AAVE Trip BLOG » Bold West
August 11, 2008
Bold West #3 - Adventures in Yosemite!
Posted by AAVE Leader in : Bold West, General AAVE Trip BLOG , add a comment
Overnight Raft trip
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Yosemite, birthday, Tuolomne Meadows, oh my…
It is past mid trip, we can’t believe it! Yosemite was one of the most powerful places we have been on the trip so far. This is because of the towering rock walls and the beautiful canyons and waterfalls! We could see headlamps at night on El Capitan of people rock climbing, which takes 4 to 8 days in a harness at all times, to reach the top, wow!
We took showers, yeahh, in Yosemite Village on our way in to our first campground called Crane Flat at about 7,000 ft elevation. Based out of this camp, we spent a day hiking a total of 8 miles up to the top of Nevada Falls, one of the most popular and rewarding hikes in the park! Everyone rocked the hike especially Eliza with a recovering toe injury and Jack who charged confidentially in the front of the pack with Deanna who was leader of the day and who kept us together, happy and safe! Kelly joined them for the game 20 questions the whole entire way back down the trail! Ben lead the group in a side trip to the bottom of Vernal Falls. Mike, Alex, Noemie, and John all went to the rocks at the bottom of this waterfall also and they came back soaking wet from the amazing mist that came from the spray which created a rainbow all the way around them when they were standing in the mist!
During lunch we had a constant battle protecting our food from the army of squirrels that seemed to have tactics set up to distract us from our food while other squirrels went in for the grab. Kai, Shapiro, and Ben could give the squirrels a scare and no squirrels were hurt in the process and we had no food casualties. Victor and PH were our lookouts from a higher rock above our lunch area. Noemie, Barbara, and Nicole were able to enjoy the view of a gorgeous lake next to our lunch spot where we were not allowed to swim, but when we got to the top the final waterfall we found a perfect spot for a refreshing swim! This group loves to swim even if the water is way chilly! Jack is usually our first brave soul into the water of our swimming holes and he was first to brave this spot also!
For Victor’s birthday he requested showering, which was a success after swimming in the river in hot Yosemite Valley! The swimming pool had showers for us after we did a few cannon balls and splash dive contests! Tuolmne Meadows treated us well as our second camping destination in Yosemite at 8,600 ft elevation! We had a cake, presents, and small celebration for Victors birthday around the campfire.
We had so many options of fun things to do in this area and we opted for a hike to a great natural slide where we all slid down a smooth granite bowl and did some cliff jumping with Half Dome featured in our views! PH and Victor had a masterful sliding technique and the first duo descent of the slide! 
Jack and Alex had the most descents of the slide! Ben and the big Ben and Barbara team had the most speed! We then went to one of the coolest, most random natural hot springs in the middle of a field with cows in serenading distance after walking down a beautiful boardwalk and waiting out a thunderstorm which later provided us with a rainbow. The pool was made out of natural rock and Jack as leader of the day took advantage of this spot for a great meeting! We smelled of sulphur and felt revived after changing and heading into Mono Lake for a dinner out at the fantastic Whoa Nelli Deli! This dinner was great compared to our night of forgetable macaroni and cheese the previous night!
The next day we drove to the camp at White Water Voyages to prepare for our two day rafting trip! We had showers, again yeahh! They also have skunks, boo, but now we are professional skunk shewers to keep them from our camp at night. Sometimes our road trips end up being a couple extra hours than expected and with ice-cream, good music, good conversations, bracelet making sessions, and great brain teasers we survive just fine!!
We hope everyone is well! We are having an absolute blast and are looking forward to Santa Cruz for surfing and for some time in San Fran next! Again I am so impressed with this group, their bravery, their success with hiking, their fun spirits! We wish we had more time to describe the amazing places we have been to, but we look forward to sharing stories in person soon enough with many great pics!
Until the next entry of the Adventures of BW3!
Deanna, PH, Shapiro, Kelly, Ben, Jack, John, Eliza, Victor, Barbara, Noemie, Kai, Alex, Big Ben, and Nicole
Loving the AAVE Life!
