You've registered — there's still more you need to do before camp!

Check back here for updates to our 2017 camper information. (Last revised 7/30/17 )

• Camper Email List
• FINAL PAYMENT May 28, 2017
• Waiver Form Required
• Send Your Dietary Restrictions
• Expected Menu at Camp
• Emergency Contact Info while you're at camp
• What to Bring
• General Information

Camper Email List

This list is used for sending announcements to AmWeek campers. Campers can also use it to send messages to other campers. As soon as we receive payment of at least the minimum deposit from you, we will add your email address to this list.

Important camp information sent registered campers is also available below. This information (or links pointing here) have been emailed to registered campers via the camper email list, and mailed by US Mail to everyone else.

Important! Even if you do not receive email, or did not receive that particular email message, you are responsible for complying with any requirements listed here!

Final Payment is due NO LATER than May 28

If there is a waiting list for camp and we have not received your final payment by May 28, your spot may be lost and given to someone on the waiting list. Don't let this happen to you! Mail your check to arrive well before May 28, or make an online payment (NOTE: a “convenience fee” is added for payments made online either with a Paypal account or a credit card). Our generous “Sliding Scale” scholarship program means the AmWeek budget does not allow us to absorb the fees charged by Paypal for processing online payments. Just like ticket agencies, we must add a “convenience fee” service charge. To avoid the service charge, mail a check payable to “BACDS”, denominated in US Dollars and drawn on a US bank, to:

Waiver/Release Form

The signed Waiver and Release form [PDF] is required by the YMCA. Print it, sign it, and fax it, or email a scanned image of the signed form to the Registrar at least one week before camp:

Email: AmWeek-registrar@bacds.org

Fax: 1-650-871-4551

Snail Mail:

BACDS AmWeek Registrar
130 East Grand Ave
South San Francisco, CA 94080

If you are unable to print this PDF file, please call or email the Managers and ask for a printed copy to be mailed to you. If you have not signed and submitted this form the YMCA will not allow you into camp.

Emergency Phone Numbers

There is no cell phone coverage at camp. In the unlikely event that someone from home needs to contact you in an emergency, there is a phone in Perkins Lodge (one of our activity locations) where a message can be left: 1-650-419-6003. There will be an answering machine on the line, and we will check for messages frequently throughout the day and evening.

Another option is to call the YMCA camp office at 1-650-747-1200 during the day and speak to the YMCA office staff. After hours the voicemail will give option "0" to ring through to the Manager on duty.

There is a pay phone outside Randolph Lodge (our main headquarters) for outgoing calls. WARNING: the charge for outgoing collect calls made from this pay phone is downright scary. Use it in emergencies only. You'd be better off using Skype over WiFi, or even driving to the top of a hill where your cell phone can get coverage.

WiFi at Camp

WiFi is available near the YMCA Camp Office, about 5 minutes walk from our part of camp. Do not plan on having WiFi access in our part of camp.

Arrive at Camp:

Scholarship Campers: Please arrive at camp by 1:00 PM on Sunday July 2 so you can help setting up camp.

All Campers: Plan to arrive before 4pm so you can check in and settle in to your cabin while it is light (it gets dark in the redwoods earlier than you might expect).

In keeping with the community-building character of AmWeek, all campers are expected to contribute by performing light daily chores. When you check into camp on Sunday, you'll be asked to sign up for at least one chore (in addition to the setup/takedown help required of Sliding Scale Campers).

Bring to Camp:

What to bring (along with what you had already planned); please be sure to bring your own cup or mug and a water bottle to help us cut down on a major source of waste. The camp will not provide paper cups except at meals. Bring a water bottle!

Climate:

Expect daytime high temperature to be upper 60s (F) to mid 70s, and nighttime low temperature in the low 50s or even upper 40s. There may be suspended fog droplets that some people might call drizzle, but here it's just fog. Bring layers so that you can adjust to changing conditions. Summertime in the San Francisco area is colder than you might expect (remember what Mark Twain said) Here is the 10-day forecast.

General Information about Camp

Camp opens on Sunday, July 2, 2017, with registration outside Randolph Lodge and settling in to your cabin starting at 3:00 p.m. Everyone's help getting camp set up will be greatly appreciated!

Sliding Scale Campers: Please arrive at camp by 1:00 PM on Sunday July 2 so you can help setting up camp.

Dinner is served each evening at 5:30 pm, dancing will begin at 7:15 p.m., and an informative gathering along with staff introductions and brief class descriptions will be held during the dance around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. Since it will be much easier to settle into your cabin for the first time before dark, we strongly suggest you plan to arrive at camp well before 5:00 and bring a flashlight.

