Working the Progression
June 22, 2017 by Don Gentle
Sometimes we are reminded that these mountains are part of a temperant rain forest. It allows us to paddle all summer, keeps the trees and grass green without ever watering, and provides for delightful sunsets. While it did rain today, it wasn’t much of a hindrance; we still did our activities outside. The total accumulation was not much. It was mostly a misty rain on and off all day. Some came in from the rain from time to time. The beauty was that the boys embraced it for the most part and just kept at it. The cooler weather allowed some of the boys to pull out their High Rocks hoodies. Something I almost never see during the summer. It was a nice sight.
As we move into the end of the second week, I have really enjoyed seeing the boys progress in their activities. Part of what we hold important in our program is that we do not operate a tourist excursion. We want these boys to learn these activities. As they move through the years at camp, the boys begin to count on one another in these trips and events as they work together in groups. It is all about the progression. Careful steps of success that lead to the next adventure. You can’t go to “C” without first hitting “A” and “B.” It allows the boys to stay in that sweet spot that I mentioned last night. The picture at the top is a good example. The boys above did not just get to choose to go on this river trip. They had to work at it. They even had to work on the skills necessary for two previous rivers that are easier than this one before they could do this river. They sure had a blast, though; and they earned it!
My favorite story of the day is about lunch. First of all, we pride ourselves on excellent food. A mix of what boys like while introducing them to things like chicken marsala and asparagus with hollandaise. Today was not what you call a culinary delight, but it is one of the most coveted lunches around. So much so that we had to stop putting it on the menu because boys would skip their out-of-camp trips. Anyhow, it was mini corn dog day for lunch and the boys went crazy. Of course, we have egg salad, potato salad, a full salad bar, and other sides, but the corn dogs were the main focus. It really is a fun camp thing, but I’m not sure you would see the same excitement at girls camp. Boys were bragging about having over 30! Sorry about that :)…
We still had a few trips today, including Nature with Nick, a swimming trip to DuPont, and a paddling trip on the Tuckaseegee River. The climbers were grounded due to wet rock but will be out again tomorrow.
The paddlers will head out to the Chattooga River tomorrow. Our first Chattooga trip of the season! We also have a group heading over for an all-day mountain bike trip to DuPont.
It’s hard to believe we are rolling into our second weekend of the session already. Just over a week to go! We have a lot in store for these boys. I can’t wait to share!
All the best,
Don Gentle