Yosemite National Park
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August 5, 2008
BW3 - Las Vegas to California!
Posted by AAVE Leader in : Bold West, General AAVE Trip BLOG , add a comment
Climb On!
Bold West 3 is taking on California!
The last time we wrote was day 1 of Vegas. Day 2 in Vegas was A BLAST! I was nervous about this portion of the trip and the group had so much fun and we all stayed safe! After roller coasters, burgers at the famous Fat Burger restaurant, swimming in the pool, 104 degrees F., shopping at the Caesars Palace, arcades, sight seeing, tons of pics, seeing the lions at MGM, and trying to stay cool in the Vegas heat we were exhausted and had a great dinner of pizza back at the hotel! Since then we have fallen in love with the beauty that California has to offer in Sequoia where we saw a bear, a tarantula, and the grand General Sherman tree and near Yosemite where we camped for three nights in a secluded area of world class rock climbing. Everyone did the 50 meter repel, conquered fears, learned to belay and trust each other, and climbed till our fingers got raw! The group was motivated to get up at 4:30 this morning to view the sunrise over Mammoth Mt after a 30 minute hike up, and it was truly amazing!! We are now looking forward to showers and the beauty that Yosemite has to offer!
We are feasting on student cooked meals and laughing all day long! We look forward to mail in Santa Cruz for the parents and friends that are viewing our site! Otherwise we cannot believe the trip is reaching the half way point and we are psyched for the rest of the trip!
Thank you for your amazing kids!
Nicole, Ben and the BW3 Crew loving the AAVE Life!
Bold West #3 - Fun in the Southwest!
Posted by Nate at AAVE in : Bold West, General AAVE Trip BLOG , add a comment
Hello Bold West #3 friends and family,
WOW! Bold West is an amazing trip! From the moment we all met at the airport we have been a chill, fun, efficient, awesome, awesome, group!! Four countries represented in our group. 400 miles in a van and 4 days so far with constant smiles, laughs and good music! I think this is the trip we have all been looking for all summer, but I don’t know if we all knew it!
We have taken gorgeous journeys in Zion National Park up to Angels Landing, and up through Hidden Canyon, and swimming at the Narrows, at Pa’rus trail, and at the Grotto have been successful, a blast, challenging, bonding, and HOT!
The swimming in the heat of the day keeps us cool! This group has put a new meaning for me to “work hard, play hard”, but the hikes and chores haven’t seemed like work, it’s just all fun all the time, and why not! We saw Kung Fu Panda last night to avoid the heat and rain, toured the Hoover Dam today, and have been eating some amazing meals cooked by our fantastic cook crews!
We’ve gotten through wondering if our tents will keep us dry at night (they will, they are great). We have gorged ourselves at the Circus Circus buffet and seen the lights of Vegas and are currently enjoying our first night here, but we’re use to our campsite and it feels like the trip is going so fast since we packed up this morning. We are looking forward to a day in Vegas tomorrow and then to head to Sequoia!!
Our days are otherwise filled with hacky sack, frisbee, cards, and cool treats, so know that we are all healthy, happy and well! We have so many fun stories and pictures to share already when we return from this trip which is one of the best trips we have lead because it really feels like we’re all on a team where everyone is helping each other out and getting to know each other genuinely!!
Thanks to everyone reading our blogs, we hope you are all well!
Enjoy, we are!
Nicole, Ben, and the amazing BW3 crew
August 2, 2008
The Best Summer Camp Experience!
Posted by AAVE Parent in : Bold West, General AAVE Trip BLOG , add a comment
Way too much Fun!!
This has been the best summer camp experience for Julio yet! Julio has been going to many various camps since he was 7 years old & the amazing stories of his Bold West are by far the most exciting & fulfilling. He has come back very sure & confident in himself & made huge bonds with all the other kids. I thank you for having shown him that he was capable of doing it all. Carolina Camperio
July 25, 2008
Bold West #2
Posted by tim.gehring in : Bold West , add a comment
Hello Abbott and all BW2 families,
Our trip rocks! The campers continue to amaze and surprise us everyday.
