Sonya portrait
  • Expedition: Apr 16-21, 2001
  • Sonya
  • Sanger and Turlock High Schools
  • Hetch Hetchy

I am really thrilled to be out here in nature

I am really thrilled to be out here in nature. I can see all the beautiful trees. I can see a raven up in those trees. I see how nature takes place in decomposing so that new and more great things can grow and take place in nature, and as I sit out looking at all these things I can hear the rivers flowing through the trees. I can hear little birds singing the sounds coming out of the air the sky like magic. I hear things out here that I would never hear at home.

Here I am out here sitting on a log which I know was a once living and standing tree that I'm sure was just as beautiful as the ones I am looking at. I feel the roughness of the bark the ridgedness but then here is another type of tree which feels soft and I know that this is the tree's skin. Being out here and experiencing nature and all its beauty is a great experience. I am learning all the magic of the outdoors the wilderness the plants the animals the insects everything and it gives me a great thrill to be out here learning and seeing things on my own. It is so great I feel as though I am in a whole other world. This is so beautiful......

How water affects me

Today is a really rainy day and is a great day to write about water and how it is affecting me. I really love water except when it is wetting all of my personal items but as far as nature's water goes I love it .The beautiful waterfalls, the sound of the flowing rivers down by our camp, everything about the wilderness is so great and I really love it. The river water is really cold, but great.

Positives and negatives Through this trip I have had many different experiences one of the positive ones was that I had shelter over my head even though it wasn't very dry but being up there in the snow and the rain was a challenge and it was so beautiful to wake up to the deers in the meadow that was white with snow.

I also had some negative things and one was the wet sleeping bags and all the wet clothes and socks and trying to get them dry which didn't work but through it all I realized how lucky we are to have such things as running water, telephones, and just the little things that we take for granted everyday.

WildLink is a proud partner of the National Park Service, National Forest Service, and Nature Bridge.