Following in the footsteps of the first expedition, five students from Kingsburg High School and four students from Madera High School set out to explore Yosemite's high country and attempt to catch the view from the summit of Cloud's Rest.

We started hiking in Yosemite's high country on a beautiful Sunday morning from the Sunrise trailhead. Heavy packs and a steep section of trail made our first day a challenge, but thanks to great leadership and navigational skills, everyone in the group maintained a positive and motivating attitude. Once we reached the pass and had all the uphill behind us, some of us took a short walk to Sunrise Lakes to fill up the group's water supply. We all also laughed quite a bit during the "8 D's of Dumping" class, which taught us the finer points of waste management in the wilderness. That night we camped just south of Sunrise Peak, with a glorious open view of the night sky. Despite the very cold temperatures, at least four of our brave females slept out under the stars our first night!

The next morning we slowly warmed up as the sun reached our camp and we were graced by yet another beautiful blue-sky day. We packed smaller day packs and, leaving our tents and kitchen standing for us to return to again later that evening, headed out for the six-mile roundtrip hike to the summit of Cloud's Rest. We were again challenged by nearly 1,000 feet of elevation gain, but enjoyed the views of Mount Clark and Tenaya Lake along the way. The walk along the final summit ridge required mental strength, courage, and focus from us all. The group reached the summit, at 9,926 feet, and took in the 360 degree view of virtually the entire wilderness of Yosemite National Park. We enjoyed some solo reflective time, shared our thoughts with one another, and even enjoyed a picnic lunch on the summit (and were visited by our expedition mascot, Gerald, a brave Golden Mantled Squirrel running around on the summit). The second night back at our camp we enjoyed delicious burritos around a campfire and shared a lot about ourselves as we pondered some serious and some not-so-serious life questions. That night all seven females slept out under the stars together.

The next day we packed up camp, put on our large packs again, and started out on the long downhill hike into the Little Yosemite Valley Campground. This was once again an impressive day of route finding by our navigators as we encountered numerous trail junctions. We passed the time quickly this day with trail games, a reflective walk, and views of the backside of Half Dome. We had our final campfire that night with s'mores and stories, and everyone, even our two males, slept outside for our last night in the wilderness. We awoke early the next morning and hiked down the nearly 3,000 feet along both Nevada and Vernal Falls into Yosemite Valley.

Thank you to all the expedition members from Expedition II, Deuce! Your positivity, laugher, group mentality, and openness to this new experience were huge factors in the success of your expedition. I hope to see you all again here in our Yosemite Wilderness!