Are You A Kayaking Girl?

Are you a kayaking girl? Do you love fitting all the gear— helmet, PFD, skirt, and paddle —and squeezing into the boat? And the best of all, do you love getting out on the river and playing in the rapids? Catching eddies, surfing waves, and just playing on the water?

Maybe you do, or maybe you’ve always wanted to, but either way camp is the perfect place for kayaking. For example, just about every day down at the Rockbrook lake, girls enjoy kayaking classes. One of the camp whitewater staff members will be teaching basic paddling techniques, but also important skills like steering your boat, controlling your paddle, and learning what to do if you capsize your kayak. If you know all this, it’s still fun to get out on the lake and practice your stuff, and if you’ve never worked on your roll, then this is a great way to get started learning it.

In addition to kayaking on our lake, Rockbrook girls are running the local whitewater rivers too! Every week we offer several day kayaking trips to the Green, Tuckaseegee, French Broad or Nantahala rivers. This is a chance to take the skills learned at the lake and put them to use on moving water, to learn more about reading the rivers (“downstream V !”), and honing your ferrying and eddying techniques. Around here, every kayak girl is having a blast!

Fun and Formative

For quite a while now we’ve talked about how Rockbrook is “a place for girls to grow,” how a sleepaway camp experience can be so instrumental in the lives of young girls, helping them socially, personally, and even physically. Being at Rockbrook is plenty of fun, of course, but it’s also formative in really important ways. Here’s an article we published back in February about how camp helps children grow.

The adventure activities at Rockbrook provide a good example of this. They are ideally suited to providing the right balance of challenge and success, in an active, friendly and supportive context. They are just right for inspiring campers and fostering their self-confidence and social skills. Take today’s kayaking trip down the French Broad River. The girls handled the rapids, stuck together as a group encouraging each other, and conquered the technical aspects of catching eddies, ferrying, and reading the river. There were international campers on the trip too (Belgium and Russia), giving the girls even more chances to learn from each other. Getting out of camp for a river trip like this is often a highlight of a girl’s camp experience, perhaps because it’s a more focused moment where she can feel good about her abilities and relationships. Or, perhaps it’s just a good time!

Our traditional Rockbrook “camp song” includes this line— The rosy mist of the morning, Veil it anew at dawn, Like a fairyland of beauty, Where friendships so true are born. This line is inspired by the notion that Rockbrook is a “fairyland of beauty,” that all of its natural beauty, the mosses, rocks, creeks, ferns and wildflowers for example, are the work of fairies. All of us at Rockbrook, being in this “wonder-full” place, can easily imagine friendly spirits working their magic all around us. This photo shows a “fairy house” a few of the girls have built near hiker’s rock. Gathering leaves, sticks, moss and other found bits of nature, they’ve been building several of these houses. Some have bathtubs, beds and even a set of “monkey bars” and a swing! Others were made mostly of rocks and colorful pebbles.  What fun to search the woods with your friends for special, enchanted fairy house building materials!  And, what a nice surprise to turn the corner in camp and encounter one of these special creations.

For dinner tonight Rick made us a feast of baked tilapia, roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli (along with our salad bars of fresh fruits and veggies), along with Alison’s homemade brownies for dessert. After dinner, Jane (who by the way is majoring in fine art photography at The Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC) grabbed the camera and announced an impromptu twilight activity for the girls: a silly glamor photo shoot. She encouraged folks to just dress up and come out to the hill to get their picture taken. Dressed in true Rockbrook spirit (i.e. super silly) mostly the Juniors got excited about the idea, and Jane captured a bunch of really great shots.

It’s a Golden Day at Rockbrook

The sun was shining and the energy was flowing today at Rockbrook!  We started the day with a delicious Breakfast Burrito which gave everyone lots of pep to take on the adventures of the day!  Several trips were offered from rock climbing on Castle Rock to kayaking on the Nantahala River.  In addition there was lots of talk of rehearsal for the camp play, rehearsal for the camp dance routines and to top it all of- today was twin day!!  There were all sort of twin duos and trios spotted all over camp.

After lunch, the highlight announcement was Biltmore Train!!  Biltmore Train is an all you can eat ice cream buffett for the campers and counselors.  It is an old tradition at camp from the early days.  The Biltmore Dairy Truck used to deliver the ice cream out to camp for the girls to enjoy a cool treat.  Here is a great old photo from the early days of Biltmore Train.  Today the girls enjoyed choosing from Peppermint, Cookies and Cream, Vanilla, Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip.  Have no fear, for those who don’t enjoy ice cream we had plenty of popsicles to go around. It was a fun treat and it cooled us all down for a nice rest hour.

This afternoon continued with lots more action around camp.  The mermaid club members (girls who have completed 100 or more laps in the lake) completed their laps and were announced during dinner.  Their efforts will earn them a big Rockbrook Surprise!  Girls also took time to complete more friendship bracelets, walk with a friend, pick up a their tie dye shirt or glaze their pottery.  As you can see, the days are full at RBC!  We sure are having fun!

Don’t Forget to Write!

