Sierra Slam Quest 2025

Today’s blog post takes you behind the scenes of Tawonga’s 2025 Sierra Slam Quest. A group of twelve young adventurers and two wilderness leaders went out on a trip through Yosemite, a ride along the Tioga Road, and got to explore unique and beautiful swimming spots. Enjoy highlights and photos below from this quest! We have a feeling these questers may be back for more next season after an amazing experience out in the California wilderness!

Quest Leaders

Alana Coffman and Isaiah Curtis

Questers

12 Questers entering 7th and 8th grade

Quest Itinerary

• Three-day backpacking trip through the famous Yosemite National Park, carrying only necessities on our backs as we trekked through the forest 
• Gorgeous ride along the scenic Tioga Road to Mammoth Lakes, known for its huge size and surrounding mountains
• Canoe tour of Mono Lake gave our questers an up close and personal view of the tufas (unusual rock formations) and the home of thousands of birds
• Questers swam in scenic lakes and rivers and relaxed in natural hot springs
• Off the South fork of the American River, questers paddled class 2 and 3 white water rapids in a potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience
• Assisted the American River Conservancy to give back to the environment that gave us such a fun week

Quest Highlights

• Shabbat dinner and hearing the crackle of grape juice putting out the fire
• Quest bonding as we hiked up to the breathtaking Chilnualna Falls
• Learning about the tufas at Mono Lake and their unique origin

Quest Leader Inspiration

Quest leader Isaiah reflects on why they led this Quest:

“My favorite part of the job is teaching kids to love adventure & nature, especially by modeling my own excitement for these things”