Under beautiful spring sunshine, Camp Orkila welcomed Memorial Day Family Campers for a fun filled weekend. Over 370 people arrived at Orkila Friday afternoon to begin a weekend’s worth of wonderful adventure. We put smiles on campers faces all weekend long with our many different activities. Campers challenged themselves on our zip line, giant swing, circuit, and double N traverses. We had face painting in our Marine Salmon Center as well as kids getting to use our touch tank to better explore marine invertebrates. Beyond the M.S.C. campers got to experience the lowest tides of the year at ..read more

The beautiful weather elated Camp Orkila this weekend. Sunshine, smiles, and fun times were had for the Happytalk Adventure Guide Expedition.  Over ninety father-daughter pairs ranging from kindergarten through 3rd grade participated in a camp extravaganza. They supported each other through challenges of heights and persistence, such as rock wall climbing; and dared to conquer the giant swing together. Fathers empowered their daughters at archery with the skill of Katniss herself. However, daughters became the teachers during arts and crafts. Overall, the weekend was filled with discovery ..read more

   Mother's Day- a day we celebrate women who do everything for us. This weekend, we celebrated families and mothers of all kinds! The highlight of the weekend for many was the final night's campfire. Many acts performed for the group with highlights of family musicians, Moana karaoke, and a cellist. Other activities for this weekend included massages, kayaking, and camp favorite activities such as giant swing and the zipline. There was a competition for who could pick up the most micro-trash, and one of our entrepreneurial campers gathered a whole team together, named Litter Matters ..read more

Over the last two weekends, Camp Orkila was honored to have the Adventure Guides! The Mercer Island Princesses, Snoqualmie, At-Sar-Kal, and Talk-A-Lot enjoyed all the sun and fun Camp had to offer! While everyone is having fun at the Zipline, Giant Swing, Row Boats and other great activities, the Camp Orkila staff were looking for participants that exemplified the YMCA’s four core values. Individuals and group circles that demonstrated excellence in being respectful, responsible, honest and caring were nominated throughout their time at camp and given awards of recognition at their culminating ..read more

A few weeks ago, we were excited to hold the first African American Males Weekend at Camp Orkila in partnership with the organization 100 Black Parents. We had about 160 males come to camp for a weekend of bonding, fun, and learning.  Saturday was filled with Ziplining, the Giant Swing, archery, riflery, rowboats, pottery wheels, and more. Some police officers from the Seattle Police Department visited for a workshop with the kids in our Marine Salmon Center. Kids and parents ate together in the dining hall, slept in our cabins (some open-air!), and ended each night with a campfire full ..read more

They Are Women, Hear Them Roar! The sun came out to play with us as we celebrated Women’s Wellness Weekend. Held once in the spring and again in the fall, this weekend brings women from all over together to connect, recharge, and try something new. Here were some of the many highlights during the retreat: Friday night started off with s’mores, yoga, needle felting, and karaoke! Saturday showed off the many skills of both staff and participants; activities like jewelry making, kayaking, hula hooping, cooking and crafts were so fun….it was hard to choose which one to do! It wouldn’t b ..read more

Happy winter from Camp Orkila! We're certainly feeling the changing of the seasons here in December and January. With our first snow in a few years and a couple weeks in the 20's, camp has certainly changed it's face. Our pond has frozen over, making for some great (if a little nerve-wracking) skating. Also check out Graham McDade campfire pit covered in snow! For the first weekend of the year, we had the delight of hosting almost 300 people at camp! We were visited by Alpha Omicron Pi, a UW sorority on their winter retreat, a local school group, and the island's firefighter team. We provi ..read more

There are a lot of really wonderful things about being here on Orcas Island. There's the opportunity for adventure in the woods, mountains, and sea. We have astounding views of the Salish Sea right here at camp. That's just to name a couple of the features we value so much about this island. We can't mention these merits without highlighting one of the greatest things one can find here: An abundantly welcoming and vibrant island community. The people, businesses, schools, organizations, and sense of place all come together to make Orcas Island the gem that it is. This week, we're excited to b ..read more

When students come to Orkila for the spring and fall OEE seasons, all of camp becomes the classroom. It doesn't stop there, though! Really, the natural world here on Orcas Island is the learning environment. This week, Oregon Episcopal School (Portland, OR) took their experience all the way to the top of Mt. Constitution. Hats off to these 54 5th-graders and their chaperones for conquering the hike ..read more

In addition to our overall Spring 2016 Outdoor and Environmental Education team, we're spread among several "Mentor Groups." These smaller groups, each made up of 6-7 instructors and a member of the Leadership Team, act as a community-within-a-community. Yesterday, we had our annual Mentor Group Day. Folks enjoyed activities on 3 different islands such as hiking, games, cycling, milkshakes, enjoying wildlife, and visiting alpacas. Check out some group photos from the day ..read more