Left to Right: Stuart, Katie, and Wylie Dodson; Erin McManus; Liddell Shannon; Logan, Andie, and Robert Dye; Grace and Zoob Gentle; Gary Thompson

This past Sunday was a fun event at the Gentle’s!  A long-time friend and colleague of the High Rocks community came to visit all the way from Idaho.  Many on the staff-side know him as “Uncle Gary.”   Gary Thompson worked for six seasons at High Rocks, from 1998-2003.  He only worked the summers at camp for two seasons, but spent several years as an instructor for our “LEAP” school group program and an additional summer as an expedition leader.  After graduating from Brevard College, he pursued a Master’s at the University of Idaho.  He came back to help out at Brevard College, including one trip with Robert Dye (wearing the High Rocks hat) in Argentina.  Gary is currently living in McCall Idaho where he is the Director of Operations and Leadership at McCall Outdoor Science School and a seasonal NOLS instructor.

Let me give you a little background on the rest of those pictured above.

Stuart, Katie, and “Baby Wylie” have a combined 17 years of summers at camp.  Both served as staff for all of those years and met at camp.  They both currently live in Brevard and are focused on their daughter Wylie.

Erin McManus came to High Rocks by way of Camp Green Cove and worked several seasons with the LEAP school group program.  Erin has managed to stay in the area after earning her masters degree at Wake Forest.  She has most recently been the Pre-College Coordinator for WCU’s Center for Math and Science.

Liddell Shannon is another amazing local legend.  She’s made a point of calling Western North Carolina home after spending years working at a number of different outdoor programs in the area.  Like Erin, Liddell came to us by way of Camp Green Cove, and spent several season in our LEAP school group program.  She just finished up another summer in Alaska at area tripping program, Adventure Treks.  When not traveling the world over, Liddell is currently working for the GEAR-UP college readiness program in Cherokee, NC and has just finished her Masters in Education at Western.

Next from the left, Logan Dye is currently coming back for his fourth summer at High Rocks.  He and his parents (pictured) live in Brevard all year long.  His dad, Robert works as a professor in the Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education program at Brevard College.

It was a great gathering of friends all linked together by our connections with Gary and Camp High Rocks.  Many of us had not been together in a number of years.  Good food, great stories, and a lot fun!!!  Keep in touch everyone and stay safe!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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.

This week Townsend spotted a Common Loon, which decided to hang around the High Rocks Lake for a few days.  None of us could remember ever seeing a loon here at camp.  Townsend is a big fan of the loon and enjoys seeing the birds on her annual family trip to Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada.  She gave us hourly updates on what the loon was up to and checked up on him for several days until he left.

High Rocks Common Loon Sighting

The Common Loon is surrounded by an aura of myth and magic. Among a wealth of Native American tales, a loon created the world in a Chippewa story; a Micmac saga describes Kwee-moo, the loon who was a special messenger of Glooscap, the tribal hero; and the tale of the loon’s necklace was handed down in many versions among Pacific Coast peoples. The loon’s voice is its most recognizable characteristic. The Yodel, its territorial call, given only by the male, is called the “song of the loon.”

The Common Loon breeds mostly in Canada and winters in many places throughout North America.  It sure was fun having him around for a few days!  Maybe he’ll be back next spring.

Common Loon stock photo

The globe is getting smaller every day and the reaching arms of Camp High Rocks continue to grow!  A couple of weeks ago two High Rockers, Sarah Robinson and James Platts-Mills, found each other in the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala.

Sarah and James, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Sarah has been volunteer teaching in a town called Santo Domingo, Suchitepéquez for the last several months.  James just happened to be not far from there volunteering in a medical clinic in San Lucas, Toliman.  The two ran into one another having dinner at a place called La Casa del Mundo, which translates as “House of the World,” a hotel that is only reachable by boat or foot and located right on Lake Atitlan.

If you have not seen it, Lake Atitlan is amazing.  Some people feel like it is one of the most beautiful areas in Guatemala, if not the world!  The area is rich in Mayan culture and produces many products like coffee and sugar cane!  Lake Atitlan is said to be over 340 meters deep! 

I find it amazing that these two met in such a wonderful place.  It is great to see what caring and positive impacts people can have on the world; we only hope that they found some of their desires, character, and compassion rooted here at Camp High Rocks.

A little history on our two world travelers…

James Platts-MIlls and Sarah Robinson

Sarah Robinson was on staff summers of 2004-06.  She returned to help out last fall of 2008 with our LEAP school group program.  Sarah will be back once again for our 2009 season this spring and summer!  We are very excited to have her back!  In the meantime, Sarah is heading to El Salvador to be an “Official Observer” in the elections, and then off to Honduras before she comes back to the states in April.  Funny thing is that Zoob Gentle (my wife and Associate Director here at High Rocks) was once Sarah’s babysitter!

