Hetch Hetchy Hike

This summer's big hike was taken last week at a part of Yosemite we've never explored: Hetch Hetchy.  The story here is interesting.  Just outside the official boundary of this National Park, Yosemite Valley actually has a twin.  This other valley is supposed to be equal, if not greater, in beauty to the iconic Yosemite Valley.  But, after the big earthquake of 1906, it was decided that a dam would be built to turn this valley into a reservoir that could hold billions of gallons of water should the city ever lose access to fresh water again.   There is no boating, swimming, or fishing here and that the water is stored in a gigantic granite basin keeps it pristine and ready to drink without any treatment.  It also provides a pretty amazing backdrop for the off-the-beaten-path hike to Wapama Falls!  Since Hetch Hetchy is technically Yosemite, even though it's just outside the boundary of it, we couldn't get over how uncrowded it was for a day in June!  We passed maybe a dozen other hikers and were warned that wildlife, everything from bears to bobcats to rattlesnakes, were making daily appearances on the trail!  Thank goodness we never encountered anything other than birds, butterflies, lizards, and squirrels.    

The 5 mile hike starts at the dam.  Having just taken Environmental Science, Delia was all about the lesson in hydro-power!

Then you get to hike through a damp cave for a bit.  Super cool!  

There are meadows of wildflowers to cross.

And granite boulders to climb.  There was just enough elevation gain to get our hearts pumping and require a rest that had us feeling like this:

But, it was not long until the waterfall we'd been admiring from a distance became close enough to start misting us!  Delia made this fun video to show the transition.

We tallied it up while we hiked-- Wapama Falls is the 33rd waterfall we've seen together.  And it was spectacular!  A series of 5 bridges takes you right across the base of it.  We were there late enough in the season that our experience was more mist than soak, but in the spring, these bridges can hardly be traversed because the water pounds so strongly!

The sound of the cascading water was just lovely and the light mist on a hot day was so refreshing.

We parked it on a big boulder at the waterfall base and ate the lunch we carried in our backpacks.  Hiking pro tip: let your reluctant hiker pick the chips.  Even if she picks the small bag that's like $5, it's worth it to have a happy hiker! ;) (Why did it take me 17 years to figure this out?!)  I also gave Delia the job of making a video of our day, so she had some fun filming little clips and editing them together.  She made me three to chose from and I love them all!

This was a hike that's long been on my bucket list and ended up being one we'd recommend!  Beautiful scenery the entire time, an epic waterfall as the destination, and just enough challenging terrain to make you feel accomplished!

This Week In Santa Cruz

While I had a quiet week at home and caught up on garden projects, my 2024 "Book a Week" goal, and coffee dates with friends, our girls were living their best lives working and attending the annual HiCamp up in the Santa Cruz mountains.  A happy reunion of the 4 of us was the grand finale to this fun week!

After 10 intense, but necessary, days of training, Ella easily passed all her evaluations and certifications and was ready to welcome Week One guests to her courses!  She gave 11 tours last week.  Most are for the guests at Family Camp, but there are slots where the course is closed to them and open to the public.  One of her groups this week was Japanese tourists!  She'll guide them through a 2 hour tour on the ropes, but actually spend 4 hours working that shift because it takes twice as long to thoroughly inspect all the gear and the course each time out.  After dropping Delia off up the hill at Ponderosa, I was excited to head down to Family Camp and visit Ella in "her office".  I loved watching her high up in the trees doing her thing, catching zipliners, and encouraging guests through tricky spots.

When her tour ended, we grabbed some dinner-- the BBQ picnic on the lawn that each week of Family Camp opens with. (I wasn't a camper, I just bought a meal ticket.)  Fun this time was sitting not on the lawn with all the other campers and kids, but in the staff section, meeting some of Ella new friends!

We were having a nice visit, when Ella jumped up with her summer staff buddies and said, "We gotta go dance now!"  Part of the opening night festivities is always a skit introducing the theme and a whole staff flash mob.

Ella was already cracking us up with her many funny stories-- and just from the first week!  She's not allowed to use "The F Word" (fall), and we were having lots of fun with that!  One time her tour got cancelled, so they sent her up in the trees with a broom to sweep and knock down any spider webs.  So, she had to do all the obstacles 150 feet up one handed!  She was excited that with Family Camp starting, she'd go down to just working 45 hours a week.  The big ropes course is where she spends most of her time, but she surprisingly loved working the archery range too, where she discovered she's a crack shot with a bow and arrow!   This week she's scheduled for something new-- leading the 9 mile hike through the forest from MH to the Boardwalk!

Week One is when all our church and school friends go to Family Camp, so I LOVED having my phone blow up this week with everyone we knew up there sending me pictures of their tours with Ella.  And as they post their fun MH photos and videos, I'm enjoying spotting Ella in the background of all the adventure shots! ;)  

I already mentioned how she's living with her best high school buddy Maya, but another great friend from HS is working in Day Care this summer too-- Marina!  These 3 are all incredibly busy with different schedules, but enjoying sharing this special summer together.

