New Gear New Year
New Gear this New Year New Gear! Summer 2023 new gear includes Osprey packs and Crazy Creek chairs! The quality of backpacking equipment can make or break a trip. Broken tent poles, pack buckles or stoves can make a trip much more complicated. In the backcountry,...
Legacy for Nick
Nick will forever be remembered for his joy, compassion and all that he offered to those around him. In memory of Nick, his parents Bob and Lisa have donated funds to create a camper scholarship in Nick's name. Annually a scholarship will be awarded to a camper who...
What Do You Mean I Shouldn’t Pick Flowers?
Leave No Trace If you have been a camper or staff here at Sonlight, you will be familiar with the glorious vintage Leave No Trace video. Maybe you've even memorized the catchy music at the end (the song is Sunspots by Bob Mould!) But why do we teach Leave No Trace?...
Type 2 Fun
What is Type 2 fun? If you've ever been on a really hard hike with beautiful views then chances are you have experienced Type 2 fun. You might be wondering, isn't fun exactly what you think it is? But here at Sonlight, we understand fun in all forms. What are the...
Jammin’ Jukebox
"Music can change the world because it can change people"Jammin' Jukebox This summer we are celebrating the power of music with our weekly banquet night theme: Jammin’ Jukebox! Through the gifts some of us are given to play instruments all the way to the background...
Sonlight in December
Sonlight in December is typically quieter than most months as we find ourselves between Fall Retreats and Winter Ski Groups. The snow is beginning to stick around, albeit we would like a lot more of it, and the decorations in the dining room have been replaced to...
Sonlight Leadership and Staff
The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with. 2023 Winter Team All the best of Sonlight starts with the staff and leadership team! People who share passion for Sonlight, and...
Summer Camp 2023 Rates
Summer Camp 2023 The tuition you pay for 2023 stays the same! Sonlight aims to keep camp affordable to all even as operational costs continue to increase. For 2023, a small group of donors are contributing an additional $50 towards each Sonlight camper. This has...
Fall Projects ‘n Friends
“[We’re] so glad to live in a world where there are Octobers”The leaves are changing, the temperature is dropping, and the weekends around here are a bit busier - all signs pointing to fall! We are halfway through our...
Sonlight Summer Staff
So you want to work at Sonlight? As we continue to celebrate all that Summer 2022 was, we eagerly are looking forward to Summer 2023! In gearing up for opening our staff applications this fall, we thought we’d share...
Family Camp 2022
If there is anything positive from the past few years of covid summers, it's the creation of Family Camp! Families spending time together as a family - unplugged, outside, laughing, singing, and being goofy in general has been a highlight of our summers! For summer...
Volunteers!
Our volunteers make the world go round! Sonlight is so humbled to be surrounded with a community of servant hearts. Thank you for spending your days with us this summer. Every meal served, plate cleaned, game played or bandage placed would not have been able to happen...
Summer 2022 Staff!
As summer wraps up this week with family camp, we can't help but to start reflecting. Here is to our staff that made this summer extraordinary. We had staff join our team from all over the country as counselors, backpack guides, and behind the scene heroes. This...
Summer Thunderstorms
Summer Thunderstorms We're grateful for the rain we've had this week to lessen the drought conditions. The thunderstorms have rolled through each afternoon, rain, thunder and lightening keep us inside! Monday afternoon...
High School Fall Retreat Registration
2022 High School Fall Retreat It's a mid summer treat (not trick!) the High School Fall Retreat registration link is live! October 28-30, 2022 | $43 (To celebrate 43 years of Sonlight Camp!) Arrive: Friday evening 7:00 pm Depart: Sunday after...
Oh happy days!
Oh happy, happy, happy camp days! We have had rain, gorgeous rainbows, incredible speakers, and so much laughter! Discovery camp is underway this week. Thankful for Mark Osborn for being our speaker this session!
Flying by!
Summer just begun and somehow is already almost halfway done! We blinked during staff training and suddenly we have already had three sessions of camp! Adventure camp, High School Week and High School 10 day have come and gone. It might be our very biased opinion but...
Plumtaw Fire Update
Plumtaw Fire May 19, 2022 First spotted in the early afternoon on May 17, the Plumtaw fire north of Sonlight Camp spread quickly, and as of the first evening was over 600 acres. At one point it grew an acre a minute. The fire is less than 2 miles from Sonlight, but...
Summer Camp for ALL!
