The USFS is planning on repairing and reopening the Middle Fork road above Taylor River this Fall

Birders rejoice, the spring flocks have returned to camp!

Boy Scout wanders up looking for relief......

One third the way into winter and so far it has been a very mild and beautiful winter here in the Cascades.

The Middle Fork Road all the way to the Taylor River bridge is now back open, making more hiking opportunities available just a short distance from camp.

New bridge connects a new loop trail in camp

Volunteers, the backbone of any non-profit organization.

Here at Valley Camp we hold several volunteer weekends a year, two are what we call Free-For-All weekends where in trade for volunteer time on Saturday we provide a lunch and a place for camping for the weekend for free.

You may ask, OK so you get stuff done with all this help, so what is new about this idea?

Here is way to look at this: when you ask for help taking care of a place you open the door to create a sense of ownership within the giver. Working together can create intentional community, with folks working together for a common goal and hopefully fostering a culture of giving.
We know most of the projects could be done by the small staff of volunteers here at camp, but all we would accomplish is getting the work done. We would fail to widen the fellowship of volunteers and all be poorer for not sharing the opportunity to work side by side and grow the ownership of this special place.

Next time you have a volunteer event ask: are we fostering increased ownership, expanding opportunities for future volunteers and users?

Yes we love our volunteers, they all own this place and we get to share it with them.

• Do you volunteer?
• What do you expect to get out of the experience?
• What would you like Valley Camp to offer in the way of volunteer opportunities?