The Rockbrook lake is the place to cool off in the summer with all kinds of swimming games and excitement. There are camp swimming lessons, diving board tricks to learn, and a great swimming surprise all the girls love.The water activities inspire girls to learn how to swim, as well as become more comfortable with their swimming. Our swim camps provide great instruction, cool mountain water, and fun all summer long.
Our beautiful haven in the “Heart of the Wooded Mountain” has had a beautiful past couple of days. Blue skies and heat from the sun calls for a busy day at the lake. In addition to their regular activity time, there are two times a day when the girls have “free swim” periods available for them to take a dip: one before lunch and one before supper. They can also spend this hour in other ways. They may choose to play in the creek, visit the camp store, or finish up a craft in an activity area, for example.
On these sunny days we tend to see a trend here at camp. As soon as the bell rings at the end of second or fourth period, girls hike up the hill to their cabin, change into their swim suits, and soon you see them trickle down the hill to the lake with towels in hand. When the girls arrive to the lake, they form a line waiting excitedly to be the first ones in as soon as the lake opens. Lifeguards and lookouts take their places, the red flag is removed, the front chain is taken down, and finally the lake is open. In order to keep our lake as safe as possible, a counselor takes names at the front of the lake keeping count of everyone entering and exiting the lake. Once names are on the list, towels and shoes are left on an amazing, beautiful rock, swim tags are moved, and the girls have to decide how they want to enter the water.
The Rockbrook lake was built in two phases, the initial “pool” when the camp was founded in 1921, and then in 1925 expanded to its current size. It had to be dug by hand (!), with horses dragging pans of dirt out to form its shape between the giant rocks. We’re not sure how intentionally, but it was constructed into the shape of our mascot – a cardinal! Our lake is filled with refreshing stream water drawn right off the mountain. Because of the mountain water, the temperature of the lake can be a little chilly, or as we like to say “refreshing.”
When the girls step up to the lake, they wonder how refreshing it will be that day. Some brave it by doing a cannonball off of the diving board, others take it slow and walk their way into the shallow end, and lastly you have a special few who decide to enter via our super fun waterslide. Many girls like jumping into the lake after spending time in the heat “because they like the refreshing water and when they get out they feel energized and happy.”
Once in the water, there are several activities for the girls. One popular attraction is the shallow end along the lap lane where girls swim their mermaid laps. For each session and line there are a certain number of laps needed to swim by the end of the session in order to become a mermaid. Once you become a mermaid, all of camp congratulates you by singing The Mermaid Song to you during a meal. Mermaids also get to go to Dolly’s Dairy Bar at the end of the session! Another popular attraction is our waterslide! One of our middlers said she loves the slide the most because “it’s so fast and when you go in the water it’s a way to quickly become refreshed.” She also likes the slide for other reasons – waiting in the water to encourage and watch her friends go down after her!
At Rockbrook, we love spending time at the lake. Our lifeguards work hard to make it a safe place for all of our campers. Each day you never know who will be at the lake, who will swim their last mermaid lap, or who will go down the slide the most amount of times. The lake is a place for campers and counselors from different lines to come together, have fun, and to leave feeling refreshed.
That’s what we’ve been doing these days— really enjoying the Rockbrook lake. Even here in the mountains, the high temperatures have been knocking on 90 by the afternoon making everything at the lake all that more attractive. All day long, in fact, there have been campers and counselors splashing around, making up goofy jumps from the diving board, or just floating around on a tube. The kayakers have been happily getting wet as they practice their rolls, and the canoers, after paddling around a bit, didn’t hesitate to flip into the water. It’s great fun, by the way, to then try to stand up on the bottom of the canoe as it floats upside down. During the free swim periods, the water slide added even more excitement as girls climbed the 30-foot tower and slid (screaming!) down to plunge into the cool water. Classic summer fun!
Today was a day of regular, in-camp activities for everyone, but as I watched the girls confidently go from activity to activity, dash to the dining hall for meals after hearing the bell, check their mailboxes after lunch, and decide how to spend their free time, I thought about how great it is to see them being so independent. After this short week, this place is infused with focused energy, with self-directed ideas about what to do next, where to go and (easily) whom do be with. That’s really neat because it means the girls are making all these decisions on their own and learning to trust themselves as they navigate all the options. Of course, around every corner we’ve got caring adults trained to guide and encourage this kind of independence, and the choices available (the activities, people, and general environment) are carefully selected to be safe and positive, but all of this makes camp a perfect place for girls to grow more self-confident and independent. It’s clear here at camp, and I suspect you’ll notice it back at home too.
