NCSY GIVE WEST: Day 19 Recap

[Written by Tamar Pasternak, East Brunswick, NJ]
This morning on GIVE WEST, I boarded the bus and watched a movie as we traveled to Yosemite. We got to Yosemite and we saw the beautiful waterfall in the distance! We took a group picture with the waterfall in the background. We went back on the bus, 20 more minutes until we reached our hiking spot. We ate lunch at the lodge and we learned with our advisors. I had the privilege of learning with Gavriela, my assistant director, the first 4 mishnayot of Pirkei Avot. Then we Hiked the lower falls hike at Yosemite….it was AMAZING! We hiked for about 15 minutes and then we saw a bridge. I ran over the bridge and we saw a ton of people walking toward the waterfall. I hiked over the logs toward the huge rocks leading under the waterfall. I hiked with Gavriela and Sarah Hanian all the way to the top!!! It was slippery at the top because of the mist coming from the waterfall. I went under a huge boulder and touched the water. It was rushing down and strong. I was the highest one today! It was very windy and we were soaked within minutes. We hiked down and swam a little bit. Then we finished the hike with the rest of the group. We filled up our water bottles and boarded the bus for the next long drive to Vacaville, CA. We made a stop at Denny’s for snacks and restrooms. After three long hours on the bus, we finally made it to Vacaville. We ate dinner at our hotel, cleaned the bus, settled into our rooms, and then ran into the pool for night swim! I am looking forward to a great day in San Francisco tomorrow!