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Broncho Express

Volume 3 Issue 1          

September 2010

Editor: Paige Baumgardner

Reporters: Zoe Ottoboni, Cassie Schuman, Cassie Ingham, Hannah Paquette, Miguel Mendoza

Advisor: Mr. Klug

The Broncho Express newspaper may contain facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of staff, students and third party individuals. The Broncho Express news staff does not represent or endorse the accuracy, currentness or reliability of any advice, grammar or opinion.

Backpacking in the Sierras!

Hannah Paquette

On September 9, 2010 the Geyserville Backpacking Club departed on their four day adventure into Tahoe’s Desolation Wilderness. This year’s backpacking club consisted of ten members: the counselors, Mr. Klug and Ms. Bertolucci, and the students, Hannah Paquette, Kelsie Jones, Kevin Johnson, Brett Wilson, Lupe Gonzalez, Orlando Castro Perez, Selena Galvez, and Jeannie LeGallee. This was the first backpacking trip for all of the students, except Hannah Paquette who attended last year’s trip, and all have said that they are excited to come back again next time.

The journey began with a four hour car ride ascending into mid-eastern California’s Sierra Nevada range. Upon their arrival into southern Lake Tahoe, the group enjoyed their last modern meal and set up camp at a local campsite. This test camp was to ensure that all gear, food, and necessities of backpacking were in mint condition and ready to hit the trail. Once everyone had all their gear approved by Mr. Klug, the team called it a night and got their rest for the vigorous hike ahead of them.

After leaving the campsite and saying their sweet goodbyes to running water and flushing toilets, the club took a short drive to the Eagle Falls trailhead where the true excursion would start. Klug and Bertolucci warned that the first day would be the hardest. First the entire club’s bodies had to adjust to the high altitude. Many experienced swelling fingers and shortness of breath, but as the trip progressed, their bodies adjusted to the climate. Other challenges of the first day included heavy backpacks and most difficult climb.

After four hours of hiking a steep uphill slope, the gang arrived at Lower Velma Lake at roughly 2:00 p.m. where they set up camp on the great granite terrain. The group’s first instinct after setting up their tents was to rest and enjoy the scenery of the clear lake, blue skies, and shining mountains. With roughly four hours to kill before dinner, the group explored the granite cliffs happily without their packs and later started an enjoyable game of hacky-sack.

When the time came for dinner, everyone walked down to the clear brook to pump clean water for dinner. The menu for the trip consisted more or less of instant mashed potatoes, top ramen, Mt. Mikes instant meals, and hot chocolate. Mr. Klug even brought freeze dried Neopolitian ice cream, or “Space man ice cream.” Though everything the clan ate had to have water added, everyone ate well and had a full, happy belly by the end of the day.

The backpack team at the Eagle Falls trailhead.

After cleaning all their dishes, everyone helped in hanging the food. The hikers would put all their edibles, dishes, and scented materials (including toothbrushes and hand wipes) in their sleeping-bag bags and tie them to a rope to hang in a tree. By hanging the food, the group not only protected themselves, their food, and camp from hungry curious critters, but the critters as well because the animals would have otherwise found the food and ate it, leaving the campers without food and the creatures with aching stomachs. Once the food was securely hung in a tree, everyone was able to finally head to bed and get ready for the next day’s hike.

On day three the group packed up camp with the sun and headed back down the mountain to Chad Lake. Though the terrain was mostly downhill or flat, the hike proved more difficult and tiring in length. That day the gang hiked a whopping 8 miles and was ready to set up camp anywhere. They stopped as soon as they hit the lake and were already settling in when Mr. Klug pointed out that the spot chosen conflicted with Desolation Wilderness camping rules. So despite the groups aching bodies, they had to pack up what little they had out and hike another three minutes to a camp site that wouldn’t get the tired campers in trouble. In the long run, the second camp spot ended up being better than the first one and the hikers were grateful for the move.

The team set up camp and was excited for their last day hiking out. They planned to leave as early as possible in order to be all the way home around 2:00 p.m. but things didn’t exactly go as planned.

Members slept in and took their time filling their water bottles and getting water for breakfast because everyone was tired. They gang didn’t pack up and head out of camp until nearly 10:00 a.m. but didn’t mind too much because they were rejuvenated and ready to make the final push out of Desolation Wilderness. The last day’s terrain was mostly flat and everyone had a quick pace. After only taking three short breaks, the team finally reached Meeks Bay where they waited for the Tahoe bus to take them back to Eagle Falls. The bus was similar to the trolley cars in San Francisco and the group enjoyed feeling the wind rush through their hair as they looked out at the breathtaking Lake Tahoe.

The trip ended happily with beautiful scenery. Though the hikers were happy to be heading back to civilization, they admitted they would miss the beauty of their hike and the experience with nature. Before even reaching the vans back at Eagle Falls, plans for the next backpacking trip were already in way.

The group arrived home around 6:00 p.m. and plans on another trip to the coast in the spring.