Driving time is approximately 1 hour or less from San Francisco and the Peninsula (30-45 minutes from Stanford). Driving directions are simple, but expect winding roads through the woods. If you'd like to hook up for carpooling with fellow campers, please send an email message to the camper-only email list at <amweek2017-campers@bacds.org> with your request or offer.

We Need to Know Your Dietary Restrictions

You will receive three healthy and tasty all-you-can-eat meals each day (starting with dinner on Sunday and ending with lunch on Friday). If you registered online, you should already have indicated any dietary restrictions and food allergies. If you registered on paper, you need to let us know now if you are vegetarian or vegan, and if you have any food allergies. Otherwise, we will understand that you are an omnivore. If you have not yet specified your dietary restrictions, please contact the Camp Managers immediately with any medical food allergies the camp needs to know about.

Fruit for snacking will be available throughout the day in the Dining Hall. If you want to bring your own snacks, be aware that camp is in the woods, and the local residents are extremely clever at breaking into your food stash (especially the raccoons!!). We strongly recommend against bringing food into your cabin; you'll want to keep it in your car, or at least have a raccoon-proof storage container, and keep the cabin doors securely latched. NOTE: the raccoons here have seen it all. They can get into locked containers that would keep you out.

Camp Meal Menu

The YMCA camp provides ample tasty and healthy food at all meals. It's camp food, but it's very very good camp food!

Vegetarians and vegans: the vegetarian menu is vegan. Since many of the YMCA camp staff are vegan themselves, you can expect that the vegetarian/vegan option provided will be nutritious and suitable for vegans who enjoy eating well.

The probable menu during our camp is here. The camp Chef will be notified of all medical food allergies and dietary restrictions if you let us know before June 14! We apologize if a personal preference can not be accomodated. If you need to, please bring your own items to supplement to meet your needs. NOTE: there is no refrigerator space available for campers’ use, but ice is available from the dining hall to use in your own ice chest.

We will have an limited assortment of gluten-free food items available for those campers who let us know before camp that they require such.

Important: if you have not registered as vegarian, vegan, or gluten-free please do not take any of the food which is set aside for those campers.

Need help arranging a ride or carpool?

Printed copies of the camp schedule and the map of Camp will be available when you check in and will be posted around camp. Preliminary copies (subject to change) are available here:

• Driving Directions
• Daily Schedule (PDF) - DRAFT, will probably change by camp time
• Map of Camp (PDF)

While at camp, we ask that you leave your car parked and walk along the roads or foot paths from your cabin or camp site to the Dining and Dance Halls, the toilets and showers, and the Meadow. There is some wonderful hiking in the area, so bring hiking shoes and water bottle. See our recommendations for gear to bring to camp.

Please note that smoking and alcohol are prohibited on the YMCA grounds.

The week will end after the afternoon dance party on Friday, July 1, but campers must be out of their cabins with the floor swept by lunchtime to allow the camp facilities staff to begin preparing for the next camper group. Our time at Jones Gulch ends with the afternoon dance party on Friday, but that's not the end of camp! At 4:00pm the entire camp staff (and all campers who can) will head down the hill to Palo Alto for dinner on your own, followed by the gala Post-Camp Contra Dance at the regular downtown Palo Alto contra dance venue, First United Methodist Church. We just can't get enough, so camp extends beyond the boundaries of Jones Gulch and takes in Palo Alto!

Members of our much-sought-after musical staff will be playing or calling at nearby dances before and after camp. Please come early before camp, and stay in the Bay Area after camp, and meet our extended dance community who couldn't join us at camp!

These deadlines are past:

$150 minimum deposit due before March 12

Important Deadlines:

Information Needed by May 28

• Payment of any remaining Balance Due

Information Needed by June 14

• Signed Waiver and Release form [PDF] as required by the YMCA. Print it, sign it, and mail it or email a scanned image of the signed form to the Registrar no later than June 14. If you are unable to print this PDF file, please call or email the AmWeek Managers and ask for a printed copy to be mailed to you. If you have not signed and submitted this form the YMCA will not allow you into camp.
• Dietary Restrictions and Food Allergies
. Please call or email the AmWeek Manager before June 14 so we can inform the camp kitchen of your medical needs.

Camp Begins Sunday July 2

• Sliding Scale Campers: arrive at camp by 1:00pm on Sunday 7/2 to help set up camp
  NOTE: other campers may not enter camp before 3:00pm If you're on site before 3:00pm, you'll be put to work setting up camp, and you may not carry in your own gear until after 3:00pm.
• ALL CAMPERS: arrive at camp mid-afternoon between 3:00–4:00pm on Sunday 7/2 to check in; dinner is at 5:30pm