Salutations from Trinity County CA!

Hello family and friends. I have been having a great time. Today I went white water rafting. The cabins are great. That’s it, goodbye.

~ Chris

Hi everybody (friends, family, etc.),

I’ve had a somewhat fun time here camping and such, first we stayed in a horrible campsite which the cabins were infested with crickets and spiders. I HATE SPIDERS AND CRICKETS SO MUCH, I literally did not sleep for two days.

Then we left and went to this beautiful place but I have the feeling that I should expect something bad will happen soon…

Anyway I took a LOT  of pictures and will be coming back home soon to get them developed.

P.S. If you are reading this dad, I hope you fed the snake on time.

~ Arielle

Today we went rafting it was so much fun and we had the best guide on the trip the rapids weren’t very big but we found ways to make it fun can’t wait to have a great sleep before heading home.

-Nick

Today was by far the most amazing day of the trip; we went river rafting! In my opinion, nothing feels better then to jump in cold water after multiple hours in the hot sun! In total we spent around 4 hours on the Trinity River (most of which were spent in the water). After river rafting, we came back to the resort and relaxed before dinner. Since tonight was our last night, I decided to do something special for the nightly performance so Eleanor and I finally raced each other (I won ;) after a year of waiting. I am excited to see my family tomorrow, but I will definitely remember and cherish all the great memories I have made here. I’m coming home!

P.S.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

~ Natalia

I had a ton of fun today.  We had the best raft and guide ever!  Our rival groups were Emil’s and Sara’s.  The water was really cold but refreshing.  The rapids were amazing and we tried to hit the rocks.  Our lunch was yummmmehhh!  We had a ton of food which was good because I was really hungry.  I wonder how home is doing? Oh well ill be home tomorrow.  Hey Dad, Mom, and Kenny hope you’re all doing well.  J

~ Drew

What’s really great about the 8th grade trip is that it gives everyone an opportunity to bond with people at the end of the year before we say goodbye at graduation. Either you are not in their section at school, or you just never really hang out, it is an amazing time when everybody is together to talk and have a lot of fun. I feel like I did just that and I am so grateful that I could. Hi Mom, Dad, Ruby, and Lucy. I’ll see you soon.

~ Chiara

Thoughts from Trinity County

MEDICINE MOON

The Medicine Moon dances to his lips,

A hand to the mouth,

And it begins to sit,

And wait.

My insides fade as I think,

What emotions,

What pain,

Does this big moon hide?

Created by hands,

Changing something from what it’s not,

The pain inside me,

Makes my heart begin to rot.

As it is swallowed,

With utmost obedience,

The Medicine Moon stirs.

An orange container,

Signals a new day,

And as this moon begins to fade,

A door is opened,

And a new Medicine Moon follows.

~ Ella

 

Today was the 4^th day in the  8^th grade trip. We went on a community service project  and swam in the river. We also hiked to the Trinity Alp wilderness were we swam in the freezing cold river and jumped off of rocks. While walking alone and speaking to one of my classmates I re-learned to never take things for granted and to experience things that are in the present and to take it in because you never know if it will change. My perspective has changed in many ways which will help me in the future.

                     

~  Enyolli

The best parts of this trip in northern California are the funny moments. The moment when you hear “I cant find my pants.” Or when Lucas tries to slurp up all the jell-o on his plate in one slurp. On the kayak trip me and Emmanuel called the kelp in the ocean “ocotpus’s” and started screaming. When I saw Joe and Lucas’s skit of magic at night time it made my day the next three days. In the river cleaning today we were cleaning in the river me and Drew got completely soaked and started swimming when the first plan was to stay dray and not get wet. So much for that. In the cabins when me and Emmanuel were killing every spider in sight and shouting “HYPER-FUSE” . When everybody gets waaaaaaaay to competitive about shuffleboard and we all start screaming. And of course staying up late and shouting and screaming and having a good time in our cabins.

