Hume Lake draws in campers for snow adventures

Hume Lake Christian Camps, founded in 1946, is a place where churches can go on retreats. Today it is one of the most popular sites for high school and junior high camps.

High school and junior high youth groups have been going up to Hume Lake for Winter Camp for many years. Thousands of students go up the mountain to visit Hume Lake Christian Camps every year through summer and winter camps. This past weekend several churches from around the Central Valley, including Northside and Peoples Church, attended this winter retreat.

The amounts of snow that the Sierra Nevadas receive during the winter months attract many campers in. This year, there is close to three feet of snow in Hume Lake.

One of the most talked about activities at Winter Camp is broom hockey. Hume has a huge tournament every year of broom hockey. They also have the bobsled blitz, every church puts together a cardboard sled and they have time trials down the tube run.

Senior Tyler Vanderlinden has been attending both summer and winter camp at Hume Lake for the past four years. He enjoys playing in the snow and creating memories with his friends.

“I love messing around with my friends from church,” Vanderlinden said. “Its always fun because there is snow and you can have snow ball fights. I also really enjoy the broom hockey, my team has won the past two years and we always have a blast. It gets really competitive. The speaker was also great, he talked about how to not care what the world says about you.”

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Even though Hume has many activities for students to do, the thing that really draws students in is making memories and becoming close with students from their church. Toryn Triplitt, ’20, says she wanted to attend because she wanted to spend time with her friends.

“I didn’t really care about all the activities there,” Triplitt said. “I just went to get closer to my friends and make some fun memories. Like trecking through the three feet of snow everywhere. I loved the messages Carl (the speaker) gave. I learned that I am in charge of my own identity, which is in Christ.”

Hume Lake has been hosting camps and retreats since they opened in 1946 and show no signs of stopping anytime soon. Winter Camp will be going on over the next six weeks.

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You can reach this author via email: Dawson Triplitt or on twitter @dawsontriplitt.