Tell your friends about us!

Hear about Hilltop from Hilltop campers

By Emily

Let me start by saying that there is no real typical day at Hilltop because everyday is extraordinary, but I’ll try my best.

Everyday I either wake up to the radio blasting or the sounds of the birds chirping outside and the alpacas stretching in the fields. I take a quick shower and head to flagpole. At flagpole everyday, a different cabin has to sing or dance. Then we go into the dining hall for breakfast. Personally, my favorite breakfast is on Sunday, which is bagel day.

Then we go back to the cabins to clean them to get the approval of the nurse. If you get really good scores all week, you get a pizza party. I play cards on the porch with my friends until a counselor comes to pick us up for our first cabin activity. Then I go to my first intensive, which I get to choose. Every Sunday we choose 4 intensives for the week, so I get to do stuff I want to do, and stuff I normally wouldn’t do but turn out to like. Camp Hilltop is what its’ motto says; “A heap of friends and a mountain of fun.” After my first intensive, I go back to the cabin to clean up for lunch.

After lunch, the cabin has one more cabin activity and one more intensive. I love to have swimming as my second intensive because it cools you off from all the activities you’ve been doing all day. Then its every kid’s favorite time… free time. I love to grab something at the camp store and then hit the pool again. Some favorites at the camp store are slush puppies, Chipwich and Fish Stick ice cream.

After free time comes dinner. Then I get ready to go to the night activity, which could consist of a dance, casino night, or social. Then everyone stays outside until his or her curfew, which is different for every cabin. Then I end the fantastic day I just had by writing a letter to my parents telling them about it. I go to sleep looking forward to the days ahead spent at Camp Hilltop. 

By Laura

After waking up abruptly to the sound of Heidi's lovely morning voice, most of us manage to crawl out from the covers that held us warmly into the cold, brisk, morning cabin air.

Due to the fact that we wake five minutes before we have to leave for morning flag pole, we usually don't have time to put on make-up.

At flag pole a cabin will sing a random song after raising the flag and depending on the performance that cabin gave will determine whether they will sing again tomorrow or not. Then cabins are invited into the dinning hall for a savory breakfast made by the top-of-the-line chefs.

Following breakfast are chores that must be done to clean the cabin so that it pleases the camp nurse. If the score you receive is below average, then the cabin is forced to return from free time early in order to clean it up. The rest of the day consists of two cabin activities and two intensives. The cabin activities switch every time while the intensives are chosen on Sunday. The way it works is that on Sunday, you choose four intensives for the week. Monday through Wednesday are the first two that you chose and Thursday through Saturday are the second two.

After both the cabin activities and intensives are finished we fly into the most favored time of the camp - Free Time. Basically almost any activity is allowed: Arts & Crafts, Water-skiing or Sailing, Computers, Pool or Lake or the most popular, Camp Store. S'mores, Reeces, Twislers, Coke, Fish Sticks or Slush Puppies are some of the items sold there.

Sadly when Free Time comes to an end at six-o-clock, dinner starts. Dinner can be a variety of foods, from the great taste mashed potatoes to really good fried chicken. After the meal we have evening activity which can be anything: a dance, Casino Night, or even a pool party. Evening activity lasts until nine-o-clock, then we have an hour and a half of free time. Well, not everyone, the youngest ones have a curfew nine, and we, the eldest have one of ten thirty. When curfew is finished, we return to our cabins and prepare for bed.

By David

Quietly we get up and get ready to the nice alpaca sounds…O, who am I kidding?  Mornings (getting out of bed) are difficult but the rest of the day is great.  Some of us get up nice and quietly and take our showers and are quickly ready.  Others, no names mentioned, have to have surprise wake up calls 5 min to leave. 

First, at 7:50 is flag pole, where one cabin sings a song after raising the flag.  If hilltop likes it, they clap, and a new cabin sings tomorrow.  Though, if hilltop doesn’t, they have to sing again tomorrow.  Then, on the basis of the straightest line, each cabin goes in to breakfast.

At our table Scott or Kathy call us up to get our food, if we’ve set our table.  Announcements are said at the end and we clean our table with “the bus bucket.”  Then we leave for our cabin. Here we must clean it up and leave no stone unturned. The nurses will inspect it and give us a score out of 100.  Highest score for the week gets pizza.  Peggy and the nurses mean business…so keep it clean! 

At 9:15, a counselor for your cabin activity comes to bring us there.  Sometimes tower, sometimes go karts, and some times waterskiing, or something else. At 10:15 we’re free to go but need at the activity field later the 10:25. Here we split up for 1 ½ hours of an activity we sign up for on Sunday. At 12 were free to wash up for lunch at 12:15.

The Afternoon works the same as the morning, minus wake up, flag pole, and cabin clean up.  But when intensive ends at 4, free activity begins for 1 ½ hours.  What is open is announced at lunch.  Camp Store is always open!