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Last week, I had the
opportunity to camp out for one week in Yosemite National
Park with my son Boy Scout troops. It was
quite an experience for both of us.
On Saturday morning of
July 11, we all met at the Boy Scout Headquarter in Upland around 7:30 A.M. After the paper works were
handed out and the driving arrangements were made, we all headed out to Yosemite National Park around 8:30 A.M. It was an eight-hour
drive including stops for lunch and restroom breaks. We arrived at our
camp site at the western most of the park around 4:30 P.M. After setting up tents, the
scout leaders and parents prepared dinner for the whole group. Before
going to bed, we had a briefing of what we would be doing for the trip.
On Sunday 7/12, we
hiked to the waterfall. It was a moderate hike. We stopped by the creek
so the scouts could have some fun in the water. Some scouts tried fishing
but they had no luck catching any fish. When we got to the waterfall at
the top of the trail, the fun began. The scouts had fun playing in the
waterfall. Some even did the water sliding. Of course, all the water
activities at the fall were supervised closely by the scout leaders and
parents.
On Monday 7/13, we
headed to Yosemite
Village. The older
scouts were taking a 5-day back packing hiking trip. They won’t return to
the group until Friday. For the rest of us, we did an easy hike to the Mirror Lake and checked out the stores at
the village. There was some confusion along the way to Mirror Lake.
Although we couldn’t locate the lake, we still had fun hiking and walking
across the creek.
On Tuesday 7/14, we
did water rafting starting at the Curry Village.
It was a class one rafting trip so it was quite safe to do it with the
young scouts. We had water “fights” along the river. The scouts were
having a lot of fun. At mid way, we stopped at a mini beach for some
swimming activities. At the end of the rafting route, we relaxed at the
“beach” and had lunch.
On Wednesday 7/15,
we drove about 1.5 hours from our camp site to hike to the Half Dome, a
famous landmark in Yosemite
National Park. At
the end of the trail, we enjoyed a breath taking 360 degree view over
looking the Half Dome and the Yosemite
Village below.
On Thursday 7/16, we
headed out to see a fire look out post in the park. The scouts had a mini
tour of the rescue helicopter standby 24/7 for any possible rescue
mission when called. In the afternoon, we had a swim in the creek. I
didn’t do any creek swimming up to that point because the water was too
cold for me. But today, I jumped in to refresh myself. It was cold at
first but after my whole body was in the water, it wasn’t that bad. My
son even swam across the creek with the other scouts. However, he is too
young to jump from the big rock like the older scouts did.
On Friday 7/17, we
all went to the Yosemite
Village to meet the
High Adventure Team members returning after their 5-day back packing
trip. We all had a chance to take hot shower and jumped in the pool. In
late afternoon, we had pizza for dinner, our first dinner outside our
camp site since Saturday. I called this day my “civilized” day of the
trip.
On Saturday 7/18, we
all cleaned up our site, had a quick, simple breakfast and headed home
concluding our 8-day 7-night camping trip at Yosemite National
Park.
Before this trip,
the longest camping trip I participated was a 3-day 2-night local
camping. I was a bit nervous before joining this week-long camping trip because
it was the longest, farthest camping trip I would be participating.
During this trip, I did minimal “babysitting” for my son. I wanted him to
learn the Boy Scout experience in this trip. He had to bring his own mess
kit for meals. He was also responsible for cleaning it after meals. He
set up his own tent with the other scouts. He had to remember to do his
own morning routine although I had to remind him occasionally. Scouts are
too excited about playing that sometimes they forgot to clean up themselves.
Next to Yellowstone,
Yosemite is probably my second favorite
national park.
Dennis
Phan 潘家墉
Los Angeles,
California, U.S.A., 01 August 2009
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