Notes from the Road: A Taste of Quest

Last week, 12 Tawonga teens ventured into Yosemite National Park to experience A Taste of Quest: six days of adventure on the road! Much like A Taste of Camp, this shorter, six-day Quest is designed to give teens a taste of what the longer, two to three week programs feel like. Below, check out some highlights from this epic wilderness road trip:

Questers

12 teens: a mix of girls and boys and 7th and 8th graders
Longer Quests take groups of 7th-8th graders as well as 9th-10th graders on trips.

A Taste of Quest Leaders

Rafi Ronquillo and Hannah Swernoff

Quest Highlights

• Adventuring in Yosemite National Park! Highlighted by a two-night backpacking trip to Snow Creek where the group had a great time sliding down rocks into the water, swimming and relaxing with Half Dome as the backdrop to their beautiful campground. 
• Exploring Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley
• Bonding over taking a new spin on the popular Camp game “Mafia”

New this Year

Based on experience and feedback, this year, A Taste of Quest was entirely based out of Yosemite for the full week, as opposed to basing it out of Camp Tawonga like in previous years. According to Quest leaders, structuring it in this way was very helpful for the Questers to be able to better bond as a group and to establish communal living.

Quest Leader Inspiration

I wanted to be a Quest leader because I think taking children into the backcountry can be a super empowering and bonding experience. I love getting to see kids feel proud of themselves and of the group.
– Hannah Swernoff

Below are photos from A Taste of Quest as well as from activities at Camp today.

This evening, we are so excited to have our first Shabbat of the summer with the campers! In order to celebrate together as a community, no overnight trips take place tonight, and all cabins are in Camp. Soon, we’ll gather for a Shabbat Stroll, dressed in our finest (for Camp-wear at least!). We’ll share some photos later tonight – Shabbat Shalom!