Everyone’s Birthday

June 14, 2011

Visiting the equestrian center these days is a real treat. It’s just alive with big action and big smiles. The girls who selected riding as one of their activities are now well settled into the daily lessons. They know how to get dressed properly (helmet, boots, etc.), in most cases, how to lead their assigned horse out to one of the riding rings, and even how to mount. The riding staff is doing a wonderful job in the mounted lessons keeping each camper engaged and excited. As the session progresses, it’s neat to see how much everyone’s confidence and skill has improved. It’s also fun to hear the campers talk about their favorite horse at camp, someone they’ve ridden a lot and gotten comfortable with. Maybe you’ve already received a letter from your daughter and heard about one of the great horses she’s been able to ride. Learning to communicate with a special horse, and learning to trust him or her, is one of the most rewarding parts of horseback riding, and it’s happening just about every day around here.

Also, today was a big day for whitewater rafting on the Nantahala river. We took all the middlers and seniors who wanted to go on either an overnight camping/rafting trip or on a day trip down the river. The Nantahala is famous for being rather chilly (somewhere near 50 degrees) even in the heat of the summer, so we were lucky to have bright sunny weather for both trips. Great weather like this makes it much more fun to splash and play while rafting, even at times jumping in on purpose when the guides say it’s OK. Rockbrook is the only girls camp with a permit to raft the Nantahala (we’ve had it since the 1980s), so we also can hire our own seasoned raft guides. On this trip Clyde, Sid, Billy, Leland, Michelle and and Andria guided the boats, making up a team with more than 85 years of combined whitewater experience! These folks truly are the best. Rafting trips are always very exciting for the girls, and also pretty tiring, so it was no surprise to see most everyone conk out in the bus on the ride back to camp. This kind of adventure and fun needs some rest too!

Back at camp in time for dinner, there was a big surprise waiting. Birthday Night! This is a special dinner where the dining hall is rearranged so that everyone can sit according to their birth month… twelve big tables, one for each month. It’s really fun for campers and counselors to sit together and get to know better other girls from different cabins and age groups. This time, to give it a even more Rockbrook flair, we had a theme for the dinner: Candyland. And never missing a chance to dress up, this sparked some very creative costumes from the counselors and campers. They dressed as different types of candy and characters from the Candyland board game. In addition to lollipops and gumdrops, we saw the Duke of Swirl, Mr. Mint and Gramma Nutt. Even Sarah dressed up as a Hershey’s chocolate kiss with almonds! The highlight of the night though was the cakes, the homemade cakes Alison baked for each month that she then decorated as scenes from Candyland. They were both beautiful and delicious. There were some pretty huge pieces of cake for the girls in some months. Yum!

Fun at the Rockbrook Lake

June 13, 2011

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Camp has been beautiful and sunny today which made the lake a particularly fun place to be! Girls were busy taking classes in canoeing, kayaking and swimming and enjoying the refreshing temperature of the lake! After the morning of classes, free swim was quite popular as lots of girls came down to take a dip or hang out with friends. Since the lake is in the center of camp it is always quite a hub of action!

This afternoon our free swim was extra fun as we had a gentle rain storm during the swim time. It only lasted for a minute but it was a beautiful sight. After the brief rain the girls were back to playing in inner tubes, swimming laps for the mermaid club and playing categories. Categories is a very popular game where campers take turns calling out a category such as “favorite food” to their friends as they jump in the water. You then are supposed to yell out an answer before you hit the water. The campers get very creative and enjoy stumping each other with their funny categories.

As you can see there is never a dull moment at the lake! Rain or shine we always have lots of fun.

Welcoming New Campers

June 12, 2011

By Jeff Carter

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Today we welcomed our new mini session campers to Rockbrook. These girls arrive a week after the first session campers, joining them for the remainder of the session. Since our mini sessions are a great way to sample camp life, many of these campers are either new to Rockbrook or are younger girls (or both). As they grow older and return a number of years, it’s most common to attend one the full sessions that last longer (though we certainly don’t require that).

