Climbing, Kayaking and Cabin Day

First let’s mention the muffins.  They were another Rockbrook original today, this time invented and baked by veteran baker Annabel: Tootsie Roll Muffins.  Yes, after some experimenting, she figured out how to include a piece of the chewy chocolate candy in each muffin before baking, and man were they awesome.

The morning kept us all involved in our regular camp activities. Since it was the third day of the sequence, we were finishing up lots of craft projects, improving our shooting skills at archery and riflery, and tackling more advanced outdoor adventure challenges.  For example, down at the lake, Kelsey held a kayaking roll clinic with the kayakers.  This is learning to roll your kayak back upright after it turns upside down.  If you’ve never done it before, it’s a challenging sequence of hip, head, shoulder and paddle moves, all coordinated to roll the boat up.  It’s not easy, and ordinarily takes lots of practice, but several of the girls made good progress and now can almost do it unassisted.

Tara, Katherine and Kiersten took a group of girls rock climbing on Castle Rock for the morning. This is the big outcropping of granite on the camp property that you can see from the hill. It’s just a short walk up behind the dining hall, and since it’s on our property, access is really easy and always guaranteed. We have 6 different routes established on Castle Rock, and for this trip they set up the 3 called “Whim,” “Wham” and “Bam.” Bam is the longest and most difficult of these three— about 90 feet beginning with a gentle dihedral that turns into an exposed face climb at the top.  The view of the French Broad River valley is incredible from the ledge at the finish.  Don’t worry; getting down is a simple matter of the belayer lowering the climber down on the rope.  There were several really good climbers in that group!

After lunch, we had our Wednesday “cabin day.” This is a time when we do special activities together in our cabin groups instead of following each camper’s individual activity schedule. This allows each cabin to decide what they’d like to do and to enjoy a little extra time together.

Some cabins just hang out and play games in their cabin, while others choose to go on a hike to Rockbrook Falls, or Stick Biscuit Falls on the camp property. Some head to the gym for a game there and others make some kind of snack in the dining hall… cookies or “Puppy chow,” for example. Occasionally, we’ll take an entire age group out of camp for a special trip, like today when we gathered up all the Seniors and headed to Sliding Rock. A brief thunderstorm moved out just in time for us to enjoy a few trips down the rock, and to stop at Dolly’s Dairy Bar for an ice cream cone before heading back to camp for dinner.

Oh, and speaking of dinner, it featured some of Rick’s homemade pizza. You should see the gigantic blob of dough he makes for the crust! Pepperoni, Veggie, Cheese, even Pesto; they were all great. With a big green salad and Annabel’s puff-pastries for dessert, the girls loved it! They even busted out the “Cook’s Song,” something they sing when inspired by an especially yummy meal. Good stuff.

All in all another great day in “the heart of a wooded mountain.” Feel free to leave comments on these blog posts. We always appreciate hearing from you!