Receiving mail at camp is a huge deal to the campers. Everyday, someone from our office drives to the Brevard P.O. and wheels out a shopping cart full of cards and letters addressed to the girls at RBC. Even with our “no package” policy, there are usually a couple of hundred pieces per day! Then during lunch, we sort the mail and deliver it to the campers’ mailboxes so it will be ready once they’re dismissed from lunch. It’s always so exciting to check your box and see something there. Part of this excitement, I think, has something to do with the simple (mostly) technology-free living we enjoy at camp. Being away from screens and the external stimulation they provide, camp is more immediately interactive. It emphasizes real relationships and sensuous experiences, but is also completely “here and now” and relies very little on the outside world. Receiving mail reminds us of what’s going on outside in the “real world.” It provides some reassurance that everything is fine back home and it’s OK being at camp. Mail shows us that the folks back home are just as excited we are about us having this much fun at camp. Oh, and can you see why a real, hand-written letter is vastly superior to a “quick email?” Mail can really mean a lot!

Today was a perfect summer day (warm, dry and sunny) for a perfect camp day (packed with action, plenty of giggles, and bright-eyed surprises). Clyde, Kristen and Abby took a group of Middlers out kayaking on the French Broad River. Jeff and Leslie took a big group of Juniors hiking to John Rock in the Pisgah National Forest. Thalia offered one of her very popular yoga classes to the seniors. Everyone paused for a cinnamon streusel muffin. And then it was back to weaving baskets in the creek near Curosty, working on backhands on the tennis courts, flips in gymnastics, and climbing to the top of Castle Rock. There always seems to be time to squeeze in a quick game of tetherball too. During the free swim time before dinner, the new water slide was running nonstop.

Tonight’s evening program marked the return of Auction, a special all-camp event we haven’t had in a few years. This session we went traditional and decided to make it a “Western” themed event. This meant all the girls came dressed in their best western garb… cowboy hats, boots, overalls, hair bows, bandanas and plenty of plaid. Each cabin sat together in the dining hall and was given a handful of RBC bucks to make bids on mystery prizes. Jerry, our Director Emeritus, ran the event as the auctioneer. Some of the prizes were sweet, like a cake or ice cream treat, while others were a little less exciting, like a tray of veggies or new toothbrushes. There’s plenty of suspense once a cabin won a bid, and just as much laughter and cheers when the prize was revealed. It’s funny how there were enough prizes for every cabin to win both a yummy and a silly prize…   Good fun.

Fun at the Rockbrook Lake

Camp has been beautiful and sunny today which made the lake a particularly fun place to be!  Girls were busy taking classes in canoeing, kayaking and swimming and enjoying the refreshing temperature of the lake!  After the morning of classes, free swim was quite popular as lots of girls came down to take a dip or hang out with friends.  Since the lake is in the center of camp it is always quite a hub of action!

This afternoon our free swim was extra fun as we had a gentle rain storm during the swim time.  It only lasted for a minute but it was a beautiful sight.  After the brief rain the girls were back to playing in inner tubes, swimming laps for the mermaid club and playing categories.  Categories is a very popular game where campers take turns calling out a category such as “favorite food” to their friends as they jump in the water.  You then are supposed to yell out an answer before you hit the water.  The campers get very creative and enjoy stumping each other with their funny categories.

As you can see there is never a dull moment at the lake!  Rain or shine we always have lots of fun.

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.

Digging into Camp

We’ve often remarked that camp really helps girls grow in several important ways in so many important ways. Being away from home in a camp environment, campers benefit from the variety of new activities offered, the positive role models they see, and the new relationships they form with other girls and staff members. This has been particularly clear this week at camp. With the first few day’s jitters now gone, the roar of singing in the dining hall has gotten louder, the confidence riding horses, climbing rocks and hitting tennis serves. Likewise, as skills have been improving the activities are becoming more impressive— bullseyes in archery and riflery, line-straight kayaking, and super complicated crafts. Everyone seems to be really digging into camp.

Down at the lake, the canoeing and kayaking instructors have been working with the girls to prepare them for the upcoming river trips planned. This involves getting geared up, and learning the different strokes to maneuver the boats, as well as knowing a few strategies to follow if your boat were to capsize. For kayakers, this means being able to “wet exit,” pulling the grab loop on your neoprene skirt and sliding out of the boat (while upside down!). It’s challenging at first, of course, but fun for the campers to learn these basic skills, and really exciting when they begin to become second nature.

The Hi-Ups, rising 11th graders, took a trip with Jeff up to Dupont Forest for a waterfall hike. They started at the bottom of Triple Falls and climbed each face of the rocks until they made it almost to the top. It took a little bushwhacking to pull through the last bit, but they enjoyed the high view on the easy trail back down. After talking about it, we decided this was “real adventure,” something that required extra concentration and strength from us. It was amazingly beautiful, but also powerful and just a little bit scary. We had a great time!

Don’t forget to stay in touch as the session continues. You can always give us a call at camp, but please add your comments to these posts and share them with your friends. We always love hearing what you all have to say!

Let’s Go Kayaking!

Let’s queue up some adventure this summer at camp with whitewater kayaking! If you haven’t tried it, you are in for true high adventure… challenging thrills, the exciting surprises, and a solid dose of the power and beauty of nature.

There’s some really cool kayaking gear to learn about and a first step of simply getting comfortable paddling the boat, but then campers spend time on the Rockbrook lake practicing basic techniques for kayaking, like what to do if you tip over (“wet exit” or even “roll”).

Heading out to some of the local whitewater rivers is the next step. We have to master maneuvering through the river’s rapids… crossing fast-moving water (“ferrying”), stopping in a pocket of calm water (“catching an eddy”) and pulling out of an eddy (“peeling out”).

Girls love kayaking camps because there’s always something new to learn, a new river to paddle, and a new challenging rapid to conquer… perfect summer time adventure! Let’s go!