This year’s Gr. 6 outing to Yosemite proved once again to be an exciting venture into one of California’s most treasured natural preserves. The week prior to the trip, students wore boots for the entire week to break them in before they were put to use.

The students and chaperones arrived at Yosemite on Oct. 26, along with their buddies from Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo, Japan. They spent the day hiking to the Spider Caves before meeting with their guides from the Yosemite Institute (YI).

Breakfast was had before the next day’s activities, which included an educational hike with the YI guides. The day was capped off with a special ice cream party to bid the Tamagawa students farewell.

“Despite a belly full of ice cream, students were able to fall asleep in order to reenergize for yet another day at Yosemite,” reported Lana Morrison, middle school dean of students. The day was spent doing a group of team activities led by the YI guides. Later that evening, middle school science teacher Danny Sommer made dessert for student Anish Velagapudi’s birthday celebration. After a night hike, the group arrived at a nearby theater to see a Bear Program put on by the YI guides, who performed skits and showed an educational video about bears.

The final day at Yosemite saw great hiking weather, and students were given the choice of returning to some of their favorite hiking locations or heading somewhere they hadn’t yet been. In the evening, the trip was formally and fittingly concluded with a campfire under the stars.