This post was shared by longtime camper, Ona. Thanks for sharing, Ona!

This year was amazing! I climbed Gates mountain for the 3rd time, I got to experience what it was like to be a ranch kid (I wasn’t a camper for a week of 3rd session) and I had a lot of fun with my 3 closest friends both in camp and outside of camp.

I met all my closest friends at camp my first year and second. I started going to camp when I was only 8 and I was the youngest camper, I wanted to go to camp because I was obsessed with the movie “ Parent Trap” and that’s when the idea of going to sleepaway camp hit my mind. My mom went to school with Gretchen (the camp director’s wife) and she remembered that her husband runs a camp, and so that was the camp my mom wanted to send me to and I wanted to go to. Now Gretchen is like a second mom to me. I would say that I’m happier at camp than at home. I look forward to being outside in the beautiful wilderness with no electronics except for a Lumix or Canon camera. There is no wilderness more beautiful than the one at Bar 717. I can’t wait for next year! (year number 5!)

-Ona, 11 years old