Fishing at Camp

FullSizeRenderWhen campers choose to go fishing at Mountain Camp not only do they catch fish, but they also get to eat them!

After sign-ups campers head down to the lake, throw on some PFDs, and jump on the pontoon boat. Ben Fisher, the fishing guru of Ice House Reservoir, drives the boat of campers and a counselor across the lake to one of the several fishing spots and drops anchor. The fishing rods come out next and soon all the lines are cast. Then campers can only do one thing: wait.

Soon enough a fish will bite and campers reel in their fishing lines in hopes of finding a large rainbow or brown trout on the end. No matter the size, the fish get stored in a cooler that is transported back to camp and thrown in the refrigerator. As soon as dinner rolls around, the fresh trout are served with spices and herbs to the campers who caught them. Some kids even dare each other to eat the eyeballs!

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Taking the Bus to Camp

One of the best things about Mountain Camp is our remote location, on Ice House Lake, in the Eldorado National Forest.  We’re about 3-4 hours from the Bay Area and many parents delight in coming all the way up the mountain with their campers for check-in and check-out.  But there’s another way to get to camp too.  The BUS!

About half our campers take the bus to and from camp, and for these kids, the camp experience starts the moment they board.  We’ve recently improved our bus systems for drop off and pick up, and have added an extra staff member on each bus to improve the experience for parents and kids.  We have 3 locations for pick-up and drop-off in the Bay Area: Lafayette, Palo Alto, and Larkspur.  We charter 55 passenger motor coaches, complete with bathrooms and screens for our (almost) famous, yearly bus video.  Although we avoid screen time once kids arrive at camp, the Mountain Camp Bus Video gives kids a sneak peek of the adventure they are about to embark upon.

We shoot and edit the video during our staff training week so that it includes all of the staff that the kids are about to meet face to face.  Our media coordinator, Ian, has put together a great video this year, and we are excited to share here.  Enjoy!