After everyone arrived, checked in with the nurses and office folks, and got settled into the cabins, the entire camp assembled on the grassy hill in the heart of camp. We learned songs, got to meet all the directors (Sarah and Jeff, Charlotte, Mandy, Sofie and Catherine), and took several group photos. We tried to get a shot of every state’s and country’s campers, as well as a whole camp photo. Check out the RBC Photo Gallery to see those.

Lunch was another of Rick’s comfort food meals. He had a “breakfast for lunch” spread for us, with his homemade biscuits (the mound of cut butter he used to make them was amazing), scrambled eggs, bacon, veggie sausage, fresh fruit and yogurt… a good, familiar first meal for our mini session campers.

After lunch, the new campers launched right into their “swimming demonstrations” at the lake. All the lifeguards evaluated everyone’s swimming ability and assigned them a buddy tag. This process also gets the girls familiar with the lake rules and gives them a closer look at the water slide. Tours of the camp and cabin meetings took up the remainder of the rest hour.

The late afternoon event was a surprise carnival at the gym. Several of the counselors decorated with posters, streamers and balloons in a theme they called “Outer Space.” There were planets, aliens, stars and strange looking creatures all about. We also had an inflatable obstacle course and a zero-gravity velcro wall to bounce around on. Face painting, games (like the “Saturn’s Rings Toss”), music, dancing and cotton candy (space dust) added to the fun. Another brief shower got things a little muddy outside, but that just added to the thrill of it all. This was a great event with lots of action to keep the girls busy, and a fun way to introduce our new campers to the zany side of Rockbrook. Tomorrow all of the camp activities will be back in full swing.

Saturday Camp

June 11, 2011

By Jeff Carter

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Today began with all the campers following their second set of activities, with every area of camp humming along. For example, one of the arts and crafts activities is called “Painting and Drawing” and today they headed out to the hill for their activity. The project was to use water colors to paint the mountain view seen from under the big walnut tree. This photo shows a little of it— sitting in the shade of the tree, chatting with friends, and enjoying the view while painting. It’s another of those special experiences that is part of camp.

Before lunch, the equestrian staff planned a fun event for the girls that involved dressing up a few of the ponies like pop singers. I heard there was Katy Perry, Lady GaGa and Taylor Swift, for example. Dressing the ponies involved doing up their manes and tails with ribbons and braids, and to complete their “outfits” a couple also got to sport glitter and lipstick! This is a picture of Cloud Nine getting his treatment. Then for the game, the campers divided into groups to play an air band song for each artist (horse!) while then danced along and even lip synced the song (by moving the horse’s lips). It was pretty hilarious and lots of fun for the girls.

The biggest surprise of the day however came after lunch when Sofie and Frampton announced the evening’s activity— dancing with the boys of Camp Carolina. The roar in the dining hall after the announcement was virtually deafening as the girls squealed with excitement. Sarah then explained that the Juniors and Middlers would stay here at Rockbrook because the similarly aged boys from Carolina would be coming to dance in our gym. At the same time, the Senior girls would load up in the buses and drive over to Camp Carolina for their dance. It was two simultaneous dances going on. Sarah also announced that there would be a “dance alternative” for those girls who might decide the dance was “not their thing.” As the alternative, there were about 12 or so girls who joined a couple of counselors in Curosty to learn a new friendship bracelet pattern. These dances are fun for the girls because everyone takes them lightheartedly, all the counselors are right in the mix too, dressing just as goofy, and there’s virtually no pressure about boys being around. They are mostly about just being silly, jumping around with friends, and enjoying the music. Pure excitement!

We Love Muffins

June 10, 2011

By Jeff Carter

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Let’s talk muffins. It’s been a long tradition at Rockbrook to take a break between the first and second activity periods, around 10:45am, and have a little snack. It’s not just any snack; it’s a fresh-baked, homemade muffin. It’s “Muffin Break!” Alison, the camp baker, is always surprising us with new, fun muffin flavors. In addition to familiar standards like Lemon Poppy Seed and Blueberry, she’s devised amazing one-of-a-kind varieties like the French Toast Muffins we had yesterday. Baked with real maple syrup, with powdered sugar on top, they were delicious. You should see the stampede of children when the camp bells rings for muffin break. The Hi-Ups open a window of the dining hall to hand out a muffin to everyone who files by on the porch. We all love our morning muffin at Rockbrook.

