A Rafting and Riding Fiesta

For a bunch of Middlers and Seniors, today was a big day of whitewater rafting on the Nantahala. Right after breakfast we loaded up three buses of them, and with a picnic lunch packed and ready to go, we set out to meet our regular team of rafting guides at the head of the river. Rockbrook is fortunate to be the only girls camp to have a US Forest service permit to run trips on the Nantahala River. This allows us to hire excellent guides (people we know are great with kids), have our own equipment (top of line Avon rafts for example), and schedule trips when we want. It also allows us to take every camper rafting who is old enough (5th grade and older) for no additional fees. The weather today was absolutely perfect for rafting. Warm and sunny is ideal when it comes to the chilly water of the Nantahala, and also for inspiring splash fights between rafts. The girls had a great time paddling the river, singing camp songs during the calm sections, and screaming their heads off when heading down the rapids.

Down at the equestrian center, the riding lessons are going well. The beginners already have their favorite ponies to ride— “I love Annie, and I love Cool Beans!” And the intermediate riders are working on posting, while the advanced lessons the girls are practicing their canter and jumping. It seems the barn is always a popular place to hang out.

Lunch today in camp was a delightful picnic on the hill. Rick served up hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixins. He made a giant batch of macaroni salad, had coleslaw, potato chips and pickles to round off the plate. Same weather here: sunny and warm, but cooler than the past few days. The girls brought out their Crazy Creek chairs and spread out across the hill to soak up the mountain view and chat over lunch. It was one of those great, classic summertime feelings we always enjoy at camp.

“Happy Birthday Everyone!” was the theme for dinner. It was a special event called “Birthday Night” where we rearranged the dining hall tables so everyone with the same birth month can sit together. It’s really fun to find out who shares your month and maybe even the same birthday as you, and even more so, to share the special cake for each month. You can imagine it’s a busy day in the kitchen for Liz as she bakes 12 cakes! Fortunately, the Hi-Ups help decorate all of them. To make the event even more festive, we served Mexican food (tortillas, quesadillas, beans, steak fajitas, rice, salsa, sour cream and homemade guacamole), decorated the dining hall with brightly colored piñatas, posters and balloons, and had the girls dress up for a “Fiesta.” Latin music played over the sound system, and we all wished each other happy birthday (and other celebrities we could think of… “Happy Birthday Justin Bieber!”). Yummy good fun.

We spotted this article in USA Today about the art of letter writing, and how camps are a place where kids, and parents, can practice that skill, reconnecting to an important form of communication. We’re always encouraging letter writing at camp, both from parents to campers and vice versa. Go check out the article, and you’ll see why!

Overnight Rafting Trips

Tuesday began with a surprise announcement that it was “Talk with an Accent” day at Rockbrook. Of course Mandy and a couple of counselors had fun making the announcement in the thickest, sweetest, overly southern accent they could muster… “Naow, Y’aaaaall….” All day long this was really funny. Campers would arrive at their activity and be welcomed by an English lady, or a New York City cab driver! It was so easy to switch accents, you would never know what you might hear.

Today was also a huge whitewater rafting day for us over at the Nantahala river. These rafting trips are very popular with the Middler and Senior girls (almost everyone chooses to go), so we’ve scheduled several trips throughout the session. The first group left camp Monday afternoon and drove straight to our Nantahala outpost in Macon County to spend the night. With pasta, bread and salad for dinner, we enjoyed a campfire (and s’mores!) afterwords. The outpost is really remote and tends to be an excellent place to see and hear wildlife. For example, we easily heard an owl when sitting around the campfire.

The next morning the overnight group met another busload of campers arriving for a day rafting trip. Together, they suited up with helmets and life jackets, ready to brave the chilly water. Much of the Nantahala river is controlled by Duke Energy and is released to generate hydroelectric power from the bottom of the Nantahala lake. Cold, cold water comes out of the bottom of that lake! Fortunately, the weather was nice and hot, so the water felt great. Some of the girls even jumped in the river to cool off during some of the calmer sections of the river.

