Starter II Begins!
July 7, 2014 by Don Gentle
I sure did enjoy meeting all of the new and returning Starter II families this morning! The weather was nearly perfect as the boys set out for a tour around camp after drop off and then right in to some fun activities. Tonight they had some great dodge ball games with the Mini I guys.
Our four week and Mini I boys were off and running in every direction today. The cavers and rock climbers were already eating when I rolled into the dining hall at 7:30. I think the cavers beat the rock climbers out of the gate by just a couple of minutes. When you live in such a great place for rock climbing, it is important to get out early to be sure you can climb where you want. Our climbing staff prides themselves on being their first. We are very fortunate to have two incredible climbing heads. Chris and Joey have been climbing for many years. They have both spent several seasons overseas tackling some of the best climbing in the world. I am so happy to have them. Their skill and training allows us to go just about anywhere we want to climb in the Southeast. The campers are challenged everywhere they go.
So that was only part of the excitement. Our first 3-day hike of the session took off for our own gorges state park which will take them to the foothills trail of South Carolina. The Foothills Trail follows the The Blue Ridge escarpment known as the Blue Wall. Some of our paddling recruits did river training on the French Broad River today. There are several pictures of those two trips. Keep an eye on that group. You’ll probably see them on the Green River next week. Finally, a mountain bike group took a morning trip over to DuPont State Forest. It’s a fifteen minute parking lot to parking lot drive to some of the best beginner through advanced trails in the country. The guys headed up some unique slick rock trails today taking them to an awesome summit.
The rest of camp was having a blast in their activities on another beautiful sunny day. Tonight our upper senior boys headed off to Sliding Rock and Dolly’s for the famed Chill Night. It is going to be another action packed day tomorrow. I am really enjoying all the action around camp. We have almost 35 trips out of camp for these boys this week!
Have a great night,
Don Gentle