This morning a group of Middlers came back from an overnight backpacking trip with Michelle, our hiking guide. They had loaded up Thursday afternoon, with tents, sleeping bags, water bottles, cooking equipment, and food, all stuffed into backpacks. A short drive later into the Pisgah National Forest, they were off on a short, 2-mile winding trail to one of Rockbrook’s secret camping spots. For a while, things got exciting as a brief rain storm moved through, “pretty much soaking us,” as Michelle put it. You can see several things drying in this photo. The girls were in excellent spirits, albeit still a little damp, when they got back to camp.

Also this morning, Clyde took a group of Seniors on an introductory kayaking trip on the French Broad River. There’s a perfect little teaching section of the river right near camp. It has just enough current to create several nice eddies, places to practice ferrying, and a wonderful sandy beach to take out.

Clyde started the trip with a refresher about using the paddle, strokes and how to stay together on the river. Working their way down the river, the whole group stopped at different features to work on specific skills. Mallory the kayaking instructor, for example, would first demonstrate how to peel out of an eddy, and then each camper would take turns trying it, with Clyde right there coaching and providing tips. Overall, a great trip… warm, sunny weather, improved kayaking skills and confidence on the water, and lots of fun with friends at camp.

Digging into Camp

June 9, 2011

By Jeff Carter

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We’ve often remarked that camp really helps girls grow in several important ways in so many important ways. Being away from home in a camp environment, campers benefit from the variety of new activities offered, the positive role models they see, and the new relationships they form with other girls and staff members. This has been particularly clear this week at camp. With the first few day’s jitters now gone, the roar of singing in the dining hall has gotten louder, the confidence riding horses, climbing rocks and hitting tennis serves. Likewise, as skills have been improving the activities are becoming more impressive— bullseyes in archery and riflery, line-straight kayaking, and super complicated crafts. Everyone seems to be really digging into camp.

Down at the lake, the canoeing and kayaking instructors have been working with the girls to prepare them for the upcoming river trips planned. This involves getting geared up, and learning the different strokes to maneuver the boats, as well as knowing a few strategies to follow if your boat were to capsize. For kayakers, this means being able to “wet exit,” pulling the grab loop on your neoprene skirt and sliding out of the boat (while upside down!). It’s challenging at first, of course, but fun for the campers to learn these basic skills, and really exciting when they begin to become second nature.

The Hi-Ups, rising 11th graders, took a trip with Jeff up to Dupont Forest for a waterfall hike. They started at the bottom of Triple Falls and climbed each face of the rocks until they made it almost to the top. It took a little bushwhacking to pull through the last bit, but they enjoyed the high view on the easy trail back down. After talking about it, we decided this was “real adventure,” something that required extra concentration and strength from us. It was amazingly beautiful, but also powerful and just a little bit scary. We had a great time!

Don’t forget to stay in touch as the session continues. You can always give us a call at camp, but please add your comments to these posts and share them with your friends. We always love hearing what you all have to say!

Camp Outdoor Living

June 8, 2011

By Jeff Carter

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The weather has been just great these last few days of camp. It’s been warm and sunny during the day with highs in the mid 80s, but still nice and cool, around 60 degrees, when we wake up in the morning. Hearing thunder off in the distance, we’ve realized an afternoon thunderstorm or two have been nearby, but at least so far they have all missed us directly. Being so close to the weather, living outside while at camp, is one of the best parts of the experience at Rockbrook. We spend so much of our ordinary lives inside climate controlled spaces, it’s great for children to be able to feel the natural world a little more, to reconnect to the power of their senses. Cool, sweet watermelon by the lake on a hot summer day… Yum!

Down in Curosty, one of the craft cabins at camp (and one of the oldest, predating 1900), the girls have been learning to weave on the looms. Our fantastic weaving instructor Alison has many projects set up: belts, headbands, and wider place mats. Here’s Velvet working on a tabletop loom and making a narrow strap that will probably become a belt. It takes real concentration to operate the harnesses that move the heddles up and down, making the different patterns, but on these top looms there are usually a simple set of levers to press.

