Join Balanced Rock and the Golden Trout Wilderness School for a 6-day summer camp full of exploration, outdoor skills, and connection in the Golden Trout Wilderness!
Photos courtesy of The Thacher School, Golden Trout Wilderness School, and Heather Sullivan.
-
The YETI (Youth Engaged in Transformational Inquiry) is a high-elevation summer camp for youth ages 10-14.
This is the 4th year of the YETI Summer Camp held at the Golden Trout Wilderness School in the Southern Sierra - positioned at 10,000 ft in elevation and 3.5 miles from the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead. Balanced Rock is excited for this partnership with the Golden Trout Wilderness School to offer this powerful program to youth in a remote mountain setting.
The theme for the YETI Youth Summer Camp is discovery through the lens of curiosity, attention, and wonder - skills taught in John Muir Laws Nature Journaling.
Classes and experiences offered during the camp week include:
Morning Mindfulness: (stretching, listening activities, meditation, breath work)
Wilderness Adventure: daily hiking, scrambling & wilderness exploration
Donkey 101: help with and learning how to care for donkeys
Art: daily art classes and time for art (there will be a journal requirement for students including both art and writing activities).
Nature Journaling: daily journaling and time for reflection in a journal
Wilderness Skills: navigation games, whittling, knot tying, map reading and more!
Heather Sullivan will serve as the Program Director, and Camp Instructors are Lupin Amstutz, M’so Jones, and Luca Perretti.
-
Pre-trip meeting (In-Person or Zoom Call) with trip instructors, youth, and parents/caregivers
Highly-skilled instructors and educators with Wilderness Medicine training
Nature journals will be provided for each student
Hand lens & knives for whittling during structured times
Nature journaling and art class instruction by professionals in the field
Play time by alpine creeks and lakes
Games and group-forming activities
Daily hikes and exploratory adventures, option to try rock-climbing
Visits to the ancient foxtail pines (trees almost 4,000 years old)
Astronomy lessons, stargazing, and the opportunity to sleep under the stars
Breathtaking views of Mt. Langley (14,000 ft peak) in the High Sierra
Opportunities to fish in fully-stocked high alpine lakes
Delicious, healthy meals prepared by a dedicated camp chef
Geology, geography, and other lessons
Student-led performances and games
Inspiring and fun campfires
Facilitated discussions
-
Schedule Overview
The Week at-a-Glance
Sunday (Arrival Day)
· Arrival at the trailhead by noon.
· We have a 3-mile hike with an elevation gain of approximately 500 ft to the camp.
· Arrive at camp, and settle in by dinner.
We strongly recommend spending a night at the trailhead (or other higher elevation location) before the retreat to help with acclimatization to altitude for a more comfortable experience.
Monday (Acclimatization and Orientation to Camp Systems)
· Day 2 will include an orientation to camp and learning the systems to ensure each student is comfortable.
· In the afternoon, we will likely enjoy a short exploratory walk for altitude acclimatization, and an art session.
· Camp games and icebreaker activities
Tuesday (Sense of Place Day)
· Deeper exploration of our surroundings: hike, art activity, nature journal, & games
· See tentative daily schedule below. Also, we will likely offer an afternoon outing.
Wednesday or Thursday (Adventure Days & Challenge Hike Days)
· Depending on weather and acclimatization, we will have one day that involves climbing instruction and a scrambling adventure, and another day as a challenge hike. For those who are returning to the camp, there may be opportunity for a one-night overnight camp-out. We will also have our closing campfire on Thursday.
Friday (Departure Day)
· Hike out after breakfast, departing by 8:00 AM.
· Arriving at the trailhead by noon for good-byes and departure.
Sample Daily Schedule
Pre-breakfast: Morning Mindfulness session
8:00 AM: Breakfast and pack lunches
Morning: Art or Nature Journaling, Hike, or Adventure
12:00 PM: Lunch
Afternoon: Games, Adventure, Hike, Wilderness Skills
Free Time: (supervised by chaperones)
6:00 PM: Dinner
Evening: Campfire or Evening Program
-
Our retreat will be based out of the Golden Trout Wilderness School. Operating under a Special Use Permit from the Forest Service, the Golden Trout Wilderness School offers education programs throughout the summer. We are thrilled to partner with them for this incredible summer retreat.
Facility Amenities:
Running water
Composting toilets
Sweet and mellow donkeys that remind us how to relax and simply be
Shared tent cabins with cots
Gear for learning wilderness skills, nature journals, & yoga mats
Arrival Location:
We will meet at Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead, on Sunday, June 21st @ noon. Here are is the Google Maps link to our meeting point. Please ensure you DO NOT go to the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead.
There is a walk-in campground at Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead, and we recommend you spend a night there before the trip to help your body acclimatize to the altitude. There are bear lockers at the trailhead, and you will need to empty your vehicle of any food and scented items prior to hitting the trail. You can safely park your vehicle at the trailhead for the duration of the trip.
We encourage carpooling and will create space during the pre-trip Zoom to discuss and help coordinate carpooling if there is interest.
