We Love Mondays at Camp!
June 14, 2010 by Don Gentle
Pictures from June 14, 2010 (password required)
The week started out with a bang today with six trips heading out in every different direction. The caving trip was the first down the road at 8:15 this morning. They took a new group of boys to Worley’s Cave for a day of playing in the dark and getting muddy! Next out were the climbers. They headed to Cedar Rock again and were able to dodge the afternoon rain and still get some climbing done at the rock. The paddlers had to work around some water release schedules after they found out that Duke Power would not be releasing water on the Green River today. Unfortunately, they don’t let us know until the morning of the release as to whether they will give you water or not. They made a quick alteration and headed to Section 8 of the French Broad. There are some great pictures from today’s trip. Mountain biking was next with another trip over to DuPont. They spent the whole day hitting the trail.
The last two trips out today were our first backpacking trips of the session!!! The boys spent the first week learning some of the skills necessary on overnight trips like what to pack, how to pack it, setting up tarps and tents, how to where your pack and even how to read maps. Now it was time to use those skills on the trail.
The two-day backpacking trip was lead by Chase and David who took some “middler” aged hikers off to the Pink Beds. Pink Beds is an easy trail with many cool bridges, and unique flora and fauna that is supported by the surrounding mountain bogs. There’s even a beaver dam! It should be a lot of fun!
The second backpack trip was a three-day trip to Middle Prong Wilderness. Middle Prong is up high in the Pisgah National Forest with an elevation of about 5200 feet. It has been so hot down at camp, the boys were very excited once they jumped out of the van and felt the noticeably cooler air. Middle Prong is named after the “middle prong” headwaters of the Pigeon River. The guys will change some elevation throughout the hike, which will create a good challenge. They plan on finishing at Sam’s Knob, which is an awesome hill up in the High Pisgah Meadows just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you are ever up here from mid-August through Labor Day weekend, you should make a point of hitting Black Balsam and the High Pisgah region up on the Parkway. The blueberries are amazing! No blueberries for our guys, but they should have an excellent hike!
This evening begins the first of five “Chill Night” trips. Tonight Halfway and Lookout cabin groups will have an evening where they head to the natural waterslide called “Sliding Rock” in Pisgah National Forest. The mountain stream water is a chilly 55 degrees, but is a lot of fun! The boys will then head for ice cream at the locally famous Dolly’s Dairy Bar. The name “Chill Night” is quite appropriate given the activities. It will be chilly, but a ton of fun! I’m sure you will hear about Dolly’s on closing day. There are always several families that head off to see this “famous” ice cream stand.
More excitement tomorrow! Enjoy the pictures!
Don Gentle
Associate Director