Find Your Connection

You may contact your Camp Colman or Camp Orkila participant during their time away by email sent from your Ultracamp account or by dropping a letter or package in snail mail.

For BOLD & GOLD participants, packing notes in their bag is a great way to stay connected.

Packages and Letters at Camp

Camp Colman

Participants love receiving mail at camp! We recommend sending a letter the Friday before their session starts so they get a letter on the first mail day. All mail should be posted by the Tuesday that your participant is at camp so that it gets to camp before they leave. The last day participants receive mail is Friday. If sending care packages, please do not send food! Any food that is discovered by staff will be discarded.

Ideas for things to send to your participant include: books, games, cards, address books, small drawing pads, small stuffed animals, and/or items to share with a group.

Packages & Letters May Be Sent To:

Participant’s Name - Camp Session
YMCA Camp Colman
20016 Bay Road SW
Longbranch, WA 98351

Camp Orkila

Please allow enough time for the mail to reach your participant before the end of their session, and be mindful that mail to and from the island can take a little longer. Please do not send any food. Food in cabins invites unwelcome visitors (animals!). Additionally, we do not serve nuts at camp. Any food or candy containing nuts or processed in a facility with nuts will be disposed of by a staff member.

When sending care packages, encourage your participant to share with the entire cabin. This will help maintain a happy, social dynamic. Ideas for things to send include: books, games, cards, address books, small drawing pads, small stuffed animals, and/or items to share with a group.

Please be aware, the Orcas Island Post Office is closed on the weekends so there is no weekend mail delivery. The last day participants receive mail will be on Thursday for Friday departures, and Tuesday for Wednesday departures.  Any packages received after your participant’s session has ended will be returned at the sender’s expense. 

For USPS:

Participant’s Name - Camp Session & Program
YMCA Camp Orkila
PO Box 1149
Eastsound, WA 98245

For FEDEX or UPS:

Participant’s Name - Camp Session & Program
YMCA Camp Orkila
484 Camp Orkila Rd
Eastsound, WA 98245

Email at Camp

Through your online account in UltraCamp, you may send one-way emails to your participant. Participants will not have access to computers to reply. In an effort to reduce our environmental impact, we will print out email two times for each week-long session and deliver them at snack time on those days.

For Colman Mini Camps and Session 9 at Orkila, we will print out emails one time. We will also have a container at our check-in locations if you would like to drop a standard letter, greeting card, or postcard to be delivered on the first full day of their camp session.

BOLD & GOLD

There is no mail delivery in the backcountry, but you can pack notes of encouragement in the participant’s belongings. Avoid using phrases such as “we miss you,” “wish you were here,” or detailed accounts of what family or friends might be doing. Express confidence in the participant’s ability to be away from home and that their instructors are there to assist them if they should need anything. No food items please.

Instructors will have satellite phones for emergencies and will have scheduled check-in calls with their Course Directors in Seattle. We know it can be challenging to be away from home for a week, or two, but the satellite phone is for instructors only.