A Magical Colorful Day
After more than a week of completely dry and rather warm weather, we had two hours of the opposite last night right before dinner. It was one of those storms where a fast moving front, with a solid blanket of rain and not so much wind, pushed past us, and in just that short amount of time we had almost an inch of cool rain fall. This didn’t really phase the campers much, since extending the last activity period and staying inside until dinner is simple enough, but the gravel roads around camp (a little less than 2 miles of them!) needed to be scraped and smoothed. This photo of a canoeing class this morning shows another remnant of the storm— the Rockbrook lake’s brown, almost coffee-like color from the silt washed down the creek. All of the rivers around here take on this color after these big, deep washing storms, so Rockbrook’s stream-fed lake is no exception. In about a day, the silt will settle and the deeper, dark lake color we know will return.
Waking up at Rockbrook, after an evening storm like that, takes on a magical quality. It starts with shades of gray and a gradually brightening of the sky. Everything is almost colorless as a thick fog, born from the cool moisture in the air, envelopes us. The sounds of birds awakening and the rich, organic smell of the forest remind you of the all the life hiding in the mist. At 8:00am the more human sounds of camp begin to mingle. A sleepy Hi-Up comes down to the dining hall porch to ring the wake up bell, a sound that girls at Rockbrook have heard for 90 years. It doesn’t take long for campers and counselors to begin trickling out of their cabins toward the dining hall. Meanwhile, it’s getting brighter and brighter, and everything is becoming more colorful. There are girls’ voices, sounds of cabin doors closing and tables being set with plates, cups and flatware as the sun pokes through the fog and the flowers on the grassy hill beam brightly. Rockbrook is set for another wonderful day.
Today was a big day on the Nantahala river for most of the Middlers and Seniors at camp. Yesterday we asked who would like to go whitewater rafting, and almost everyone signed up for either an overnight trip that included camping at our outpost near the river, or a day trip. The Nantahala is an ideal river to raft, perfect for beginners, but with enough bigger rapids to keep everyone excited. Our raft guides met us at the put-in with all of the RBC equipment so when the buses of campers arrived, they could hop right out and get suited up with lifejackets, paddles and helmets. Some of the girls looked a little nervous about the trip— perhaps it was hearing how cold the water is that worried them —but that was balanced by the overall excitement of the group and soothed by the raft guides. They calmly and cheerfully explained all the safety protocols, and coached the girls about how to paddle and stay in the raft during the trip. These are veteran raft guides; each one has more than ten years of whitewater experience and working with kids. The trip down the river takes a couple of hours alternating over rapids and calm spots, deep and shallow sections, rocky and clear stretches of the river. This photo shows one of the games the guides sometimes play. It’s called “Hood Ornament” and it’s when the campers take turns riding on the front of the raft, like the figurehead of a ship. Going over some of the smaller rapids, this can be a bumpy, face-splashing ride! The weather was perfectly warm and sunny today, making these trips loads of fun and what will be for many of the girls a highlight of their outdoor experience at camp.
Back at camp in time for dinner, the girls were surprised to learn that it was “Birthday Night.” This is a fun special dinner where a group of counselors throw a camp-wide birthday party, complete with decorations, music, costumes and of course birthday cake. They rearrange the dining hall so that everyone can sit at a table according to their birth month. The kitchen, mostly Alison our dedicated baker, prepares by baking 12 cakes, one for each month, and then with some help from the Hi-Ups, they are decorated to match the night’s theme: Candyland. With the counselors leading the way, the campers were encouraged to dress up in a “candy-related” costume. Of course, that can mean just about anything, but I did see at least one M&M and a couple of recognizable candy canes. There are a few shots of cakes in the photo gallery… lots of colorful decoration!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the amazing muffins Alison baked for us today. She broke completely new ground with her “Lucky Charms Muffins.” Just for the fun of it, she took a granola muffin recipe and substituted part of the granola with the cereal making a colorful variation. You could still recognize the pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. They were magically delicious! 
