Rainy Days - New Camper Blog Series

Welcome back New Camper families! Today we are talking about a camp favorite: Rainy Days! With all the rain we’ve been having in our area recently, it definitely makes me wish we were having these rainy days at camp this summer. But, before we jump in, make sure to check out our other New Camper posts from this year, and follow along as we post each Tuesday with a new topic geared towards our new camper families.

So Rainy Days – they truly are a camp favorite! For most people in day-to-day life (outside of the camp gates), if the forecast is rainy, it isn’t something that is celebrated. But at camp, campers will countdown until rainy days.

Here’s what you need to know about rainy days at camp:

Rainy days are fun: At home, girls don’t splash in puddles, slide down muddy hills, or tilt their heads back to catch rain in their mouths. But at camp, we do! You see seventeen-year-olds dancing in the rain all the time. It really is celebrated.

Our schedule stays the same: Even if it is raining, we keep going with our regular camp schedule. Most classes can continue in the rain with some modifications. Tennis plays Ultimate Foam (a camper FAVORITE!), Ultimate Frisbee gets more intense as girls splash in puddles, and the waterslides just go faster. Looking back, some of our best Evening Programs have been because of unexpected rain (a rainy Carnival is actually a treat!). Some classes cannot take place in the rain (such as High Adventure and High Ropes), so those classes work on inside skills (like tying knots) or play fun rainy day games.

Rain happens many days at camp: Because we are in the mountains, it rains almost every afternoon at camp. We have orchestrated our daily schedule so that most of these thundershowers happen during Rest Hour, rarely affecting our class schedule.

We are prepared for rain: While this “fun rain” is great, we do get some thundershowers, which do slow us down somewhat. We have a lightening detection system at camp called Thor that warns us when lightening is detected within a 5-mile radius of camp. When Thor sounds its loud buzzer, we all go under cover until the all-clear buzzer sounds. This makes camp a very safe rain location!

Pack for Rainy Days: Girls will need a raincoat and rainboots – don’t forget these! Also, assume that a muddy slide down the hill will happen, so don’t bring your nicest clothes. Girls embrace the rainy conditions, so just know that you may have clothes that won’t come home quite as white as they were before camp – embrace that too!

One quick story: In the summer of 2013, it rained every day of Main Camp. EVERY. DAY. And not just a small shower in the afternoon – it rained consistently day in and day out, every day. One tradition we have at Main Camp is our Five Year Ceremony, where our oldest campers share their best memories from their time at camp. Since that year, the Summer of Rain (as it was dubbed) has been mentioned multiple times by multiple senior campers every single summer during this ceremony. Girls loved being a part of that epic summer, “surviving the summer of rain” – but really, what a memory! Rain makes camp special in unexpected ways.

We can’t wait for the Rainy Days we will have at camp this summer. Bring on the rain showers!

Need even more proof of how much we love Rainy Days? Check out our Rainy Days video below!