Being in the leadership for the teenage girls at church for 7 years now, I've had the opportunity to go to YW Girls' Camp every year. It's actually my favorite activity to do with the girls.
This year, I was the one to choose the camp. Fortunately, we were able to go to Catalina Island to a camp at White's Landing called The Catalina Experience. They share the area with the San Diego Yacht club (who have cabins in the shade of the trees). We also got to share the camp and do some activities with two other LDS Girls' Camps.
My biggest fear of all was sea sickness for the group on the 2 hour boat ride. Thankfully, our repeated warnings of taking motion sickness meds worked because only one girl got sick going over and no one got sick going back.
Crisis averted!!
We had 8 tents with bunkbeds for 8 people each.
Esther was a real trouper during camp. This was her first year to be a Youth Camp Leader.
We were fortunate enough to have the adult leader tent close enough to the beach to hear the waves all night. One of the mornings we woke everyone to do yoga on the beach. Esther was the teacher, while I demonstrated. She did a fabulous job of leading the girls. It was so refreshing to practice yoga in the morning sun on the beach. I highly recommend it!
This is the closest I came to the local bison who would roam into our camp daily for fresh water, a roll in the sand or a scratch against the pier. Lisa and I almost walked into him as we checked the tents. Thankfully other girls yelled a warning in time for us to hurry into the tent out of his way.
It's not every day that you see a bison on the beach!
They aren't native to the island but were shipped there in 1924 for a silent movie.
The herd grew to 600 at one point but are now down to 150.
Water activities were a big winner. We were all able to rotate between snorkeling, paddle boarding, and kayaking. I so wanted to take pictures with my water camera, but it broke. Bummer!
This year for our hike, it was planned to rise at 5 am and watch the sunrise over the ocean from on top of the mountain. I've done this for a few years now and I have to say that this was a TOUGH hike even though it was short. We scrambled up jagged rocks and
slippery gravel paths flanked with cactus.
Quite a few suffered scrapes and thorns but it was well worth the trouble.
It's quite the experience to see desert next to the ocean.
At the top, we watched the sun rise and received an inspirational message, listened to the song Peace in Christ and the girls read uplifting letters from their parents.
I think more than a few tears were shed.
Words can't adequately describe the emotions of hope, grandeur, gratitude, love and peace that were felt there.
Truly God has blessed us with not only a beautiful world to inspire us,
but He has given us a a Savior who makes peace possible.
While most went back down, a few of us took the extra hike to the next peak.
This was our view. Then ...
This crazy bunch (Esther and Lisa included) decided to take the extra extra hike to the very highest peak on Catalina. Not me! I happily volunteered to take a group of girls down the mountain.
While going up was hard on the breathing and heart, going down was a major workout for the legs.
We were all feeling it the next day!!
I'm so grateful for the YW camp program. It's priceless to be able to leave the commotion of the world behind, including cell phones, and focus on your relationship with others and with God.
I've seen hearts soften, friendships made, hatchets buried, and testimonies grow.
All of them miracles.
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