This story aired on the December 2, 2024 episode of Crosscurrents.
San Francisco’s very own summer camp marked its 100th season this year. It's not in the city, but is nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains, just a mile from the gates to Yosemite. It opened in 1924 on land the city was using as a staging ground for the construction of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir.
The cabins that once housed workers are now used for families that trek east for weeklong visits to spend time swimming, doing archery, and roaming free in the shade of black oak trees and ponderosa pines, all in an environment free from the pressures of work, school, cell reception, and WiFi.
Today, we go to Camp Mather, to capture a moment of its 100th summer.
Click the play button above to listen!
It’s almost 6 p.m. on a Wednesday and I’m outside the Camp Mather dining hall. It’s half-way through the week.
And campers like 12-year-old West Raade have found their rhythm with camp life.
“Um, Actually I have a schedule here, let me look. I made a schedule for the week because I want to do the most things I can possibly do.”
West is a Camp Mather poster child in her tie-dyed shirt, fanny pack, and many friendship bracelets. Her schedule is so well worn from repeated consultation that there’s a finger sized hole right through the middle.
“Okay," she says. "First I did archery at the archery range. That was fun! And then lunch. And then I practiced for the ping pong tournament. And then I swam for like hours, and then right now is now. And then after this is movie night. And they’re playing Shrek.”
This is the sixth summer that West and her mom have come to camp. That’s one thing that makes Mather different from other summer camps; kids don’t go away to camp, the whole family comes together.
“I just feel so happy here. I mean, Don't get me wrong, I love San Francisco, but like here it’s just so fun,” West says.
Thursday nights are the Guest Talent Show. It’s always a highlight.
“You can do anything you want up there and not get judged by anybody. And you’re just having fun. I am singing 'Hello Baltimore.' It’s from 'Hairspray,'" she says.
“I just feel so happy here. I mean, Don't get me wrong, I love San Francisco, but like here it’s just so fun.” - West Raade (12)
The First Aid Station is a tiny wooden cabin right in the heart of camp. The green metal of the old fashioned light fixture above the squeaky screen door adds to the feeling that time stands still here. Heidi Salisbury, and her mom Jeannie, are the nurses on duty this week.
Heidi tells me about her history with Camp Mather.
“I’ve been coming to camp for 43 years, and I've been a nurse here up at the camp every summer with my mom for 22 years. It feels exactly the same and that's the beauty of it. It feels exactly the same. It's in a comforting way.”
She says most of what they encounter is pretty mild.
“Bug bites, scrapes, bee stings, coughs. A little sleeplessness, a little homesickness, a little bit of everything.”
Heidi takes me inside, where Jeanie is mid-splinter removal, a frequent sight here.
“This is a typical Camp Mather injury.”
Jeanie shows me around the tiny space, which really just means we turn in a tight circle. Amongst the bottles of peroxide and boxes of gauze, there's a telephone that actually plugs into the wall.
“This is like old fashioned nursing where you write everything in a little book and you have plenty of time to just sit and chat with people,” Jeannie says.
But the main reason it feels like nothing’s changed here? No cell reception. Or WiFi.
Heidi explains what a difference that makes.
“The biggest thing is that there's no devices. So you have these conversations with the kids, and they're so interesting and they're funny and they're witty. And it's hard to have those conversations at home now because you can't compete with the notifications.”
Instead, families spend their days here riding bikes, jumping in the lake, and playing games together, like pickleball.
Camp runs for 11 weeks each summer with space for about 450 people each week. So space is limited. Reservations are determined by lottery. Anyone can apply, but preference is given to San Francisco residents and low income SF families.
There are a limited number of scholarships — or camperships — available as well. But even financial support isn’t enough to get some kids to camp.
Marcus Wojtkowiak is the Director of San Francisco's Randall Museum of Science, Nature, and the Arts. He says,“These kids may have parents that are unable to go away for a camp. T It's not even accessible to them.”
The Randall Museum brings a group of about 16 kids, ages 10–12, for a week each summer, no parents. Like Camp Mather, the Randall Museum is part of the City’s Recreation and Parks Department, so they get unique access here.
“We do a night hike that just blows their minds and freaks them out. Like , in all the good ways.. They're getting outside their comfort zone but balancing that with a whole bunch of fun,” Wachowiak says.
Like right now, the group is waiting to do archery.
“So we are making sure that city kids who may never ever get out of the city otherwise have an opportunity to get up here into the wilderness and the camp and see something outside of just the San Francisco area. It's really great.”
Sydney Angel is one of Camp Mather’s Assistant Managers. She says Rec and Park has an ongoing goal of getting camp demographics to be representative of San Francisco.
“We want camp to look like San Francisco.”
So, on top of camperships and special programs like the one with the Randall museum, Mather staff are looking into ways for camp to be more inclusive. Things like helping with transportation and offering partial week reservations.
Sydney says there’s a focus on representation and inclusion in their hiring as well.
“We believe that hiring a diverse staff helps so that when guests come up, they also see people that look like them.”
That’s also important to Mather staffer, Elijah Leshnick who goes by his camp name here, Koi Boy.
Koi Boy spent a lot of time in Rec and Park activities growing up in San Francisco:
I remember like when I was a kid, like people I would like be comfortable with at summer camps and in school were like the staff who like kind of looked like me and like understood like my experience and stuff.
I'm half Asian, half white, I'm gay. And I think, like, having, like, that representation on, like, the staff and especially on recreation is important because it's really, like, people focused and you, like, see everybody and stuff. Yeah. And when you can, like, see yourself doing those things.
It's important to have this place in nature and education and nature be accessible to people of different backgrounds.
It’s clear campers love it here. Being in nature, and being together, for simple fun.
It’s after dinner on Thursday night, and pretty much every camper is gathered around the outdoor stage for the big Talent Show. Little kids perform first, and the night builds from silly and sweet to a crescendo of moving songs and hilarious skits.
It’s finally time for West’s big moment.
“They’re gonna wake up and see… Baltimore, and me!”
One of the only, and most long lasting, sources of tension at camp is aired out in the final act. How do you even say camp’s name?
“What did you just say?!... Camp what?... Camp MAY-ther!?...WHOA! No no no! What are you talking about?! It’s Camp MAH-THER!”
Most everyone has landed on, "I’d rather be at Mather" for finding the correct pronunciation. But on this clear, warm, starry night, many miles away from the foggy city lights, the debate is like an age-old bonding ritual. A way for San Franciscan’s to connect at their very own mountain camp.
Camp Mather's 2025 lottery registration is open from Monday, December 2, 2024 through Friday, January 3, 2025. You can find more information by clicking here.