When this first group finished rafting, a second group arrived from camp. They brought us an awesome lunch of sandwiches, wraps, fruit and chips, and we all enjoyed a picnic by the river together. Soon it was time for the second group to raft, so as the first group headed back to camp, everyone else drove back to the put in to start the afternoon trip. Here too, the weather was excellent and the girls had a great time splashing each other in between the main rapids on the river. This second group, too, decided to spend the night at the outpost.  More s’mores, stories round the campfire, and talking into the night.

Altogether, 56 people (not counting our guides) were able to raft today. Rockbrook girls love some rafting!

Don’t Forget Rafting!

Let’s not forget whitewater rafting, probably the most popular adventure activity with the teen girls who attend Rockbrook. Everyone who attends our camps, and who have finished the fifth grade or higher, can go on a whitewater adventure trip to the Nantahala river. As you can see in this photo, it’s a very fun river to raft!

Did you know that Rockbrook is the only all-girls camp that has a permit to run its own trips down the Nantahala? It’s true. There are many commercial rafting outfitters that offer trips, but there are only a handful of camps who qualify to run summer trips on their own. Rockbrook has been running rafting, canoeing and kayaking trips on the Nantahala river since the late 1970s!

Of all the adventure trips you might go on this summer at camp, chances are you’ll get one of the biggest thrills from rafting.

The Thrill of Rafting

All the Rockbrook campers who are 5th grade and older can go on an awesome whitewater rafting adventure while at camp. Throughout each session, we take trips over to the Nantahala river, where we are one of the few summer camps holding a permit for these trips (see the ‘RBC’ on the raft?).  You have to love this photo and the big excitement on the girls’ faces!  Is it the rapid or the cold water?

Summer Camp Rafting

Here’s a set of photos of our whitewater rafting trips on the Nantahala River. Each session we take girls over to the river for a fun-filled day rafting. The Nantahala is one of the best known whitewater rivers in the southeast and always offers an exciting ride. Check out the photos and you’ll see what we mean.

Adventure Camp Kids

Kids at Rockbrook Camp also go on great adventure trips right here in the western mountains of North Carolina where we’re located. It’s just perfect for all kinds of outdoor adventure activity. There’s backpacking through the national forests, rock climbing on all the amazing granite around here, and paddling on the wild whitewater rivers nearby. Some of these trips are appropriate for our older campers, but kids of all ages can look forward to getting out and experiencing the excitement of the outdoors.

This photo shows the most popular outdoor adventure activity kids enjoy at camp— whitewater rafting. We take every girl who’s old enough (The Forest Service restricts access by age and weight.) rafting on the Nantahala River. It’s a fun rock’m sock’m ride.

Camp Rafting

This week we had a marathon whitewater rafting event. Over three days, we took almost a hundred campers whitewater rafting down the Nantahala river. Rockbrook is one of only two summer camps that have a Forest Service permit to raft this river, so we are able to take full advantage of it using our own equipment and raft guides. We also have an outpost near the river where we can spend the night after (or sometimes before) rafting. What a great time we all had— excellent weather the whole time, plenty of whitewater excitement, and lots of fun with the other middlers and seniors.

That’s Valerie, one of our former Castle Rock Institute students, guiding the boat. Val now teaches at the Portland Waldorf School.

It's raining, we're rafting, it's pouring!

Last night was the overnight rafting trip for the middlers and seniors, and I had the opportunity of tagging along! It turned out nothing like I expected!

The beginning of the trip was fairly normal. We ate breakfast, hopped on the road, and were way excited for a great time! When we arrived, we lathered on sunscreen, got settled in the rafts and away we went. Yay! The first few rapids were great fun, and when it started to rain we just ignored it, figuring that it would go away in a minute… but it didn’t. Ten minutes later it was still raining, and we were soaked. Not long after that, it began to hail. So we found a place to get out of the river. Our guides lifted the rafts up into a parking lot and leaned them against the fence. They made really great shelter to keep us dry. Then Jeff showed up with the bus!! Yay Jeff!

We made it to the outpost without any further exciting events. The night was spent eating pizza and s’mores and was a great ending for the trip! The next morning we hopped in the bus and arrived back at Rockbrook. What an awesome trip!