Boy's Camp for All of Us

Peanut and Daddy-o have been going to the camp for the Young Men at church for the past few years, but this year, I got to join them as the nature specialist for the hikes! The three of us spent the week camping near Lassen Volcanic NP, and while Daddy-o barely left the campground, Peanut and I went on adventures each day in the area around us.

There are beautiful hikes in the area and I was really glad that I got to go to McCloud Falls with the youngest group.

We hiked from the lower falls to the other 2 and had a fabulous day that ended with most of the kids jumping into the lowest pool.

The next day, I got to hike with Peanut's group and we climbed Lassen Peak. 

It was a little crazy with the snow (first time I've used crampons), but a fun adventure for the boys.

And even though the hike was pretty challenging, I was proud of all the boys. 

A couple of the leaders did a great job encouraging the ones who were struggling and got them all to the top.

This kid is such a great hiker these days. He did end up with a headache at the top, probably because of the altitude, but he did it.

One of the main things I was in charge of were the night hikes. We went to the lava tubes that were just outside our campground, learned a little about UV fluorescence, and enjoyed finding all the things in the area, like rocks, insect trails, scorpions, and moss. The kids had a lot of fun and two of the groups found so many scorpions!

My other job was doing some nature journaling with the youngest two groups. I wish we'd had time with the oldest group, too, but our hike took the whole day. But I loved how into it some of the kids got, and leaders, too. And I had a couple of the leaders tell me that they appreciated the reminder to not always just focus on getting to the destination, but to look around and slow down.

Along with hiking, Peanut did a 26-mile mountain bike ride one day, a ropes course, and had a few hours at waterfront where they cliff jumped at Bernie Falls, went knee boarding, and did tug-of-war in kayaks. 

I think they all had a pretty great week trying new things.

Peanut brought a friend along this year, and C said that it was the best week of his life. He even got up at the testimony meeting and bore his testimony about getting to learn about God and make new friends. It was pretty cool to be a part of that.

And then there's Daddy-o, who spends the whole week cooking for these boys.

And the boys are very appreciative of it. I don't think they can ever really understand how much work goes into the food part of camp, but they do love it and are very loud in their gratitude. 

He even planned for the couple of birthdays that happened up at camp this year, which included our guest. The boys loved getting cake the first night. They pretty much loved every meal, with the tri tip and mashed potato night finishing off a great week. I don't know if Daddy-o wants to do it again--4 years in the kitchen, and the last 2 at a camp without an actual kitchen, might be his limit, but he's given it his all while he's done it.

Boys Camp, 2025: Lassen Edition

The young men from church did something a little different for camp this year. They've had a challenge getting a traditional campground the past few years and decided to book a few group sites this year near Lassen National Park.

They planned hikes, mountain biking, kayaking and swimming for each of the groups.

And from all reports, the boys had a fantastic time.

Peanut's group didn't end up getting to hike in Lassen, but they did hikes each day at various places in the area.

Burney Falls was a popular destination.

It's a fun hike.

They also hiked a cinder cone volcano one day, and visited the lava tubes in the area.

They spent time at the waterfront as well, kayaking and playing. Peanut caught a lizard.

Back in camp, they also had a card games, lock picking, guns, and crafts. Peanut was really good at picking the most difficult lock--not sure what that means for his future, but hope he uses his superpower for good!

And then, there was Daddy-o. He spent the entire week in camp, barely moving from the make-shift kitchen that they set up.

But from all accounts, he was the most popular man in camp. The kids all raved about the food and were apparently cheering for him each night.

The food was fairly simple--it's hard to cook for 100 people without an actual kitchen, but they brought up griddles and large burners and were able to warm things up and do some simple, good cooking: biscuits and gravy with eggs and sausage, Frito chili boats, pasta with meat sauce. The highlight was the night Daddy-o smoked tri-tip and they made mashed potatoes and green beans. Seriously, the kids couldn't stop talking about it when they came home.

I'm so glad that there are so many great leaders who are willing to sacrifice so much time to make these camps happen for the church youth and their friends. It's such a positive experience for most of them.

And while Daddy-o and Peanut were away, and Bug was working 35 hours, I had a lot of quiet down time. Time to blog, and clean, and rest after the busy week I'd had before.

It was a great week for all of us.

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.