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!

First Round of Activities

Monday at Rockbrook brought great excitement as our July campers tried out their first set of activities. Each girl is currently enrolled in four activities of her choice. The activities range from crafty to dramatic to adventurous-something for every camper! Despite the afternoon rain shower, activities went on as scheduled and lots of fun was had.

Maggie leading our "Keeping in Touch" activity-look out for some handmade stationery to arrive at home soon!

In addition to our delicious meals in the dining hall, our camp baker Allison had warm chocolate chip muffins ready this morning and cookies and milk for us tonight at Evening Program. These always set a great mood at camp! Just wait; you’ll be hearing about the muffins at camp.

During first and second free swim campers had their first opportunity to try out the new slide at the lake. Official names have been flying in, and we will reveal the new name later this summer. The comments upon exiting the slide ranged from silly to exhilarating to slippery to just plain fun. And they keep going over and over again. You’ll have to ask how many times your daugher was able to go down while here.

Big Slide Fun!

Tomorrow will be a day of rafting for our Middlers and Seniors over at the Nantahala River. Half the girls went over to our outpost this evening for a camp-out and will get on the river bright and early in the morning. The rest of the rafters scheduled for tomorrow will leave after breakfast for a day trip. They will get on the river just after lunch. It will be an adventurous ride with all of our experienced guides leading the group down the river.

This is big, big 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.

Horses, Muffins and Rafting at Camp

Our mini session campers have brought a bright new energy to our activities. Their first day included lots of firsts for many: first time climbing Castle Rock, first time shooting a bow and arrow, first friendship bracelet, and so much more! Director Jessi also offered one of her ever-popular yoga workshops. The barn seems to be the biggest hit with our newest campers. Every horse got a great workout yesterday, and every camper seemed to have a blast meeting some new friends of the large four-legged variety. The names we heard the most out of the barn were Cool Beans and Watson. These two horses are quite popular this year.

Rave reviews were heard mid-morning at muffin break. Our wonderfully creative baker Liz went all out on some banana chocolate chip muffins. Mixing two delicious recipes seems to be her specialty. We also enjoyed a little comfort at dinner by way of some chicken pot pie and chocolate chip bars.

This afternoon our first rafting trip of the week headed out to the Nantahala outpost with Jeff and counselors Allie and Sally. It’s sure to be an evening of campfire stories and s’mores. Tuesday about 50 more campers will join them for an exhilarating ride down the Nantahala with all of our specially trained raft guides. The team is headed up by our Outdoor Adventure Director, Clyde Carter. We are so lucky to have him work with us during the summer while he can get away from his college job as the Head of the Wilderness Leadership Department at Brevard College. He is a veteran on our local area rivers. We cannot believe that this will be our final trip over for summer 2010. Where does the time go? We will be sure to report back with a lot fun information from the trip.

All Fun Camp Activities

The first day of camp is one where everyone launches into the regular in-camp activities. After selecting their first set of four (2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon) the day before, it’s fun to see the girls divide up into lots of little groups and head off to the different parts of camp where activities are held. This could be one of our 100-year-old log cabins, one of our stone meeting lodges, “hiker’s rock,” the gym, the lake, the equestrian center, or the alpine tower. The whole camp gets busy and spreads out to have fun! Naturally, during the sign up process, the girls often sign up for things because their friends have also selected a certain activity, but also because it’s something new this year, or it’s something they’ve always wanted to try. During this regular activity time at camp, if you wander around, you’d be amazed by what the girls are doing. Just about everywhere you look, there’s something cool going on.

Girls swimming in the lake, making pottery, learning a new dance, shooting arrows, painting and drawing, playing dodge ball, canoeing, kayaking, climbing and riding horses. The list goes on!

Today at “Muffin Break” (the 15 minutes between 1st and 2nd period) we all enjoyed a classic blueberry muffin. Did you know that our kitchen has a baker, Liz? She makes all of our muffins, cookies, and desserts each day from scratch. It’s always the talk of camp to find out what kind of muffin she’s made for us that day. What a treat!

The other big event today was our “Swim Demonstrations.” Ordinarily, we do these on the opening day of camp, but yesterday a couple of afternoon thunderstorms made that difficult, so we postponed to today when the weather was excellent, sunny and warm. The swim demo is an exercise where each camper demonstrates her swimming ability to the water front staff. This involves swimming about 60 yards and treading water for 30 seconds. Doing this well earns a red buddy tag with your name on it and permission to swim in the lake without a life vest. If a camper can’t quite do this with confidence, the swimming staff will offer her swimming lessons and in the meantime restrict her to the shallow part of the lake and require she wear a life jacket. We don’t insist anyone go swimming while at camp, but if they want to swim or go on any water-related trips (whitewater rafting, for example), they must “pass” the swim demo.

One of my favorite times at camp is right after dinner, during the hour we call “Twilight.” It’s just a bit of free time between dinner and the start of evening program, or some other all-camp event. But it always feels so good. The sun sets on the hill, there’s often a cool breeze and the girls are free to play in the creek, play tetherball or simply hang out. We also always offer one or two optional activities during Twilight, like tonight when Becky led group games down on the archery field and Molly took a group of girls down to work on the garden. These are optional, but still nice if you’re looking for something to do.

Camp is off to a great start. Be sure to check the photo gallery each day to see more of what’s going on. You can also follow us on Twitter for little snips of camp life.

Activities for Everyone

The first day of activities this session is full speed ahead with all of the activities ready for action. As we all enjoyed perfect summer weather (warm during the day and cool at night), campers were making pottery, designing weaving projects, and decorating their first pillow case. A few girls also went rock climbing with Clyde, our adventure director. Girls shot arrows and guns, did flips at gymnastics and cannonballs at the lake. Down at the equestrian center, Cara had girls up and riding.

Halfway through the morning at our “Muffin Break,” everyone ran for a treat freshly baked by Liz. We look forward to seeing what flavor she makes for us everyday. Today, lemon.

After rest hour, Jerry, Jessi, Tara and Michelle took a big group of campers on a hike to Kilroy’s Cabin. This is a special hike to a remote part of the Rockbrook property that first takes you to Castle Rock where you can rest and enjoy the amazing view of the French Broad river valley. From there, the hike is a bushwhack through the forest with no trail as a guide. Jerry knows the way, but few others can find the old abandoned cabin. Kilroy’s Cabin is the center of an elaborate, and maybe a little bit spooky, story told at camp. I’ll save the details for later, but it involves a nurse with red hair, love, jealousy and a car crash late one stormy night on a slippery bridge. Ooooooooo. (cue eery music!).

For dinner, a classic camp favorite was served— spaghetti with red sauce. In addition to the salad bar, each table had a bowl of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and basil, and warm bread. It really hit the spot after our action-packed day. But that’s pretty normal for Rockbrook. Camp is action!