-
$1,495/person
Balanced Rock strives to offer affordable programming to all of our interested participants. If you need financial assistance or are seeking scholarship opportunities to attend this program, please contact us to request an application.
-
Every registered participant will be emailed a very specific gear list, along with multiple opportunities to speak with our staff and trip leaders about gear so you feel fully prepared for this adventure.
Balanced Rock has limited gear available for loan, or can offer guidance on renting gear. Please inquire with our team if you need assistance or have questions regarding what to pack.
-
All participants will be required to read and sign the Health & Safety Policy for Programs at registration.
-
We understand plans change. If you cancel your registration more than 1 month prior to the trip start date (before May 21, 2026 for this program), you will receive a full refund minus a $50 registration fee to the credit card on file.
If you cancel your registration less than 1 month prior to the program start date, you will not be eligible to receive a refund. As a small nonprofit, we are not able to make any exceptions to this refund policy.
All participants will be required to read and accept our Cancellation and Refund Policy upon registration.
Meet Your Guides
HEATHER SULLIVAN
Program Director & Trip Leader
Heather has lived in the Yosemite area for over 20 years. The steep granite valley walls, seasonal change of the river song, and community of animals and humans have deeply shaped her being and worldview. Co-Founder of Balanced Rock, she continues to serve as Executive Director using her skills of non-profit management and leadership, group facilitation, community building, mentorship, and program development to hold the vision and lead the organization through its continued evolution.
She delights in creating unique, powerful programs and supporting staff and instructors to shine their magic in the world. She is a gifted teacher and seasoned mountain guide at heart and makes sure to get in the field as an instructor each season.
Want to speak with the Program Director? Send us an email to get your questions answered and learn more about this program!
LUCA PIERETTI
Support Guide
My name is Luca Pieretti, and I grew up in the chaparral hills and right point breaks of Santa Barbara, California. I came to the Sierra Nevada and GTWS first as a Thacher School first-year student for orientation, and then, more formatively, later that year (2017) as a GTWS Range of Light Wilderness Immersion Program student. That profound experience not only helped me develop a range of wilderness and leadership skills, as well as the opportunity for deep self-reflection, but also left me with a deep reverence for the mountains and their creatures, and an unshakeable longing to return.
I came back to GTWS in 2019 as a humble worker, and again in 2021. Since June 2022, I have spent my summers as the GTWS manager and packer: caring for and packing the donkeys, helping run GTWS, and backpacking and scrambling around the sublime Eastern Sierra. In the months in between my summer work, I earned my Wilderness First Responder certification, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with distinction from Colorado College, and was accepted into a PhD program in Social Psychology, for which I will be attending this fall. Beyond school and work, I'm an avid runner and nature journal-er, and love to surf, read, write, hike, and create.
I am eagerly looking forward to another awesome summer among the Foxtails, sharing my awe, curiosity, and deep gratitude for the natural world!
LUPIN AMSTUTZ
Support Guide
Lupin grew up at the foot of the Sierra, born and raised in El Portal with Yosemite as her backyard. She spent much of her life scrambling through the forest, rafting the clear rivers, climbing the vast granite formations, floating in Mono Lake, and learning about the wild place she calls home. Most of her adventures were centered around the Northern Sierra but she found a love for the Golden Trout Wilderness a few years back when she spent a few of her summers working at the wilderness school, as a “toiler”. Now, as an educator and camp counselor, she is excited to continue to share her love for this place at the YETI camp.
After toiling at Golden Trout and attending high school in Mariposa, Lupin spent a gap year studying Spanish and playing soccer in the south of Spain. Being overseas made her appreciate the landscape she grew up in and realize her passion for diving deeper into learning its secrets and sharing them with others. She is now finishing her second year at UC Santa Cruz where she is studying Environmental Studies and Biology with a Spanish minor. She also is a part of the school’s Adventure Recreation program where she leads backpacking, climbing, and kayaking trips for other students. Work and school are complemented by playing club soccer, jumping in the ocean, biking around and dancing as much as possible.
She cannot wait to return and continue to explore the Golden Trout Wilderness this summer!
From Burnout to Balance Series: a collection of FREE workshops brought to you by Yosemite Health and Wellness in partnership with Balanced Rock. Open to all park partners and community members.
In these 2-hour workshops, participants will learn how to recognize common stress responses in themselves, understand what their nervous system may be asking for in moments of overwhelm or shutdown, and practice tools that can be used on the job and in everyday life.
Participants will register for one session on the date and location of their choosing by selecting an option below. This will be the same workshop in four different locations to offer access to the varied communities in Yosemite.
Locations: Yosemite Valley, Wawona, Mather District, and Tuolumne Meadows
Dates & Times:
June 15: Yosemite Valley (Yosemite Valley Library) • 5:00pm - 7:00pm
June 16: Wawona (Community Center) • 5:00pm - 7:00pm
June 17: Mather District (Rush Creek Lodge) • 5:00pm - 7:00pm
June 18: Tuolumne Meadows (Picnic Tables by SAR Cache) • 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Your Facilitator: Paula Wild