TGIF at Camp

This first Friday of the session began shrouded in the mist on the lake that makes the water seem endless. It was quiet in camp, the mist serving to make bunks even cozier while the camp schedule slowly makes our guys thankful for a few extra minutes of lie in.

What once was redundant now becomes essential in the ringing of the morning bell and noisily signaling the beginning of the day. Cozy or not, campers popped out of bed and began the familiar routine of making their beds and cleaning their cabins. 

It was up to a breakfast of eggs, cinnamon toast, andouille sausage, fruits, yogurts, and a myriad of cereals. Then to morning assembly with the songs beginning to be sung louder and louder as they hear some for a second time. 

Activities were off to a fast start as campers know exactly what is expected of them and what their goals are in that particular spot. Shooting sports had a standard day with archers and riflemen looking to accumulate enough qualifying scores to achieve the next rank. For archers, this means their target distance gets bigger and we have some guys shooting at 15 and even 20 yards after the 10 yard start. Riflery has guys advancing from a target with a single bullseye to one with five. Campers have five rounds in a turn and the five bull means you must adjust your aim for each of those, increasing the difficulty significantly!

In tennis, it was Footwork Friday with drills aimed at creating comfort or awareness of what a camper’s feet is doing under him as he is moving for the ball. With that kind of intentional focus, you can see guys getting somewhat goofy footed as they practice new techniques. Then you can see the smile when the technique becomes a bit more natural with repetition and results in a solid hit.

Climbing was also into the alliteration game with Free Climb Friday. This definitely still involved ropes, but instead offered campers freedom to try walls and routes that they may not have been on before, or even be ready for. This can help a young guy get a sense of some of the progression involved just in the tower, and to fire that desire to climb harder to see if they could do the advanced wall or the green route.

Activities like climbing also progress beyond the camp boundaries as camper fellows are invited on trips heading out of camp. Today was no exception with our climbers taking two trips to the High Rocks for a half-day spent climbing on real rock. The shift from a tower with color indicated grips to needing to decide where a hand or foot hold might be found is seismic… and a bunch of fun. Our paddlers also took two trips to the French Broad river, enjoying some higher water with the recent rains in the area. That increased flow means our canoers were able to really feel the insistent power of the river as they learn to catch eddies, hold a ferry line, or just avoid the next rock coming at them.

Mountain biking also ran a trip this morning over to Dupont. With world class bike trails just ten minutes away, it is quite the resource for camp and today’s bikers came back with a big grin on their somewhat tired faces. Today was also Sprucepine’s chance at the high ropes course this morning. Unfortunately, Outpost got thundered out in the afternoon and will reschedule for another chance at the heights. 

That afternoon thundershower meant camp pivoted to indoor areas for a while, with all kinds of games kicking up immediately in the gym, pavilion, dining hall, and bouldering cave. As is typical, the storm moved past us in short order, leaving camp feeling quite cool for the evening.

With the skies clear once more, our two youngest cabins marched out of camp for their cabin overnights. Foxhollow and Lakeside are even now enjoying a campfire and s’mores after pita pizzas, before playing some campfire games and then getting settled in for a night at one of our shelters. The night, and then tomorrow, both promise a delightful change to the summer heat with our highs maybe reaching the mid-60’s on Saturday!