~ Isam

Sooooooo, we first went to Mendocino and the cabin’s where SCARRRYYY. It had lots of bugs, mainly spiders… Very big spiders, I mean Spiderman sized spiders. Isam was my cabin mate and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing there was spiders around me. Sooooo, Isam and I killed the man sized spiders with shoes and bug repellent. We also went kayaking and Isam was my partner again. We were fastest people there we were even faster then Natalia and Eva. Then we took a 6 hour drive all up to a very nice place called Trinity Alps, it was worth the bad cabins. My cabin is Joe, Drew, and Octavio. Today we went to cleaned up a river in the wilderness and after we went swimming, but I didn’t get to go swimming because I hurt myself before. Everyone was diving off a rock. And now I’m here sitting in the kitchen blogging for Todd because he made me. But also some good news was that THE HEAT WON.

~ Emmanuel

Today is Wednesday. The week has gone by so fast, every second I spent with the class of 2013 has been here and gone in an instant. Today we went on a long hike to a swimming hole in the river, and it was freezing. The day was so hot I felt like my face would melt off, but that soon changed when I jumped off the rock into the freezing water. From splashing my classmates to being terrified of the drop to the water from the jumping rock this day has been fun. Overall I’m exhausted and ready to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day, we will be river rafting for 4 hours, I better get that rest.

~ Eva

Every single time I jumped off a rock into the water hole, it reminded me of time passing. Every time I jumped, I didn’t know if I would hit the bottom.

Anyways, I feel like this trip is just going to be over in an instant and I really wish I could go back to yesterday or just keep time still JUST FOR ONE SECOND.

Anytime I hear a scream or a laugh from one of my classmates I can’t help but feel sad because I will never see these crazy, silly people together again after we graduate. The food is really good here.

~ Ella

Today we went to  Hayfork and did some volunteer work cleaning up a river. The TEACHERS didn’t tell us we’d be wading through a TEN foot high river so I didn’t bring shorts or a bathing suit so I went in my jeans….. I GOT SOAKED!!!!

Then we squashed back to the car and had a wet car ride back to the Hayfork Watershed Defense Council center and ate a good lunch that they threw for us as a thank you. I made a peanut butter jelly sandwich and had a snack bag filed with goodies. Sara copied my snack bag. (My snack bag was bigger) After everyone got back to camp we had about forty minutes to get ready for swimming in a waterhole. At least THIS time they Told us what we were going to do. So are group piled back into the vans and had a short drive to the beginning of the trail to the water hole. YAY three miles of walking.

~ Zeke  

One Long Drive!

The 8^th grade trip changed my entire outlook on life. Before the trip I thought we (humans) defined our environments, but now I realize that our environments define us. Every thought we think was brought up in our minds for a reason, something we saw, something we heard, and something someone else did. But thoughts, and also personality never just occur they happen because of something. When we die all we leave behind is our influence on the world.

 ~ Emmet

Today we had a delightful car ride of approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. About to hours into the drive we had a charming stroll (I would hesitate to call this one a hike). We took a break at a small river to skip rocks and wet our feet. Isabella fell in.

Trinity alp’s is beautiful with its lushly vegetated mountain’s and pretty rivers.

Our quarters are delightful.

~ An.

Kayaking Sea Caves and Hiking the Ecological Staircase

Hello, to anyone who is reading this! Today was day the 2^nd day in the 8^th grade camping trip. Yesterday was hot all day till night until this morning it was really cold. Not letting the cold weather stop us we went hiking about 10 miles. Afterwards going to the beach to go kayaking. Kayaking was a lot of fun; we also had to wear wetsuits, life vest, and water shoes. It was easy getting the hang of rowing the boat in the direction you wanted to go to. Going into many caves with the waves crashing against the rocks it was an experience I will never forget.

 Surviving the cold,

 ~ Enyolli

    Hi to my family back home!  The date is 6/3 and it is the 2^nd day of the 8^th grade

Trip.  Today I woke up 10 minutes before we left to go hiking and kayaking, I see this as an advantage because I got the most sleep.  We hiked around 10 miles to the pigmy forest, I felt like I was huge compared to these trees.  Then I had a lot of fun kayaking with my friends, we went through caves and encountered many sea anemones.  This is a great way to tie up my experience at PHS and I will always remember this great trip.

