2008 Woodie Awards
Students to ditch turkey for Cornish game hen in Yosemite
Group led by Adventure Outings to pass up family time for camping, hiking in Yosemite National Park
By: Katherine Jarvis
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: Features
There won't be any candlesticks, tablecloths or china for some students this Thanksgiving. There probably won't even be a turkey.
While many students will be celebrating Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends, there is a small group of students who will be eating their Thanksgiving dinner in Yosemite National Park, as part of an Adventure Outings trip that takes place Sunday through Nov. 29.
The people involved with the trip will be camping, so their meal will be cooked outside, said senior Ellsworth Faris, special projects coordinator for Adventure Outings and one of the two leaders for the Yosemite trip. But that does not mean they won't have something close to a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
"One thing students seem to think when camping is that all their food has to be freeze-dried and completely devoid of taste, but it doesn't have to be that way," he said.
A lot of the food will be cooked in a Dutch oven, including the Thanksgiving feast, Faris said. He and the other leader, junior Matt Davis, have discussed cooking a Cornish game hen instead of a turkey because a turkey might be too big for the oven. Other dishes and desserts will be discussed with people going to Yosemite.
There are six people signed up to attend the trip, Faris said. That allows for everyone to travel in one van.
Most Adventure Outings trips are weekend trips, so a weeklong trip gives both the leaders and participants a better chance to get to know each other, Faris said. They can also explore Yosemite more and do lots of backpacking.
In pre-trip meetings, Faris and Davis discuss a general structure for the trip, but they also want to make sure the trip is one the participants want to experience, Faris said.
While sophomore Jacquelyn Mercure has been to Yosemite before, she decided to go on the trip because it seemed like an interesting outing, she said. She is excited for the trip and sees it as an opportunity to explore it further with people who are experienced with the area.
"I just want to experience it and go with it and just see what happens," she said.
The price to go on the Yosemite trip is close to the price it would cost Mercure to fly home to Southern California, she said. She discussed it with her parents, and since her family isn't doing much for Thanksgiving, she thought it would be a good idea.
But Mercure did go back and forth on the idea since she wanted to see her family, she said. She will miss her parents, brother and dog, but with winter break only a few weeks after Thanksgiving, she will get to see them soon. She thinks going to Yosemite will be a nice break from everything.
"Going away on your own sometimes is that breath of fresh air you need," she said.
By going to Yosemite, participants have the chance to experience the holiday somewhere other than home or Chico, said Adventure Outings coordinator Ann Marie Redente. It gives students from out of the area a chance to do something over the holidays.
"It's a chance to get out of Chico and see a lot of different sites in a relatively short period of time," she said.
This is the first weeklong trip to Yosemite in many years, Redente said. There is also a trip planned for the Klamath River from Friday to Nov. 26, but it was almost canceled because there weren't enough participants.
"It's a really unique way to spend the holidays," Redente said. "I would imagine it would be unforgettable for the participants."
Katherine Jarvis can be reached at
kjarvis@theorion.com
While many students will be celebrating Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends, there is a small group of students who will be eating their Thanksgiving dinner in Yosemite National Park, as part of an Adventure Outings trip that takes place Sunday through Nov. 29.
The people involved with the trip will be camping, so their meal will be cooked outside, said senior Ellsworth Faris, special projects coordinator for Adventure Outings and one of the two leaders for the Yosemite trip. But that does not mean they won't have something close to a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
"One thing students seem to think when camping is that all their food has to be freeze-dried and completely devoid of taste, but it doesn't have to be that way," he said.
A lot of the food will be cooked in a Dutch oven, including the Thanksgiving feast, Faris said. He and the other leader, junior Matt Davis, have discussed cooking a Cornish game hen instead of a turkey because a turkey might be too big for the oven. Other dishes and desserts will be discussed with people going to Yosemite.
There are six people signed up to attend the trip, Faris said. That allows for everyone to travel in one van.
Most Adventure Outings trips are weekend trips, so a weeklong trip gives both the leaders and participants a better chance to get to know each other, Faris said. They can also explore Yosemite more and do lots of backpacking.
In pre-trip meetings, Faris and Davis discuss a general structure for the trip, but they also want to make sure the trip is one the participants want to experience, Faris said.
While sophomore Jacquelyn Mercure has been to Yosemite before, she decided to go on the trip because it seemed like an interesting outing, she said. She is excited for the trip and sees it as an opportunity to explore it further with people who are experienced with the area.
"I just want to experience it and go with it and just see what happens," she said.
The price to go on the Yosemite trip is close to the price it would cost Mercure to fly home to Southern California, she said. She discussed it with her parents, and since her family isn't doing much for Thanksgiving, she thought it would be a good idea.
But Mercure did go back and forth on the idea since she wanted to see her family, she said. She will miss her parents, brother and dog, but with winter break only a few weeks after Thanksgiving, she will get to see them soon. She thinks going to Yosemite will be a nice break from everything.
"Going away on your own sometimes is that breath of fresh air you need," she said.
By going to Yosemite, participants have the chance to experience the holiday somewhere other than home or Chico, said Adventure Outings coordinator Ann Marie Redente. It gives students from out of the area a chance to do something over the holidays.
"It's a chance to get out of Chico and see a lot of different sites in a relatively short period of time," she said.
This is the first weeklong trip to Yosemite in many years, Redente said. There is also a trip planned for the Klamath River from Friday to Nov. 26, but it was almost canceled because there weren't enough participants.
"It's a really unique way to spend the holidays," Redente said. "I would imagine it would be unforgettable for the participants."
Katherine Jarvis can be reached at
kjarvis@theorion.com
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