Late this afternoon we loaded up all the seniors to take them on a surprise trip into the Pisgah National Forest. They all came prepared dressed in bathing suits. The first stop was Sliding Rock, the natural water slide well-known in this area. Looking Glass creek rolls about 60 feet over a big smooth rock and then plunges into a deep pool at the bottom, so what used to be just a pull-off of the road is now a major attraction in this area. The girls absolutely love it! Over the roar of the waterfall, it’s a series of piercing screams as the girls take turns sliding down in pairs or triplets. Did I mention the cold water? You can imagine how that amplifies everything!

After sliding (some of the girls went down 6 or 7 times!), we drove down to another spot in the forest for a picnic supper. Rick set us up with homemade hummus and veggies, fruit, sandwiches, chips and chocolate brownies. This was a nice time for everyone to eat and talk about their experiences sliding down the rock. But perhaps the highlight for everyone was our last stop of the evening: Dolly’s Dairy Bar. There’s nothing like a yummy ice cream cone of your favorite flavor to top off the day. Singing songs out front, laughing and eating a super sweet treat— what nice trip!

Wonder, Creativity and Adventure

June 7, 2011

By Jeff Carter

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Camp was full of wonder, creativity and adventure today, with so much going on. A big group of seniors and middlers headed over to the Nantahala River for a whitewater rafting trip. We packed up our gear, a great picnic lunch, and pulled the buses out of camp after breakfast. It was about a 2 hour drive, but with a quick bathroom/stretch/snack break, we arrived at the edge of the river in time for lunch. We really lathered on the sunscreen because it was a bright sunny day— perfectly warm to balance the cold river water. Clyde, the Rockbrook Adventure Director, and his crew met us at the top of the river with the RBC rafts blown up and ready to go. Every girl is outfitted with a life jacket (PFD), helmet and paddle before dividing up into groups of 5 for each raft. Then it’s 9 miles of rapids going down the river with the finale being the class III Nantahala Falls. True adventure!

Meanwhile in camp, the girls taking pottery were hard at work on their face mugs. These are fun creative projects that start with slabs of clay they shape into a cylinder. Then after attaching a handle, each mug gains character with an individualized face… eyes, nose, mouth, even teeth and eyebrows sometimes. The final step for the girls is to paint on several colors of glaze before the pottery instructors fire the pieces in the kilns.

Down at the equestrian center, Cara and Audry along with the other horseback riding instructors are keeping the campers happy with the Rockbrook horses. If you haven’t seen them in the photo gallery, they are a great looking bunch, from our smallest Welsh Ponies up to our 17.1 hand thoroughbred gelding Gordon. There are lessons going on all day down there, from first time riders to girls learning to jump. It’s always amazing to see the look of wonder on the girls faces as they learn to ride comfortably these great horses.

On the other side of camp, the alpine tower was crawling with campers, quite literally! Every age group, from the youngest Juniors to the oldest Seniors, can sign up to climb this 50ft high ropes course tower. It provides all levels of climbing challenges, and the staff members are great at starting girls out with the best route to match their ability. There are easier ways to get to the top, and really tough obstacles for the more experienced climber.

Dinner tonight was a big surprise for the campers; it was “Restaurant Night,” but also with a dress up theme, the game of “Clue.” All the girls dressed up as players of the game in some “mysterious costume” they created, and the counselors dressed up as characters from “Clue” like Mrs. White, Professor Plum, and Ms. Peacock. The staff served the campers a wonderful meal of roasted chicken, pasta, salad and fresh fruit, but afterwords the game began. Each cabin was given an initial clue that when solved sent them to another part of the camp to meet one of the game’s characters and to receive a new clue. Each station/character also required the whole cabin group to perform some kind of challenge before receiving their next clue, challenges like singing a particular song, untying a human knot, or everyone telling a joke. Ultimately, once a cabin solved all the clues/riddles they were led back to the dining hall for prizes and treats. Wow, what a game! Everyone loved the action, the costumes, the imagination and cabin group cooperation it required, not to mention how much fun it was.

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