Vannaleze (Vanna) Barcelos has a deep connection to Yosemite. For her, it’s a formative place where she discovered passions for the natural world, art, and education. She describes the Park as “magical,” inspiring childhood-like awe. A 19-year old freshman at University of California Merced, Vanna has had two immersive experiences in the Park through Adventure […]
Taking Risks in Sequoia & Kings Canyon
Giselle San Roman graduated from ARC’s Sequoia & Kings Canyon summer course in 2017. She went backpacking for the first time—hiking among the world’s largest trees and spending 15 nights under the stars. With her teammates, she learned to cross streams, navigate using a topographical map, and cook burritos in the backcountry. The Sequoia & Kings Canyon […]
Feeling Proud of What I Accomplished
Joel Duarte is a sophomore in high school from Dos Palos, California with a radiant smile. While backpacking to Illilouette Falls or rafting the Merced River, Joel exuded great excitement and enthusiasm for Yosemite. On the 40-day course, he shared that he felt much brighter and more positive on the trails and in Wawona at […]
P.O.H.T.E. for the Best
Day 25 of the course was our Solo day. Solo is where participants spend 24 hours alone with their thoughts and for us it was near Tuolumne Peak. We had a beautiful view of Yosemite’s mountains, with sunrises and sunsets perfect for your PC background. Solo itself was a very enlightening and reflective experience which […]
Our First Basecamp
We are staying at the Sagehen Creek Field Station right now and are getting ready for our next expedition. We will be kayaking next week on Lake Tahoe. Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to go white water rafting on the South Fork of the American River. It was a hot and sunny 118 degrees […]
2017 ARC Tahoe Trip-First Expedition
Hello my name is Gisselle and I’m a student for this year’s 2017 ARC Tahoe trip! So we just finished our very first expedition and it was incredible! The experience was great. I’ve never done something like this before so it was scary at first. It took a while to get used to being away […]