday, June 26th, Day 3
“It is not the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellow man.”

Well today we woke up and groaned about how we wanted to go back to sleep. We ate, packed and we were on our way to High Sierra. We did our best on the hike and we didn’t get as tired as we did the first day. We had our first English and Science lesson at ARC today. Things seem to get easier everyday so far so I hope that it keeps going that way.

Wednesday, June 27th, Day 4
“Nothing to declare for we brought nothing into this world and it can be certain we carry nothing out.”

Today we started out pretty well. It wasn’t as cold as the other days. It started out as a good hike, but got harder as we progressed. We had a talk with a ranger and we were all lucky enough to see dried bear poo. We started on our way to Bear Paw Meadows and conquered the steep hills. I wonder what’s next.

Thursday, June 28th, Day 5
“Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.” Elbert Hubbard

Today we started pretty good because we were getting better. We are breakfast and later we had our English class. We wrote poems, then later we had to share it. After that we started hiking to our way to Lonely Lake. It was really hard but we made it, because it was all up hill. Then we get out off trail and we started hiking off trail it was really cool because we tried our best and we get to Lonely Lake. And then we packed out. Later we went to Lonely Lake and we took showers and it was really cold but we had fun.

Friday, June 29th, Day 6
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” Elbert Hubbard

What has been the hardest challenge in your life:
Luis: Coming to the United States.
Angela: Leaving my family and friends and coming to the USA.
Juan: Hiking.
Ilse: Coming to the ARC program.
Engels: Coming to the United States and leaving my family.
Ana: Losing a relationship because of someone else.
Kenia: Leaving family for one month.
Gerald: Leaving a part of his family in Mexico.

Saturday, June 30th, Day 7
“A friend’s eye is a good mirror.” Irish proverb

We woke up very early (as always), we got everything safe to go hiking without backpacks to Moose Lake. We hiked a peak we did not name (I hope next year kids give it a good name). Later, we went to Moose Lake and some us swam for a while. Next, it was time to have science class and we learned about watersheds. Also, we learned how to read maps and got to camp and got dinner. Yummy…

Sunday, July 1st, Day 8
“When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughs and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.” Thich Nhat Hanh

What is the best experience you had in these days?
Cindy: Knowing and meeting all of you guys.
Tracy: Getting to know everyone.
Angela: Getting to know new people and learn new things.
Juan: Swimming at Moose Lake.
Gerald: To know each other and discover new things about nature.
Luis: When we went to Moose Lake.
Kenia: The sunset, the full moon, and the stars.
Ana: How to cook in the wilderness.
Engels: to hike more than 11000 feet and see the view.

Monday July 2nd, Day 9
“You can’t have speech without thought, opinion without knowledge, judgement without evaluation. It is the enemy of true emotion and a clear vision of life. Sincerity, honesty and the simple expression of feeling offer a valuable bench mark to live by.”

Today was a very special day for all of my friends from ARC because we hiked out from Sequoia at 7:30 a.m. to the parking lot to see Jen. At 5:30 a.m. we didn’t want to wake up but we were all excited. Yeah! When we were leaving Emerald Lake everyone was practicacally running. It took us 5 miles to get to Wolverton. When we got there we unpacked our things from our backpacks and put dirty clothes in a bag. Boys and girls had their own bag of dirty clothes. After that we were waiting and everyone decided to do a little prank on Jen so Tracy pretended to be hurt but Jen didn’t believe us but it was really funny. Jen brought lunch for all of us it was DELICIOUS! Yum Yum. We packed everything and we were on our way to basecamp. While we were in the car jamming to some songs we slept for a while. Then we went to eat at at In N Out. It was good. We were excited that we were going to take a shower.