Katie and Jenna reported that . . . “In Yosemite we hiked up Nevada Falls , the trail was steep & hard, but the view from the top was amazing. After that we found a secluded trail that another group told us about. We hiked on this trail for about an hour and came upon an amazing stream. The best part was that there was a natural water slide made of rocks. It was so much old fashion fun. After that we headed to white water rafting. It was a great time with lots of water fights and awesome rapids through hot desert. The best part of the rafting trip was relaxing at night and camping on the beach along the river. This trip is tons of fun and we don’t want to leave.”
-Tim, Abigial, Katie, Jenna, and the rest of the BW2 wild bunch
July 24, 2008
BW1A is nearing the end but still having a blast!!
Posted by tracy in : Bold West , add a comment
Currently we are in the Bay Area of California. We’ve spent the past few days in the city of San Francisco seeing just about all there is to see and visit; Alcatraz, China Town, Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf, Haight\Ashbury and we even rode the famous SF trolley car. Before getting to San Francisco we spent 6 nights in the Yosemite area, where we went on numerous hikes, viewed amazing waterfalls, swam in hot springs and relaxed near some high sierra lakes. We also went to Sequoia National Park and witnessed amazing views, including seeing the largest tree in the world. While in the Sequoia area we spent two days white water rafting on the Kern River, which included class III and IV rapids. It was incredible and the rafting guides were amazing.
Before traveling to Sequoia, our group spent 2 nights in Las Vegas seeing as many attractions as we could that the city had to offer us. Tomorrow we leave for our final destination of our trip, Santa Cruz. While there we plan to go surfing for a few days and see the sights Santa Cruz has to offer.
We Miss Everyone,
Mike, Tracy, and BW1A Group
July 23, 2008
BW2 - First update!
Posted by AAVE Leader in : Bold West , add a comment
Hey all…
This past week has been a whirlwind of adventures…
We stopped into Mammoth Lakes, CA for a quick half day of rest, email, and gondola ride to the top of Mammoth Mountain (11,000+ feet). The Eastern Sierra’s are truly beautiful.
Finally, the much anticipated white water rafting trip arrived. We had two amazing days on the middle fork of the American River. Kids had a blast paddling hard and having water fights along the way. Sleeping out under the stars was awesome and a morning swim woke us up before our next day.
Day 2 finished with a class 6 portage (we took the boats out and watched our guides navigate the treacherous waters). Right after we hit a combination class 4, 4, 3, 4.
After some showers we made our way to Santa Cruz for some awesome surfing.
The mornings were early, but “totally worth it” in the words of Scott Elliot. We were up at 4 both mornings to hit the waves by 5 for the best surf. We were all glad to have thick wetsuits. Finally, we took an adventure to the board walk and rode the amazing rides.
Today we started the morning with our last service project trying to protect a blue butterfly. Our goal was to pull out a weed called French Bloom. Harris, Brandon, and Jason worked on a tough weed for a half our. Everyone was very excited with its removal. Every student did an amazing job, our service coordinators couldn’t believe how much invasive weed we were able to rip out.
I hope to have one more email out before the morning of the 26th. Hope this finds all of you well, because you’re kids are having a blast.
Take care,
Lindsay, Mike, and the AAVE Bold West crew
July 18, 2008
BW2B Hey Everyone back home,
Posted by tim.gehring in : Bold West , add a comment
We are coming up on ten days that we have been out on Bold West. We have covered so much amazing country and experience so much adventure in the past week and a half! We are currently finishing conquering the granite rock climbing in Sierra National Park and on our way to Yosemite to explore all that this famous park has to offer.
Some of the highlights of the past few days have been standing next to Sherman Tree (the biggest tree in the world), rappelling down over 100 feet, and our service project of cleaning and clearing a trail in Sequoia!
All of the kids worked so hard!
The past ten days have been the time of our life, but we are all looking forward to rafting on the American River and surfing in Santa Cruz!!!
Loving the AAVE Life,
Tim and Abigail and Bold West 2B
July 16, 2008
UH1C - Picture
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BW1B Pictures
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