End of the “Work” Week

Our first Friday of the year began with a chilly breeze and loud bell ringing to welcome in the day. Now that camp is settling comfortably into a rhythm, campers were up and making beds, cleaning their cabins, and racing to breakfast.

While talking about the day’s events to come, the crew enjoyed cinnamon toast, sausages, eggs, fruits, and cereals to get them going. Then is was off to assembly and the start of morning activities. 

With the fresh breeze still blowing, sailing was a hot ticket. Campers have been out on the lake for several days now, and today’s wind gave them the ability to heel their boats as they raced back and forth. Some even pushed the limits to the tipping point and went into the water with many loud exclamations.

Crafts was tucked in and working on the final touches of their rockets in anticipation of a Launch Day tomorrow. There are many different color patterns, fin assemblies, and engine sizes to work with. We also make sure to take pictures beforehand as some of these rockets really fly and at times are difficult to relocate!

Horseback riding was loving the cool weather and took advantage of such a perfect day to go out on trail and ride camp. Any time a rider leaves the comfort of the ring and heads into the 1000 acres with just him and his horse working together, it makes it feel very real indeed.

We had a number of Age Group 2 guys on the high ropes course today. You could tell it was them partly from the noise, and certainly from their excitement up there. Even forty feet up the hype was palpable as these guys pushed themselves, cheered each other on, and basically had a blast way up high. The happy screams coming off the zipline were audible to a good portion of the rest of camp! 

Trips were busy today and climbers were first out of the gate on their way to Cedar Rock. They were climbing on the main wall of Cedar and took runs at climbs with names like Oh! Mr. Friction. Our paddlers took another group to the Lower Green today and came home bragging about not a single boat flipping the whole day! Hiking head up high to Black Balsam on the Blue Ridge Parkway to take in huge views. The guys on the trip were even moving so fast that they looped in a summit of Sam Knob as well. Lots of cool long range mountain vistas, and some tired legs this evening from so much elevation gain/loss.

Not to be left out of the action, mountain biking headed to Dupont today and had a descent of Ridgeline as a highlight. One of the campers on that mission talked about enjoying the fast downhill, the fun berm terms, and how when he looked to the side at one point there was a pretty stream running the same direction as the trail. Quite obviously it was a moment that stuck in his head as he recalled the trip, and was just one of the many our campers were having out in the woods all around.

The evening meal was sesame chicken, broccoli, eggrolls, salads, ice cream and more. Though as they were stuffing their faces, campers were also commenting on the perfect gooey crispness of the grillled cheeses from lunch. Then off to evening activities of canoe fill-ups with our oldest guys, 5 ball soccer, games on the activity field, and some more tennis court fun. 

One last gather up for a snack of soft pretzels and it was time for everyone to return to cabins to clean up and settle into a well deserved rest tonight. With the temperature again dropping delightfully, it looks to be another evening where it feels good to pull up the second blanket and snuggle in.

May you at home enjoy this evening’s pictures and we will see you back here tomorrow!

Have a good night,

Woody

Today’s Pictures