COVID-19

2021

Once again, we are monitoring the COVID-19 situation and working closely with Girl Scouts of Northern California and our local health department to determine whether we can run camp as normal, in a modified way, or not at all for Summer 2021. We are preparing as if camp will run as normal and will update this page and send emails to camper parents as we have more definitive information. 
​Latest Updates

• April 2021: We've received indication from the Amador County Health Department, CDC, and ACA that we should be able to run camp this summer. We are preparing to have camp with modifications for safety and will provide details on those modifications as soon as we have them. At this time, we recommend all staff get vaccinated if they are able.
• February 2021: We went ahead with staff registration. We don't yet have an indication of the possibility of camp this summer but we need to proceed as if it will run normally to be prepared in time if that's the case. We'll proceed with public registration starting March 6.
• January 2021: We pushed back staff and public registration by 1 month to February and March to see if we gained more definitive signs of whether camp could run this summer.

You can read about the alterations and health protocols we prepared to accommodate in 2020 below. If we are able to run camp in 2021, we will work with Girl Scout Council and our health department to ensure we keep campers and staff healthy and safe. This could include any of the 2020 alterations below as well as any other alterations recommended for safety. 

2020

In 2020, we worked closely with Girl Scouts of Northern California and our local health department to determine different scenarios that might occur at camp due to COVID-19. We prepared as if camp would run normally because some aspects of our camp require that we prepare well in advance while other aspects of our program and location provide us flexibility and time to see how things develop. We kept parents, campers, and staff informed as soon as we had definitive information. In the end, we needed to cancel camp for the health and safety of everyone involved at the guidance of the local health department. But we were prepared for several scenarios:
If Camp Continued As Normal in 2020
​We were prepared to make the following alterations:

1. Health forms and fees were due June 15th instead of May 15th. If you attended camp in 2019, Girl Scout Council would allow us to use your 2019 health form for 2020 as it was difficult to get physicals scheduled and health forms signed.
   
2. We moved the In-Town Meeting for Fireflies, Trekkers, and Superpackers to virtual ZOOM meetings in April.
   
3. We moved New Staff Orientation to a virtual ZOOM meeting in May.
4. We prepared to provide Mandatory Staff Training 100% online instead of in-person.
   
5. We were prepared to institute the following new healthcare protocols to ensure everyone’s safety:
   
   1. ​Temperature checks before boarding the bus to camp and before arriving on site. Anyone with a fever over 99.9 or with a cough wouldn't be allowed on the bus or on site.
   2. Any camper or staff who fell ill during the camp session would be quarantined in our health center for 24 hours while arrangements were made for them to go home.
   3. Temperature checks before each meal.
   4. Units remaining together as cohorts/pods for all meals and activities.
6. We would continue the following protocols already in place which reduce the spread of germs at camp:
   
   1. ​Everyone undergoes a health check with the camp nurse when they arrive at camp.
   2. Sleeping outside, weather permitting.​
   3. Hand sanitizer before every meal.
   4. Bathrooms bleached daily.
   5. All dishes washed and bleached after every meal.
7. Staff certifications were extended another year by the American Red Cross.

If Camp Could Run in a Modified Way in 2020
We considered the following possibilities for modified camp schedule:

• We might not be able to run all 3 sessions. 
  
• We might propose shortening all 3 sessions to 5-6 days long so we can start camp later in the summer if it seems like an all-clear is coming soon. A proposed schedule we considered:
  
  • ​July 22: Staff, Fireflies, Superpackers arrive for Session 1. Fireflies and Superpackers leave on the trail.
    
  • July 24: All other Session 1 campers arrive.
    
  • July 29: All Session 1 campers and staff go home. Session 2 Staff and Fireflies arrive. Fireflies leave on the trail.
    
  • July 30: All other Session 2 campers arrive.
    
  • August 3: All Session 2 campers and staff and Superpackers go home. Session 3 Staff and Fireflies arrive. Fireflies leave on the trail.
    
  • August 4: All other Session 3 campers arrive.
    
  • August 8: All Session 3 Staff and campers and Trekkers go home. 
    

If Camp Couldn't Run At All in 2020
If we had to cancel camp for everyone, we would refund ALL fees including deposits, no matter how late we had to cancel.
This is ultimately what we ended up needing to do in 2020. We have campers an opportunity to donate some of their paid fees to help cover our Ultracamp costs and fund site maintenance projects we worked on during the summer instead.