Welcome Campers!

You've registered — there's still more you need to do before camp!

Check back here for updates to our 2011 camper information. (Last revised 6/28/11)

Important information for registered campers is available online. This information (or links pointing here) have been emailed to registered campers who gave us their email addresses, and mailed by US Mail to everyone else.

Important! Even if you do not receive email, or did not receive that particular email message, you are responsible for complying with any requirements listed here!

Sliding-Scale Youth Campers:

Please arrive at camp by 1:00 PM on Sunday July 3 so you can help setting up camp.

General Information about Camp

Camp opens on Sunday, July 3, 2011, with registration outside Randolph Lodge and settling in to your cabin starting at 2:00 p.m. Everyone's help getting camp set up will be greatly appreciated! Dinner that night will be served at 5:30 p.m., dancing will begin at 7:30 p.m., and an informative gathering along with staff introductions and brief class descriptions will be held during the dance around 9:00 p.m. Since it will be much easier to settle into your cabin for the first time before dark, we strongly suggest you plan to arrive at camp well before 5:30 and bring a flashlight.

If you are coming from the San Francisco Bay area, driving time is approximately 1 hour or less from San Francisco and the Peninsula. Driving directions are simple, but expect winding roads through the woods. If you are coming from outside the Bay Area, please let us know if you would like help arranging for carpool or other transportation to and from camp.

Printed copies of the camp schedule and the map of Camp will be available when you check in and will be posted around camp. Preliminary copies (subject to change) are available here:

• Driving Directions (PDF)
• Daily Schedule (PDF)
• Map of Camp (PDF)

Emergency information and some answers to frequently asked questions about pets, cell phone service, telephones, electricity and temperatures are in a convenient one-page information sheet.

While at camp, we ask that you leave your car parked and walk along the roads or foot paths from your cabin or camp site to the Dining and Dance Halls, the toilets and showers, and the Meadow. There is some wonderful hiking in the area, so bring hiking shoes and water bottle. See our recommendations for gear to bring to camp.

You will receive three healthy and tasty all-you-can-eat meals a day. If you have not yet specified your dietary restrictions, please contact us immediately. Fruit for snacking will be available throughout the day in the Dining Hall. If you want to bring your own snacks, be aware that camp is in the woods, and the local residents are extremely clever at breaking into your food stash (especially the raccoons!!). We strongly recommend against bringing food into your cabin; you'll want to keep it in your car, or at least have a raccoon-proof storage container, and keep the cabin doors securely latched. NOTE: the raccoons here have seen it all. They can get into locked containers that would keep you out.

Please note that smoking and alcohol are prohibited on the YMCA grounds.

The week will end after the afternoon dance party on Friday, July 8, but we ask that campers be out of their cabins with the floor swept by lunchtime to allow the camp facilities staff to begin preparing for the next camper group. Camp officially ends with the afternoon dance party on Friday, then the entire camp staff (and all campers who can) will head down the hill to Palo Alto for dinner, followed by the gala Post-Camp Contra Dance at the beautiful Lucie Stern Center. We just can't get enough, so camp extends beyond the boundaries of Jones Gulch and takes in Palo Alto!

Members of our much-sought-after musical staff will be playing or calling at nearby dances before and after camp. Please come early before camp, and stay in the Bay Area after camp, and meet our extended dance community who couldn't join us at camp!

These deadlines are all past:

Information Needed by May 15

• Food Allergies & Dietary Restrictions – tell the Registrar by email, phone, or US Mail by May 15 so the Camp Chef can make plans to accomodate your needs

Information Needed by June 5

• Payment of any remaining Balance Due

Information Needed by June 12 — Deadline Extended!

• Deadline Extended! Last Day to order a T-Shirt ($19 each). Please email your quantities/styles/sizes selection no later than June 12, and pay for your shirt at camp

Information Needed by June 15

• Signed Waiver and Release form [PDF] as required by the YMCA. Print it, sign it, and mail it or email a scanned image of the signed form to the Registrar no later than June 15. If you are unable to print this PDF file, please call or email the Registrar and ask for a printed copy to be mailed to you. If you have not signed and submitted this form the YMCA will not allow you into camp.
• Request to our Hospitality & Transportation Coordinator before June 15 if you need assistance with housing before or after camp
• Request to our Transportation Coordinator before June 15 if you need assistance with local transportation to or from camp