James Platts-Mills is finishing his last year of medical school at UVA; he graduates in May and is hoping to secure a residency in San Francisco.  James was a camper from 1991-93 and then served a year on staff in 1997.   He is also getting married on May 9^th in Charlottesville to Shanti Levy – who he has known since the 7th grade.  Way to go James! 

The Platts-Mills have always been a big supporter of High Rocks, sending all three of their boys to camp.  James’ twin brother, Oliver was camper from 1991-93 and is currently working for an investment firm in Charlottesville.  Their older brother, Tim was a camper from 1986-89 and came back as a staff member in 1992.  He is currently an emergency medicine physician at UNC in Chapel Hill.

March 1st was a rainy and cold day at High Rocks.  By morning on March 2, we had over eight inches of snow covering everything (not to mention NO POWER!).

We were able to venture out in our four-wheel drive car and get several pictures of a snow covered camp:

Camp High Rocks Entrance

Townsend in Front of High Rocks Infirmary

Icicles on Lakeside Cabin

Camp Road

Hank Wielding Chainsaw to Clear Trees from Camp Road

Rich Mountain (taken from campfire hill)

High Rocks Swim Docks

Isabelle Gentle, Hank Birdsong and Grace Gentle on Hank's 55th Birthday

This past Wednesday, Hank Birdsong turned 55!  Many of you who were around camp five years ago may remember the black “Hank is 50″ T-shirts that everyone had.  Maybe you remember the “Hank is 50″ chant lead by Lewis Lovett during the two-week session that summer. 

We had the opportunity to take Hank out last week.  When he arrived at Zoob and Don’s house, the Gentle girls were all too excited to show Hank their new outfits!  The “Hank is 50″ shirt lives on; with a little adjustment, of course!

He still climbs rocks, leads Boy Scouts, works 60+ hours a week, loves camp, and is our fearless leader.  Way to go Hank!

January Snow at High Rocks

Over the last several days we have had some bitterly cold days, which froze the lake completely for the first time this winter.  A light snow this morning on top of the ice gave us a rare opportunity to see the camp lake covered with snow!

Nearly a year ago the hemlocks at Camp High Rocks were in big trouble!  A tiny fluid-feeding insect known as the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) infested the trees and began a slow feeding death on most all of the hemlocks here at camp. 

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid growth

The HWA larvae live at the base of the needles, feeding on the tree and destroying existing foliage as well as suppressing new foliage.  The tree begins to lose its green, becoming first grayish, then barren, and finally dead.  High Rocks has hundreds of Hemlocks, mostly along the banks of our many streams.  The most notable hemlock in camp is the one that holds the sign at the base of the camp road.  The roadside tree, as well as many of the hemlocks on our property, were in bad shape!  The future of our hemlocks would have been certain destruction. 

Dr. Patrick Horan, is professor at UGA, who has been developmental in the biological control of the woolly adelgid.  He has been working with many people in the Southeast to help save the hemlocks, mostly through the introduction of a beetle known as the Sasajiscymnus tsugae, aka Sassie beetle, which feeds primarily on the HWA.  While chemical treatment may work if you have a hedge or small group of trees on your property, you cannot treat every tree in the forest every three years and we were not a big fan of all that synthetic chemical in the forest soil.

Hank and Dr. Patrick Horan

So, last spring Patrick and Hank decided on several spots to release the Sassie beetles.  These spots would allow for plenty of beetle production, as well as HWA destruction.  The beetles work their way down stream feeding and breeding.  Patrick came back about a week ago to see how our experiment is going. He was very impressed with the new growth at the crown of the hemlocks and the reduced amount of HWA egg sacks at the base of the needles.  The beetles will never completely get rid of the adelgid, but it will keep it under control to allow the tree to flourish.

All of us at High Rocks are enjoying this Holiday season and looking forward to 2009.  We wish everyone a safe, joyous and happy holiday!!  Drop us a line to let us know what you are up to this time of year.

Fritz shows Townsend his latest project just before the final coat goes on

Camp is bringing back the wooden canoe fleet from years past.  Fritz Orr, our paddling director, is working at refurbishing a total of five of the antique boats.  He is seen here putting a fourth coat of the original paint color on one of the Old Towns.  All the boats arrived at camp with a storied history including one bought out of a country garage for $25, with two paddles.

 

Fritz applying the final coat of paint