Program and Activities
We enjoy a wide variety of activities each session! The camper daily schedule includes time for both full and smaller group activities, free time, and service projects. Staff are trained to support campers in self care, making friends and enjoying life at camp. They work together to foster each camper's creativity, responsibility, independence and leadership skills.
Creative Fun
We make our own fun each session, our program staff plan and lead a variety of creative activities! Some favorites from recent summers include: skit nights, nature art, singing and songwriting, jewelry making, frisbee, tie-dye, peace-pets/fabric arts, poetry workshops, Secret Friends, campfires, and zany all-camp games like camouflage, zombie town, and fruit-ninja-basket. Camp is a great place to have fun trying something new, as well as share your current passions, in a supportive and collaborative environment!
Nature and Stewardship
We try to minimize our environmental footprint at camp, and maximize time outdoors. Connecting to nature happens throughout the days and weeks at camp. This may be through swimming and boating on the lake, quiet time outside listening to birdsong, hiking on camp or nearby Carson National Forest, sleeping under the stars in lush meadows, picking greens for dinner, moving rocks and digging trails for better erosion control, feeding the wormbox, or watching a thunderstorm roll in deciding when to seek shelter.
Plork (play+work) projects
Staff lead various small group projects such as building or maintaining a trail, gardening, helping the cooks prepare lunch, gathering firewood, writing thank you cards, and more! Campers can generally choose which plork group to join each day, though some popular activities may need campers to take turns. Everyone has a good time working together and gets to contribute to the community, our environment, and help take care of camp!
Morning meeting
Each person is free to use the silence for contemplation and worship, to immerse their senses in nature or take time with their own thoughts. We might feel led to share a message, a few words about our thoughts or even a song! After silent meeting the facilitator opens up space for anyone to share concerns, questions, affirmations, and any announcements.
Small Groups
Every day we spend time with our “small group” to share or discuss around a chosen topic. Staff, CITs and campers all have opportunities to help plan queries and activities, and lead their group. During small group time, everyone is invited to share from their own experience without the fear of judgment (or gossip!) and the topics can be as silly or profound–or both– as the group decides. We often play games and do creative art projects together throughout the week. Your small group is also assigned a daily chore from our chore rotation to work on together.
Mountain Friends Camp is an accepting and caring community, we welcome campers from all religions, races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, gender identities and sexual orientations. Quakers look for that of God or the Inner Light in everyone, and value each individual for their unique gifts and potential.