Summertime Sleeping Out
Backpacking and camping have been an almost nightly trip this week. Michelle our fabulous hiking guide, who is a Wilderness First Aid Responder and who has been a Rockbrook girl for thirteen years (she started at 7 years old), has been leading these trips. She’s been taking our Juniors in cabin groups, 2 at a time, out to the outpost campsite here on the camp property. After a short hike through the woods towards Rockbrook Falls, there’s a small trail that leads to a clearing below Dunn’s Rock where we have two tent platforms and a fire ring. The girls have a campfire, sing songs, tell stories, and enjoy making s’mores. All the girls from each Junior cabin plus their counselors go on these trips, and when it’s time for bed, everyone sleeps together, “slumber party style,” on the platforms. Out in the woods, armed with their flashlights against the sounds of the night and filled with nervous excitement, it can take a while for everyone to fall asleep. But that’s part of the fun! Michelle also took a Middler backpacking trip out into Pisgah Thursday night. With their tents, sleeping bags and food (s’mores again!) stuffed into backpacks, they hiked about 2 miles into the forest to one of our secret campsites. These trips are great opportunities to get to know each other. Telling stories around the campfire and just sharing the experience overall, the whole group grows closer.
This has also been a week of tie dying in the “Hodge Podge” activity. There’s a lot of variety here as each camper twists and folds her shirt in a unique pattern and then adds different color dyes. After letting them rest over night, it’s exciting to untie the shirts and see how they turned out— vibrant spirals, bullseyes and stripes.
In the photography activity, Jane has been teaching the campers about stop motion techniques. Working in groups of 2 or 3 campers, and using Play-Doh, the girls animated short sequences of photos which when strung together create motion videos. This takes not only creativity, but real planning, a steady camera, and plenty of patience to accomplish.
A group of girls went rock climbing today with Maddie and were lucky to set up 3 different routes on Looking Glass Rock out in Pisgah. Again, excellent weather, dry and clear, made the equally excellent rock even more enjoyable for everyone. A packed lunch, complete with muffins, went along to keep up their energy, and when you check out the photo gallery, you’ll see just how well and how high these girls climbed. There are some amazing rock climbing girls around here.
Back at camp, everyone else got to dig into some of Rick’s homemade chili complete with all the fixin’s: diced tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, Frito’s corn chips, and our super stocked salad bars. There was some debate about whether the vegetarian or the meat version was better, but that was never really settled!
After dinner during the “Twilight” block of free time, a couple of counselors organized an open tetherball tournament for anyone interested in playing. It was the “triple T” (Twilight Tetherball Tournament). Should we add “terrific” in there? Paired up by age group, the girls took turns playing each other as the rest of the crowd cheered them on. Quite strategically, the counselors chose players to make sure that the brackets kept everyone involved, not so much to determine who “won,” but to see the girls enjoying the games. With the late evening sun setting across the valley, it was a beautiful summertime moment.
Rafting Spectacular
Today was the first of our rafting trips for the session, our big adventure out on the Nantahala river. We asked all of the middlers and seniors if they would like to go and came up with a huge list of excited girls. One option was to go over on Monday night and camp at our outpost. Rockbrook owns a 40-acre outpost camp located just past the Upper Nantahala Gorge in Macon County that is set up with simple cabins, a bath house, dining hall and campfire ring. It adjoins the National forest (about 2 miles from the Appalachian trail) and is only about 15 minutes away from the rafting launch site. We took 3 buses to the outpost to enjoy a nice dinner, time around the campfire with s’mores and songs, and a good night’s sleep out in the forest. The next morning we met our guides (Clyde, Sid, Billy, Sam, Andria and Leland) and launched the rafts for a perfect sunny trip down the river, complete with plenty of splashing and screams bubbling up on the rapids. A second group of campers met us for a picnic lunch before heading up to start their rafting trip in the afternoon. We had great weather on this trip as well, happily avoiding the thunderstorm that passed by to the north of us. These whitewater trips are loads of fun and for many girls a highlight of their outdoor experience at camp.
By the way, Leland and Andria have written several books on whitewater boating, one on North Carolina rivers and another on some of the best whitewater in North America. Check them out over at Brushy Mountain Publishing. Good stuff.
Meanwhile back at camp, we were rock climbing, really climbing. Our lead climbers, Maddie, Abby and Mallory organized several groups of Juniors and Middlers for a trip up to Castle Rock. Some of the girls who signed up were brand new to climbing, so for them, just fitting the equipment— climbing shoes, harnesses, and helmets — was a part of the fun. But of course the real treat comes from making progress up the rock, from getting past a tough part, and often, from reaching the top and turning around to see the view. Even the littlest girls are great climbers. They’re so strong and agile, and generally fearless, they just zip right up the rock with very little hesitation.