"Thank you so much for providing this space for kids to come, and explore and grow! My kids call Sonlight their happy place."Camp for all! Thanks to the very generous Sonlight community we have a scholarship fund, and are prepared to offer partial camp tuition...
Summer 2022 COVID-19
Looking forward to Summer 2022 The Sonlight Leadership Team monitors the COVID-19 rates in our county and nearby area, and are encouraged by the decrease in positivity rate. Should the environment change, metrics worsen, or a new COVID-19 strain arise, we will...
Focused on MESH
"Just being in the space of camp can be therapeutic"MESH: Mental, Emotional, Social Health Summer camp is good for staff and campers, a place to be outside, make new friends, learn new skills and explore who God created you to be. The world is hard on all of us right...
Recognize What’s Important
"We hope you notice things you care about"What is Important to You As parents and families consider Sonlight camp for summer 2022 we hope you notice things that are important to you. Navigating change and a new normal, the Sonlight leadership team is paying attention...
Sonlight 2022: COVID Updates
COVID and Summer Camp As of January 2022 Licensed by the Colorado Division of Childcare and San Juan Basin Health Department, Sonlight Camp receives guidance regarding COVID precautions, testing, exposures and positivity through these regulatory organizations. As...
Snow Depth!
We have a Winner! 64.5" historic snow depth on the meadow. Jake Schroeder had the closest guess at 63 inches. We can document a 64.5" snow depth in 2008. That's alot of snow! We're praying for those historic deep snows to return so we can enjoy the snow in the winter,...
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday In Colorado, we celebrate Giving Tuesday by donating to a Colorado non-profit through ColoradoGives! The Sonlight community has stepped in to make a significant difference to Sonlight in the past 2 years, allowing us to navigate the challenges of a...
Meet the Staff!
Kayla Waterhouse Sonlight Registrar Kayla was a Sonlight camper from middle school through high school, then worked her magic in the kitchen as a summer staff cook. We're so glad she is our Registrar! She is ready to lend a hand with all the details of camp...
Your Best Guess
How Deep? The meadow is white, but the snow is pretty thin for a Thanksgiving day. More snow will come! Do you know the most amount of snow the meadow has ever gotten in one storm? Email us [email protected] by Dec 1st, whoever is closest will receive a...
Summer 2022: COVID
Looking Forward to Summer 2022 The Sonlight Leadership Team works closely with the Association of Camp Nursing (ACN), following COVID-19 recommendations and updates for camps. ACN is currently working on both qualitative and quantitative research from summer...
Fall Snapshots
Fall at Sonlight The colors are turning fast, and we're enjoying our fall retreat groups. Women from Summit Church, First Baptist Church, Durango, the Pagosa Christian Womens' Retreat, the Men from Summit Church, gals from the United Church in Durango and the local...
Changes for Sonlight Camp
Mapping Out the Plan Forward Friends, Prompted by many shifts in our world in the past few years (COVID, cultural youth changes, cultural changes to faith communities and increasing regulations, just to name a few) the Sonlight Board of Directors recently hired a camp...
Summer Part 2
Let Me Tell You A Story Sonlight is a story. Like any good story, there are characters, a plot, conflict and resolution. Let me tell you the story of Sonlight Summer 2021. We began with our with staff: A dozen individuals coming together to help shape the story. We...
Summer: Part 1
"Your vision and hard work have created a wonderful-beyond-words refuge from the modern world. Thank you." Summer: Part 1 And here we are in July, looking back on a great first part of the summer! We learned a few things, made new friends and have had so much fun with...
Backpack Season 2021
Backpack Season 2021 The first group of the season is out on the trail this week, headed to Archuleta Lake and Mount Hope. The group is from eastern Oklahoma, Presbyterian pastors here for a week of trails and wilderness inspiration. Some long time...
Slingshot Alley
Slingshot Alley! New this summer, Slingshot Alley! Engineered by Emrys with assistance from our Los Alamos connections, the expertise in slingshot alley is awesome! Some skill and a bit of good luck is involved in making sure your team comes out on top. Two teams use...
Staff Training 2021
Staff Training 2021 We have a small but mighty staff for this summer. Our week has been busy learning what it takes to run a smooth camp, provide hospitality and Be With People and Show Them God! Good community is happening, and we look forward to our first family...
Wichita WorkGroup 2021
Covenant Presbyterian Church-Wichita, Kansas For the 18th year, our dear friends from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wichita Kansas joined us for a week to help prepare the camp for summer. Their work and presence makes such a difference to our camp. The cleaning,...
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