Girls Camp 2025

Many months of planning all led to this week with this amazing group of young women.

Camp Ritchie is such a beautiful spot in the Sierras. As hard as it is to get ready, and as exhausting as it is to work through the week, it is always incredible to be back up there.

And I do feel lucky that I get to spend my week hiking each day. We drove up on Tuesday and once everyone got settled, I headed out with a couple of other ladies to scout out the main part of the trail. We had a pleasant walk and found a huge mushroom, along with many types of wildflowers.

That evening we had a full moon (and our phones could not handle the lighting--the gravel road lit up like a green lawn in a magical forest, haha. It was pretty, but not this pretty.

Wednesday we got to head out for another hike: Shealor Lakes with the third years.

The girls did fabulous with the hike--they're a pretty chill group without anyone trying to race to the finish, and most did well with keeping up.

Only a few of them were interested in cooking any of their lunch this year, but those girls figured out how to set up and start the stoves and made their ramen and hot chocolate.

They got to jump off the rock there this year and it was so fun to watch a lot of them go from nervous to taking the leap. Most of the girls who swam ended up jumping before we left.

Hardest part of this hike is that it's quite a hike up the mountain to get out from the lake.

These mountains are gorgeous.

Back at camp, we ate amazing food, enjoyed spiritual moments with the girls, laughs with the other leaders, and a few of us even snuck off for a quick climb up the hill. It was so beautiful that evening that I got up early to show another one of the leaders who missed our evening hike.

The view of camp from up above is fun. You can just see all the green roofs from the cabins.

We found some cool moths that morning, too. I got called out by several different leaders to look at different things they found during the week. Even if it's mostly that I just have the app to identify things, it's fun to be the nature person.

And then, the Thursday hike with the second years means we get to kayak and canoe down to the dam and then hike back into camp. This year, the water was much higher than it has been and we were able to paddle in so far that the hike was much simpler. No bushwacking, and a couple of hours shorter hike than last year.

Our two lifeguards who paddled along with us decided that instead of waiting until the fishing boat could come and get all of the boats, they would try to string them together behind their kayaks. It was impressive when they were actually able to move the dozen boats out of the cove. And then we watched them get stuck just outside entrance to the cove, where the wind was pushing them back. Luckily, the motorboat was able to come quickly and saved them from doing the whole paddle back.

After we ate lunch on the shore, and filtered water, we scrambled up the dam and the girls led us back to camp.

We stopped by the big sugar cone pine tree,

and then finished the hike into camp.

And then there was just one more day of hiking, with the first years.

Even though the hike itself is the shortest and simplest, I love this one because we take some time to do nature journaling and the girls really seem to like it.

Getting to spend 15 minutes of silence in the woods, just paying attention to the details.

The girls checked out the big tree,

and then we finished the hike to the lake.

They had a couple of hours to eat and swim. It was such a great, chill day, which was what they needed. By the end of the week, the 11 & 12 year olds are often starting to struggle a little. Not enough sleep and constant activity.

It was such a great week and I'm always so impressed by these girls and their strong spirits and ability to do hard things and make the most of it.

And I came home, so tired and yet, rejuvenated.

Camp Ritchie, Oh How We Love Thee!

Guess who got to go to camp this year?!

Actually, we had two newbies--Daddy-o worked in the kitchen all week, and Peanut got to have his first Camp Ritchie experience. Bug was up there as a youth leader,

and I got to go up with these amazing women who I serve with over all the youth in our church in Pleasanton, Livermore, and Dublin.

Daddy-o was a hit in the kitchen. He worked hard (they all do in there) 

and made some delicious food, 

and I think even had fun (enough that he said he'd be willing to do it again next year.)

He was a huge hit with the girls when he came out with the churros (sorry for the terrible quality--someone sent me the video and it didn't come through well, but just know that the only man up there is Daddy-o, haha.)

I was working with this great lady on the day hikes.

 We only got to hike together the first day when we were scouting things out,

(and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of things I was seeing that I knew I wouldn't have time for on the rest of the hikes)

 and then we spent the next two days leading different groups of girls.

One of my groups got to canoe to another part of the lake

where they swam and jumped of rocks for a couple hours before we hiked a mile back to camp.

My other group did a longer hike and they were so awesome.

We hiked to Fanny Falls and then hung out there for about an hour, soaking our feet, filtering water, and eating lunch.

Some of them went all in, haha.

I love getting to be a part of these activities with the girls.

One of our goals with the hikes this year was to give the girls a chance to lead--we talked about what types of trail markers you might see on a hike and then let them find the way for us. We stopped at a couple fun sites--like this huge sugar pine tree and an osprey nest that is in the top of another tree near by. It's a beautiful hike.

I was just there the first half of the week when the girls were there, and then headed home on Thursday as the boys were driving up for their turn.

And then Peanut had his chance to try out all the fun.

From all reports, he had a great couple days. Repelling was his favorite, which I was pleasantly surprised because heights can make him a little nervous but apparently he's outgrown a lot of that.

Didn't get a lot of pictures of Bug, but here he is at the craft rotation. I love that the boys had this station this year. They made cards for foster kids, learned how to crochet, or played board games while they were there.

Bug spent weeks ahead of time working on camp with the other older boys--they were assigned a group to work with at camp, planned the activities, and Bug even got to design the t-shirts! He had a great time--it's a little sad that this is probably his last year. I kind of hate that our kids are growing up. But then there's all the new fun stuff coming, so it's fun to watch, too.

We Might Need to Stay Home a Little More

This is what our family room looks like when 3 of us went on three separate camping trips and are all finally home. It's been a crazy week--Bug backpacking and going to Boys camp, me joining the girls from church on a backpacking trip, and Daddy-o meeting up with high school friends for a night up by Mariposa.  We're finally all home and I hope we can catch up on sleep before the next crazy week starts.

I've got so much blogging to catch up on including two big trips from this spring/early summer, but I'm jumping in now and will fill in backwards at the same time. It was too overwhelming to wait until I caught up chronologically. I think Bean might have graduated from college before I could catch up, haha. 

Little Basin Campout

As we try to squeeze in as many summer adventures as we can before we become slaves to the computers and online school, we keep finding more redwood forests to visit. This time was an overnight camping trip to meet up with friends who were spending the week nearby in Big Basin.

We went hiking through yet another redwood forest (and they never get old).

Found a really cool tree.

Explored the creek.

The kids actually spent a lot of time running around the campground area where this creek was located. I love camping because they can just run wild and they don't seem to get tired of it.

This boy--he's always pushing those safety limits just a little. I'm glad he decided that he was NOT going to try to go all the way across. My stomach was queasy just watching him go as far as he did. But he did decide that he could do it if he was being chased by dinosaurs, which is how we evaluate every situation in our family. "I know you don't WANT to jump off that cliff/drive the car down the riverbed/swim across that half frozen lake, but would you do it if you were being chased by a dinosaur?"

It seems like we find something new every time we're out in nature. I've never seen moss like this.

After hiking, we went back to set up camp and make dinner. There was a huge, hollow stump next to our site and Peanut spent a lot of time perched at the top edge, covering it with sticks he found. I was happy that even without friends camping right by us, he found plenty to play and do while the rest of us set up camp and read.

After dinner, the M family came over for a campfire. We made s'mores and sang with the guitar and ukulele. Even though it was a short trip, it felt like we got all the camping musts squeezed in. We tore down camp the next morning, spent a few hours hanging out at the other campground so the kids could all run wild again, and then headed home, dirty, tired, and happy.