~ Octavio

6/3/13

Hello people! We have had a fun time so far. We have gone on many hikes (including a night hike), kayaking, and talent show performances. All of the activities have been fun and entertaining. Our favorite of these activities was kayaking because we got to go through big caves in the ocean in foggy weather. This is a fun experience that we will always hold with us.

Missin’ ya S.F.!

~ Alex and Laurel

Day 3 of survival week. It’s been hard, had to hike for an hour today, nearly didn’t make it. Our camp has been infiltrated by spiders and scorpions and supplies are low. The moral of the group is quickly rising at the thought of leaving this place for better grounds. Yesterday was a adventurous day. We went kayaking through caves, searched for buried treasure, saw a blowhole and ate seaweed. Later we hiked on a trail to the Pygmy forest but didn’t make it for the group was slowing us down. After renewing or energy by eating our delicious gourmet sandwiches made of cheap pickles and mustard we headed to another hike that was harder, longer, steeper, and had more potential to be extreme…

~ Lucas (extreme hiker)

It is the third ay as we are going to embark on a journey to the Trinity Alps. The car drive t0 the Trinity Alps would take up to 6 hours. In between stops we are going to take a hike on a trail and from there we are going to eat our lunch that we mad by our selves. Yesterday went Kayaking t explore two different sea caves and blowhole. After the kayaking we went on a 7-mile hike to look at the pygmy forest. Before that we had breakfast, which was mostly watermelon and oatmeal. The lunch was when we made ourselves a sandwich. Late in the after my group and I cook some dinner for the class. We made burritos. After dinner we had a performance with having people from our group show their talents in front of the class. We are going to perform more performances until the end of the trip.

6/4/13 at 7:09 AM in the morning!

~Diego

The children are hopeful. There is much jubilation and merrymaking in the woodlands. On Sunday two natives by the name of sprout and rainfall guided us through the wilderness at night. We where threatened to be left in the woods without provisions. We fear though that the route to the Trinity Alps will be strewn with dysentery and other common diseases. I fear that if the weather gets any more dangerous we will have to eat Isam. Everything has changed. I have found no gold on this journey. My kinfolk shall starve if I find no gold.

~ Joseph Mathias - Master pioneer 

Rants From the Road!

06/02/13

Tonight we went on a night hike. I was in the group with rainfall also known as nick (not to be confused with nick the student). I got to experience a number of things today, there was a long car drive with James and our van had a lot of fun. :) Then we got our cabin groups. After that we went on a short hike to see the big tree. Then I got to spend a lovely hour making dinner for everyone. Then we went on a night hike and got to see bats and other night critters. Now we are off to bed to rest for our next day packed full of adventures! :)

~ Becca

06/03/13

Last night was the most intense night camping I had ever had. When we arrived from the night hike it was getting really dark but after the journaling it was so dark I lost all sense of direction and I wasn’t able to find my cabin for the next half hour. When I finally entered my cabin I realized I had prepared nothing. My sleeping bag was still rolled up, my bed was littered with bugs, and Octavio and I had still not swept the spider webs  spiders/ other bugs away.

~ Lucas

06/03/13                                                                                                  Monday 6:53 AM

Hello people of normal society! Just kidding! But he everything is like see the world through the eyes of a wild animal. It is beyond amazing and everything is just beautiful. On our hike yesterday we went to big tree and did a solo hike. During my solo, I heard communicating to each other, literally.  Each bird’s call was amazing and original within itself. It blew my mind. And today we are going kayaking. That is going to be fun and I cant wait to feel the water on my face and get completely wet in the fresh water.

~Micelle

06/0313

Yesterday was a long day…

After almost three hours of driving we made it to Mendocino, we were quick to start our activities, and started our trip with a hike to “big tree”.  We had a tasty meal of spaghetti and vegetables, then headed out for our second hike of the day; a night hike. The night hike was scary and exciting, and I earned a lot about the different kinds of animals that come out during different periods of the day (and night). We were all very tired after the hike, so we went to our tents and settled in for the night. I must say that it is really beautiful here, but camping is still not my cup of tea!

~ Natalia