Cabin Overnights
August 12, 2010 by Don Gentle

Pictures from August 12, 2010 (password required)

Another great day in camp! The boys spent some more time in horseback riding, climbing on the tower, hiking, and canoeing this morning and afternoon. Our morning choice period had options including the waterslide, archery and riflery, candle making, and fishing. We had a little thunderstorm this afternoon, that shortened our 3pm class a bit, but the guys still had time for most of their afternoon activities. The skies look clear for tonight’s cabin overnights.
Tonight all the guys will head out for an overnight on the property. One benefit of having over 1100 acres of property is that you can get away from camp without getting out of camp. Each of the groups will have a short hike to an Appalachian Trail-style shelter. They will spend the evening exploring, eating pita pizzas, and cooking up marshmallows for s’mores. After a little time around the campfire, the boys will sleep out in the shelters, and then hike back into camp just before breakfast. It should be an exciting time for everyone!
We sure have had an exciting week! I have really enjoyed getting to know your sons and watching their accomplishments. For some of these guys, their biggest accomplishment has been spending an entire week here at camp. For others, it could be getting to the top of the climbing wall or going off the zip line. Personally, I still get excited about the zip line! Most of all, these boys have gained some independence, a few friends, and even some resiliency.
In the next day or so, you will be receiving a letter from your son’s cabin counselor. Many of these will be e-mailed so that it arrives to you in a timely manner. It should give you just enough information so that you can have an idea of what your son did this week, how he related in the cabin, and even some of his accomplishments
Where do we go from here? As you might have guessed, six days is actually a fairly short amount of time. Our Starter Camp is just that, a good springboard for one of our longer sessions. These longer session offer more activities, a longer amount of time to build skills, and many opportunities to go on trips out of camp, like whitewater paddling, rock climbing, multi-day backpacking trips, and even mountain biking and caving as an activity.
We still have a full day of activities tomorrow! We will wrap up the day tomorrow with a campfire, where we sing songs, listen to a story and reflect on the awesome week we had here at High Rocks.
I know some of you will be traveling tomorrow. Have a safe trip. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning. Have a great night and enjoy the pictures.
Don Gentle
Associate Director