Dinner tonight was a surprise event for the girls. It started with costumes, as is usually the case at Rockbrook. This time we all turned ourselves into a giant game of Clue. Like the classic board game, versions of Mrs. White, Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, and Mr. Green could be seen eating dinner together. Afterwords, the girls broke into their cabin groups to play a camp-wide game of Clue where, like the board game’s mystery that’s solved by following clues discovered in different rooms, the groups ran around camp to find different clues. Each station, the group had to perform a task of some sort before receiving their next clue. Quick name all the RBC activities, or make up a song about trees, or stand in a human pyramid, and so forth. The clues led every cabin group to each of the different stations and finally to the solution— where Sofie was hiding. By the end, there were prizes for everyone, but it was Junior cabin 4 who ran the fastest and performed their tasks the quickest to win overall.
We Love Muffins
Let’s talk muffins. It’s been a long tradition at Rockbrook to take a break between the first and second activity periods, around 10:45am, and have a little snack. It’s not just any snack; it’s a fresh-baked, homemade muffin. It’s “Muffin Break!” Alison, the camp baker, is always surprising us with new, fun muffin flavors. In addition to familiar standards like Lemon Poppy Seed and Blueberry, she’s devised amazing one-of-a-kind varieties like the French Toast Muffins we had yesterday. Baked with real maple syrup, with powdered sugar on top, they were delicious. You should see the stampede of children when the camp bells rings for muffin break. The Hi-Ups open a window of the dining hall to hand out a muffin to everyone who files by on the porch. We all love our morning muffin at Rockbrook.
This morning a group of Middlers came back from an overnight backpacking trip with Michelle, our hiking guide. They had loaded up Thursday afternoon, with tents, sleeping bags, water bottles, cooking equipment, and food, all stuffed into backpacks. A short drive later into the Pisgah National Forest, they were off on a short, 2-mile winding trail to one of Rockbrook’s secret camping spots. For a while, things got exciting as a brief rain storm moved through, “pretty much soaking us,” as Michelle put it. You can see several things drying in this photo. The girls were in excellent spirits, albeit still a little damp, when they got back to camp.
Also this morning, Clyde took a group of Seniors on an introductory kayaking trip on the French Broad River. There’s a perfect little teaching section of the river right near camp. It has just enough current to create several nice eddies, places to practice ferrying, and a wonderful sandy beach to take out.
Clyde started the trip with a refresher about using the paddle, strokes and how to stay together on the river. Working their way down the river, the whole group stopped at different features to work on specific skills. Mallory the kayaking instructor, for example, would first demonstrate how to peel out of an eddy, and then each camper would take turns trying it, with Clyde right there coaching and providing tips. Overall, a great trip… warm, sunny weather, improved kayaking skills and confidence on the water, and lots of fun with friends at camp.
The Youth Camps of North Carolina
Visitors to western North Carolina often remark that there are a lot of summer youth camps located in the area. There sure are! The awesome natural features of this part of NC— the highest peaks east of the Mississippi River, millions of acres of State and National forests, whitewater rivers, rock climbing crags, and beautiful lakes —make it ideal for adventure activity, cooler summer temperatures, and the outdoor setting for summer camps. It’s not too surprising western North Carolina has a long history of summer camping.
Looking at the entire state, there’s a clear pattern to where summer camps are located. Take a look at this map.
It shows all of the youth summer camps in North Carolina. There are approximately 186 camps, with more than half (about 90) located in the western mountains. The others are concentrated near 3 major population centers (Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh). Many of these are smaller day camps that serve the local communities.
There’s a lot of data here. You can zoom in and see an individual pin for each camp. Click on the pin and see further info about the camp, including a phone number and web address. American Camp Association accredited camps, like Rockbrook, have red pins. Here too, more than half of the State’s ACA accredited camps are located in the western region.
Explore the map! It’s really cool!
Adventure Sports and Storytelling
Things are really in full gear at camp these days. Everyone has learned most of the songs, making the dining hall a deafening place at times… there’s something about that “Austrian Went Yodeling” song that really gets the girls going. We’ve begun everyone’s second set of activities, so there’s new crafts being made (pottery bowls, sewn pillows, knitted hats, and tie dye t-shirts), new bullseyes in archery and riflery, and new tricks on the alpine tower. Up in the Junior lodge, the drama activity is spending time practicing for this session’s musical Annie. It’s so nice to wander by and hear the girls singing a song from the play. I’m sure it will be a wonderful performance. Down on the tennis courts, a class of seniors were having fun playing a game of rotating doubles (after each point, the winning pair stays to challenge a new pair, and so forth). At the lake, there were canoers out and 2 girls in whitewater kayaks learning how to roll. Lots of action!