Today for lunch our awesome kitchen crew, led by Eulogia, hit a home run. It was a taco fiesta with fresh, secretly spiced, ground beef, black beans, Mexican rice, diced tomatoes, homemade guacamole, cheese and salsa. Each table had a plate of taco shells and bowls with all the different ingredients. And the shells kept on coming. One camper yelled proudly, “this is my eighth one!” The peanut butter and jelly station and the salad bars saw some action, but not much really.
The evening program tonight was the return of a special all-camp event hosted by our old friend Bill Grimsley, Game Show Mania. Using his podiums and scoring system, Bill put on a funny question and answer game that involved groups of campers, but also kept the whole audience involved in the show. After randomly selecting contestants, who then represented their cabins, he played sound bites and asked questions about pop music, movies and TV shows, but also about Rockbrook trivia. Bill was particularly good at making sure all of the contestants scored some points, not leaving anyone out. Prizes, like a giant red, white and blue cookie, went to cabin groups, and at times when the panelists were stumped and the audience knew an answer, the whole crowd was awarded a sweet treat. The audience of campers was really into the game, cheering on their friends. This was especially true during the staff round as the campers got to root for their favorite counselor and see them come up with some pretty funny answers. With costumes and silly antics part of the mix, it was even better.
No matter what set of activities you sign up for at camp, there are two times each day when the lake is open for “free swim.” These are right before lunch and right before dinner. It’s up to you how you spend this free time, but it feels really great to jump in the lake for a swim after you’ve spent the day at other activities around camp. You might have been playing basketball in the gym, or climbing the alpine tower, or just walking back from horseback riding, but chances are you’ll be at least little hot and sweaty. It’s summer after all! So head down to the lake, and you can meet up with some of your cabin mates and find out how they’ve been spending their day. The Rockbrook swimming lake is fed by a mountain stream, so as anyone will tell you, it’s guaranteed to cool you off.
Let’s go for a summer swim!
How many times have you gone down sliding rock? In the Pisgah National Forest, not too far from Rockbrook’s kids camp, there’s a famous natural water slide formed by Looking Glass Creek as it slides down about 60 feet into a pool at the bottom. The US Forest service has improved the area and now provides lifeguards during the busy summer season.
Most sessions at camp, we’ll take our Middlers and Seniors over in the afternoon for some cool mountain fun. It’s swimming. It’s adventure. It’s thrills, and because it’s also a clear mountain creek, it’s chills too. The girls just love it! On one trip last summer, some of the kids raced backed to the top and slid down 9 times! Have you tried it?
There’s just nothing quite like it! All the fun of camp… the running around, the tower climbing, the sports, the teatherball, the hiking up to Castle Rock (and more 🙂 ) …can really get you kind of hot and grubby. Jumping in the lake for a little swimming is really the perfect way to cool off at camp. At Rockbrook there are two free swim periods (when you can swim even if you didn’t sign up for swimming as an activity), one before lunch and one right before dinner. That mountain fresh water feels fantastic. Have you got your swim goggles?
What could be better than a quick swim at camp? At Rockbrook kids have lots of chances to jump in the lake. In addition to signing up for swimming as one of their camp activity periods, girls can come for a swim at two different “free swim” times— right before lunch and right before dinner. These swim periods are really fun because you can get a big group of your friends to come down at the same time. Kids can swim, jump off the diving board, fly down the water slide, float around in a tube, or just lay out in the sun. It’s up to you.
Something pretty great happened to me today, down at the lake in the mid-morning hours: I joined the 440 Club. In order to join this prestigious Rockbrook organization, you have to swim 100 laps across a certain distance in the lake, and once you complete those 100 laps (440 meters), you get to go to Dolly’s as a reward. Honestly, who wouldn’t attempt the 440 for a chance to go to Dolly’s? Which is why I was accompanied by about 7 other campers and 2 other counselors desperately trying to complete the 440 before the deadline tomorrow afternoon. Not only is it another one of those Rockbrook traditions that campers come back to each year, but it’s something to work hard for, something to accomplish, and it’s hard to understand how satisfying it feels to see those stars filled in on your personal 440 card unless you are actually completing the distance yourself. I spent some quality time with the lake today, which I haven’t done in awhile, and I now understand why tons of campers race down at the beginning of every free swim. Despite the cold water (which is very easy to get over) swimming down at the lake was probably the most fun I’ve had during free time since I came to camp. Wait a second, a trip to Dolly’s because I had so much fun in the lake today? I know what flavor of ice cream I’ll be ordering!
Ready for a dip in the Rockbrook Camp lake? It’s always “refreshing” 😉 , which is our way of saying, “chilly, chilly, chilly.” This is because the lake is fed by a true mountain stream that runs down Rockbrook Falls nearby. Jumping in on a hot summer day feels just great.
Ready for that swim now? We sure are! Here are Sarah and Katie, two of our lifeguards from last summer, ready to keep a close eye and lend a hand if you need it.
Coolin’ off in the lake!
