Notes from the Road: Sierra Slam

July 29, 2021

Today’s blog post takes you behind the scenes of Tawonga’s recent Sierra Slam Quest.

Session B families and fans: Below, you can check out today’s Tidbit as well as the Session B photo gallery.

Earlier this month, the Sierra Slam Quest returned from two weeks camping, hiking, swimming, canoeing and river rafting.

Enjoy highlights and photos below!

Quest Leaders

Jacob Greiner and Colleen Woo

Questers

12 Questers ages 12 – 13 yrs old

Quest Itinerary

Camping at Diamond O campground in Groveland
Backpacking at Snow Creek in Yosemite with views of Half Dome
Day Hikes at Yosemite Creek and to Eagle Lake in Tahoe
River rafting on the American River
Canoeing on Mono Lake
Swimming at all destinations including June Lakes, Lake Tahoe and on the American River

Quest Highlights

Campers working together and helping each other across the rope-slack
Taking a moment of silence at the Half Dome viewpoint during sunset
Bonding over being dirty and washing off in the river
Burying each other in sand at Tahoe Beach
Campers overcoming the disappointment of not getting to swim in Eagle Lake due to thunder
Seeing campers grow in comfort in the outdoors over the two weeks together

Quest Leader Inspiration

Quest leaders Jacob and Colleen reflect on why they wanted to lead a Quest:

“To provide a transformative experience that will stick with campers for a long time and to help connect them to nature.”

“To lead something epic.”

🍳 Today’s Kitchen Menu

Breakfast

🥚 Scrambled eggs with hashbrowns and melon

Lunch

🍔 Turkey sloppy joes with bell peppers, onions mushrooms and corn chips

🍇 Fruit: Grapes

Dinner

🥬 Noodle dinner with cherry tomatoes, kale and swiss chard, veggies and dinner rolls

🍪 Dessert: Chocolate chip cookies

A Note on Alternative Foods
🥑 Tasty vegetarian and vegan options are available for every meal, in addition to a “middle table” with alternative meal options to meet every camper’s needs.

🥣 During breakfast, the middle table offers a wide selection of cold cereal and milk (dairy-free options too), in addition to hot cereal with toppings. Each lunch and dinner, campers can choose from options at the middle table, like sun-butter and jelly sandwiches, tuna sandwiches and hummus.

🏕 Backpacking Trips and Challenge Course

Today

Galil unit bunks G-3, B-3 and B-4 are on day two of their backpacking trips. G-4 campers are having a sleepover at the river and AG-4 is on a car camping trip.

Bunks B-10, B-11 and B-12 are having fun on the Challenge Course.

Tomorrow

Bunks of Galil unit (G-3, G-4, AG-4, B-3 and B-4) will be returning to Camp from their backpacking and camping trips.

Bunks B-1 and B-2 will get their turn on the Challenge Course.

🎂 Birthdays

What’s so special about today? We’re celebrating the birthday of Tawonga’s Head of Waterfront Helen M.! Happy birthday Helen – enjoy your birthday bowl.

Curious what celebrating a birthday at Camp Tawonga looks like? Check out this post.

☀️ How’s the Weather?

Sunny with a high of 96, low of 67

When it’s hot out, campers and staff alike enjoy cooling off in the pool during free swim.

🛶 Did You Know …

Tawonga offers more than just Camp over the summer; we also offer Adventure Quests for teens! These one to three week long fun-filled road trips include adventures like whitewater rafting, backpacking, caverns and more! Currently, Tawonga teens are out on Northwest Quest and Sierra Slam 2 Quest where teens are rock climbing in Oregon and canoeing in Mono Lake.

The Tawonga Tidbit provides a daily dose of Camp with our kitchen menu, Camp birthdays and more. We hope this series brings you a bit closer to Tawonga!

Photos from today

Enjoy photos from this morning and afternoon of B-8B and B-7 during unit swim, G-12, G-11, AG-9 and G-10 getting crafty at A&C, G-11 and G-12 at Pipeline and B-11, B-10 and B-12 tackling the challenge course.

Please note: If you don’t see a camper pictured from one of the bunks listed above, rest assured, our blog team will be working to get them up by tomorrow.