Delia's week at HiCamp was full of all the powerful worship, challenging messages, invitations to get vulnerable and out of comfort zones, and fabulous fun with friends that it always is.  Delia's calling this year her best yet.  SO much laughter and goofiness with this beloved group of girlfriends she shared a cabin with.  Above, Beach Day.  Below, ready to crush it on Waterslide Day.

Posing on the rock wall.

Rides at the Boardwalk.

A little taste of her group's contribution to Lip Sync Battle Night-- they got first place! (Delia choreographed ;)

All her sweet friends on the last night, which is a Formal Picnic.  She had 2 new girls from down south in her cabin and they were fast friends.  A meet up at the beach is already planned!

One more of the E6 eight!  She spent hours telling us all the fun stories and showing us the probably 100 pictures and videos on her phone.  We pray hard for this week to be impactful for all who attend and the Lord has been faithfully answering for years.  

Since we had to pick up Delia on a Saturday morning, we took advantage of Ella's one day off each week and spent all of it with her!  Both girls were exhausted, so nothing big planned except a lazy day at the Santa Cruz Beach to reconnect.

HiCamp wears ya out!  Delia is not usually a napper, but she fell right to sleep in the soft sand.

After some snoozing, the rest of our hours on the beach were spent chatting and reading...

Playing Flickin' Chicken.  Heather introduced us to this wacky game-- like bocce ball, but with bouncy rubber chickens!  I wildly flung one at a random beachgoer by accident.  He thought it was hilarious!

Walking to both ends of the beach.  Sooo glad to have my girl back!

And some silly crab racing.  Barney, the hermit crab I selected, gave us quite the entertaining show!

Dinner was clam chowder, fried calamari, and a (shared) bacon avocado burger with a view!

And of course a stop for some Marianne's ice cream is a Santa Cruz must!

This was a great day!  My heart was so happy to be all together again and hear all the happy reports of an awesome week.

The Perfect Job

Ella was torn when looking for a summer job.  She spent some time and prayer discerning if she should just find something mindless that paid well and was good for her bank account; or something that was good on her pre-med resume (like EMT training or an internship at a local hospital); or something that was good for her soul.  Her former boss, who owns the climbing gym Ella worked at and who also sits on the Board of MH, gave her the "This is the time in your life to do this sort of thing!" pep talk and helped get her a job on the summer staff at the sacred grounds my kids spent 10 childhood summers growing up at!  Ella applied for, interviewed, and was quickly offered a job in the Adventures/Recreation department.  She'll spend her summers guiding kids and parents at Family Camp through ropes courses, rock walls, archery ranges, Canopy Tours, and fieldhouse games.  It could not be a more perfect job!  Oh and her best friend from high school, Maya, also got a job in the Middle School ministries, so they are rooming together for the next few months!  Another perfect piece that fell right into place!

We loved having Ella home for the month of May to recharge and reconnect with friends.  But, this is a gal who thrives with purpose and challenge.  We also loved driving her to her newest home in the coastal redwood forests and mountains to have the kind of summer she'll tell her own kids about some day!  

With it's no a/c, wood paneling, limited drawer space, and forest view, Ella and Maya's dorm room is rustic and cozy and just right for a staff member working at a summer camp!  She brought way less stuff than she had to bring to college, so it was a treat to pack the car so easily!

Gideon gave her flowers in college regularly, so his goodbye for the summer gift was the LEGO flower set for Ella to build and enjoy in his absence.  This had to come along; being carefully held for the 2 hour drive.  Since the drive is nothing compared to the drive to LA and can even be comfortably done while holding a vase of fragile LEGO flowers, we're hoping to make it to Santa Cruz regularly this summer to spend time with Ella on her Saturdays off!

After the time spent getting her all checked and moved in, we had a few hours to enjoy this special place.  We walked all around, sharing favorite memories and having the unchanged sights and smells trigger the nostalgia.  Above is one of the ropes courses Ella will spend her summer on.  Wanna know something funny?  We ended our years of attending Family Camp when Ella was just a few pounds shy of meeting this course's weight requirement!  The training she did on the Sequoia Grove yesterday was her first time on it!  We celebrated that she was finally big enough! ;)

We checked everything off our MH bucket list.  Waterfall: check.

Banana slug sighting: check.

Walk down to the creek and boat dock across the suspension bridge: check.

Fountain: check (not open for ice cream yet, but we sat and talked for a bit).

Famous cluster of redwoods in the middle of camp: check.

Test out the new hammock from Auntie Heather on the fieldhouse lawn: check.  

Ella's schedule for the 10 days of training is packed from 8am to 8pm (or later!) with everything from archery safety to mandated reporter and CPR training to flash mob practice for each week's opening night performance!  All her meals are provided in the dining hall and she reports that the food is GOOD.  There is lots of time for community building and spiritual growth too with whole staff trips to the beach and Maryanne's Ice Cream and worship times and breakout seminars.  So cool to have a job that gives you SO much more than just a paycheck! 

And now a little photographic trip down memory lane!  The first rock wall Ella ever climbed was in this place.

Fears of heights were conquered on the Discovery Grove.

Many a counselor and summer staff member made a lasting impact over the decade we attended.  I just marvel at how the Lord tends to those seeds we sow, weaves our stories in the best ways, and opens doors for us to use our unique gifts and passions to serve Him and His kingdom in soul-feeding ways!