After finally getting the boats through customs and getting them back to camp, Fritz Orr has just put a couple seats in one of the Vajda C-2’s this week!  Benjamin Birdsong and I decided to take it for a test run on the lake to see how the seat placement worked out.

Benjamin and Don in one of the Vajda C-2 trial runs

The boat is so fast, it’s amazing!  We paddled around a bit, but Benjamin’s big plan was to try to roll it.  The first try was a swimming event in the cold springtime lake water.  I blamed him (the truth); he said it was my fault (lie).  By the second try, we had it down and it was a success.  The campers are really going to enjoy these new canoes!!!  As soon as Fritz gets them fully outfitted, Benjamin and I are heading back out on the lake and maybe a river.  My knees are still recovering from the bare Kevlar scrapes!  I can’t wait!

High Rocks is home to a threatened plant of the lily family known as the “Swamp Pink.”  Ben Nelson of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy identified the threatened species  during surveys for the Rich Mountain Land Conservancy last year.

Swamp Pink

Early to Mid-April is a good time to see it in bloom, so Ed Schwartzman of the NC Natural Heritage Program and a few Brevard College students came by to see the status of the plant.  All looked good, but it was not quite blooming yet.  We were excited to hear about the biological treasure here at High Rocks! 

The High Rocks Swamp Pink

The Swamp Pink (Helonias bullata) has only been identified in four counties of North Carolina, usually in southern Appalachian bogs and swamps.  It has a Basal rosette of light green, lance-shaped and parallel-veined leaves with a hollow-stemmed flower stalk that can grow 8-35 inches during flowering and up to 5 feet during seed maturation.  Small pink flowers are clustered (30-50) at the tip of the stem, in a bottlebrush shape.