Full Steam Ahead!
August 9, 2016 by Woody Noland
Today’s Pictures
The parking lot was abuzz early as the paddlers left for a fully filled French Broad River after a wonderful rain storm all night long that had camp yawning mightily at breakfast. The mountain bikers rolled out to DuPont State Forest to enjoy a wet, but cool, morning on forest trails that were a good bit emptier than their norm. A bit later, a brave group of young hikers left for a two-day trip around the outer edges of the High Rocks property, where they will see no roads, no people and enjoy streams, ridges, waterfalls and rhododendron thickets, all without needing to step foot in a vehicle.
In camp, the ropes course was busy hosting Lakeside in the morning and Chalet in the afternoon. It’s easy to tell when the whole group has finished with the elements, because loud screams of delight were audible all over camp as each camper went down the culminating zip line. Another afternoon group of mountain bikers departed High Rocks bound for the beautiful trails at Dupont under somewhat bluer skies. And yet another group of guys piled into a van bound for the French Broad river where the additional water was still pumping down from the higher mountains and made for a fast, splashy trip. The age group living in Windswept, Foxhollow, and Chalet had their turn at Chill Night and were quite excited to see how many slides each camper could bring himself to bear before giving up in hypothermic defeat!
All of this was in addition to all of the activities we do daily. Phew! Many guys are moving noticeably slower than they were a week ago, and there are no longer very many early risers. On the other hand, those tuckered-out faces have a new look of confidence as they realize just how much they have learned in such a short time, and have begun to take ownership of the place as it becomes a second home.
Several guys came up to me today a bit surprised to realize that they only have three activity days left! Don’t be surprised if this Saturday you hear variations on “I’m not ready to go,” even as they hug you joyfully!
On a side note… If you are enjoying the pictures and would like to have a flash (USB) drive of all the pictures from the session in full size and resolution, you can still pre-order one to have at checkout for closing day. Just let Mirenda know, office@highrocks.com. She will have one ready.
We will see you back here tomorrow night!
Sincerely,
Woody