In addition, there were several outdoor adventure trips out of camp. Clyde and Kelsey packed a lunch and took a group of girls kayaking on the lower Green River. Junior Line Head, and seasoned paddler Christine went along as well to help Tor our videographer capture some footage of the trip. We’re updating our camp DVD this summer, so you can look forward to seeing that footage. Heading off in another direction was Tara, Edith and Jackie leading eight other girls on a backpacking and camping trip in the Pisgah National Forest. With their tents, food, water and cooking equipment, they were loaded down, but with 11 people going, it was easy to distribute the weight. Jeff took the Hi-Ups out for a short waterfall hike, and Mallory ran several girls up to Castle Rock for a day of rock climbing too. Plenty of adventure to go around.
For tonight’s evening program we had a special guest come to camp, Gary Greene a local Brevard storyteller and musician. All the girls gathered in the Senior Lodge to enjoy several stories, songs and skits Gary brought to perform. He’s a very talented guy and is great at pulling in the audience to participate. He had the girls hooting with laughter and at other times perfectly silent as they listened. That’s not easy to do with more than 200 people! The counselors performed a few skits too with plenty of camper involvement. The whole evening was very nice, and while not as goofy or silly as other things at camp, the girls enjoyed it immensely.
Bedtime at camp is probably a lot like at home but with a few bits of added excitement. For example, each night the girls have milk and cookies (another fantastic treat from baker Liz!) before bed. This is one of those long Rockbrook traditions started before anyone can remember and continued today. It’s a nice social time among all the girls and counselors of each line. After dressing in pajamas and visiting the “Deducky” (RBC lingo for bathroom. Why? Again, nobody is quite sure, even some of the older alumnae we know!) to brush their teeth, the girls usually take a few minutes to talk about their day in the cabin. The counselors lead the group as everyone mentions their “Pows and Wows,” a high point and low point of what happened that day. It’s another way for the girls to get to know their cabin mates, learn from each other, and feel good about the day. A little bit of quiet time in their bunks and then it’s lights out for everyone. You might think it would be hard to sleep in a cabin with 9 or so other people, but when we stay this busy at camp all day long, sleeping comes easily. Next thing you know, you’re hearing the wake up bell and it’s time to hop up for more camp fun!
Cabin Day
Wednesday is cabin day at Rockbrook. This is a special day when after a morning of regular activity time where girls go the different camp activities they signed up for (alpine tower climbing, weaving, archery, riding, etc.), we do something special in the afternoon. There are many options, but what’s unique is that each cabin has their cabin day together. Instead of pursuing different interests and activities, the girls stick together on Wednesday afternoons.
Sometimes, we’ll plan something special for an entire age group, all the Seniors for example. Today, we took all the senior girls on a trip to sliding rock in the Pisgah National Forest. If you haven’t seen it before, Sliding Rock is a natural water slide formed by Looking Glass Creek as it plunges into a pool of water. It’s a classic mountain summer thrill and everyone loves it! On the way out of the forest, we just had to stop at Dolly’s for a cone of “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion” ice cream. Yum!
The Juniors played group games in the gym, but after dinner were excited to learn they were going camping tonight. Tara our hiking guide would lead them out to our overnight camping outpost located on the Rockbrook property out near Rockbrook falls. With their sleeping bags, flashlights and bug spray in hand, two cabins took the short walk through the woods to the outpost. Tara and Jessi built them a campfire, they roasted marshmallows and sang songs into the night. It takes a little while for everyone to settle down and go to sleep on the covered tent platforms, but that’s because it’s so much fun!
Oh! I forgot to mention the muffins today… Cranberry Walnut. They were awesome!
Hiking Girls
Let’s not forget hiking! All the girls who come to Rockbrook can count on a hiking and camping adventure. It’s not required or anything, but just about everybody takes a special trip out of camp to spend a night camping out in the forest, either at one of our outposts (at the Nantahala River or nearby camp below Dunns Rock) or in the nearby Pisgah National Forest. Even the youngest campers look forward to being outdoors, sleeping in their sleeping bag, messing around with their flashlight and of course, making s’mores over the campfire.
Hiking and camping like this is big fun for the girls, but more than that, it reconnects them with nature. Away from the ordinary distractions of being inside (home, school, car), they settle down and become more aware of the world around them. This makes it easier to appreciate the people around them too, and thereby to make friends. It’s amazing, but hiking and camping provides an almost magical context for girls to enjoy being with each other while at the same time growing socially.
