Pictures from August 6, 2011  (password required)

As I walked through camp today, watching activities and getting to know some of the boys, I couldn’t help but notice what a great staff we have here at camp! Our young men and women at High Rocks work so hard to help these guys have a great camp experience.  Today was no exception!  I saw so many awesome camp experiences today; it was amazing!

We work hard to find the best staff for your sons, but we work even harder to keep them coming back year after year.  We have over 30 staff that have been working here for five or more years! Once we find the right ones we do whatever it takes to keep them here. Not only are they great at the skills they teach, but they are great at working with kids, and they love it!

What an awesome day today!  Lots of warm weather and a perfectly timed thunderstorm right at the beginning of rest hour.  The afternoon was filled with the sights of “Waterworld” down in canoeing where the staff did a little scenario referencing the infamous movie, then floating around the lake on a ship made of canoes –complete with a water slide, of course.  The climbers tried their skills on the tower with a themed “adventure day.”  Some guys were even making it up the tower blindfolded.  Horseback riding did gymkhana, or games on horseback.  Finally, hiking had their own little piece of Americana going on with a “car camping” theme complete with pie irons, hot dog skewers, a nice big fire, a pickup truck (of course), rock and roll music,  and even Jiffy Pop popcorn!

The fun never ends here at High Rocks.  I hope you enjoy the pictures. 

Have a great night, we sure are!!!

Don Gentle

Pictures from July 20, 2011  (password required)

Yesterday I was lucky enough to wheedle my way onto our paddling trip headed for the Nantahala River and the annual Camp Cup. Armed with a camera, and accompanied by our real photographer Bryan Ham, our mission was to record the excitement of the day as our guys raced through class three rapids and negotiated a whitewater slalom course. When we arrived, our paddlers had already walked their boats to the top of the downriver race section. For the first race, paddlers attempt to finish nearly a nearly half-mile stretch of whitewater including the biggest rapid on the whole river, Nantahala Falls. What would already be a challenge is made even more difficult with the nervous excitement of being timed as well as the crowd of people gathered to cheer at the Falls. Fritz Orr, Chris Hampson, Zach Nichols, Will Johnson, and Rob Pingry were all busy checking in with each boat to make sure that lines had been picked, questions answered, and tension diffused. Bryan and I had just found our vantage points on boulders along the river when the first of our crew rounded the corner upstream. The next 20 minutes were consumed with trying to capture the High Rocks boats as they flew by. I think the pictures will show the intensity that every camper was feeling as they approached the drop into the Falls, caught a load of freezing whitewater in the face, and then slowly realized that survival was imminent. The joy, relief, excitement, and then refocusing on the remainder of the race was awesome to watch.

After the rush down the top portion of the race, it was time for all of the camps to gather for a big pizza lunch. In between mouthfuls all the campers took time to both socialize with other groups and to scout out the harder parts of the upcoming slalom race. The bank was lined with young paddlers debating the merits of ferries over peel outs or running in faster water through a big hole compared to slower currents over safer shallow rocks. Once everyone was confident in their lines, they again carried their boats to the start line and began the afternoon. This section of the day was a much different focus from the race straight down the river. Boats had to pass through gates going downstream, coming back upstream, and sometimes ferrying directly across the currents. All while handling themselves in the same water that will host the 2013 Freestyle World Championships. Needless to say there were strokes of brilliance and abrupt learning moments that had everyone watching intently. It was great to see campers and counselors from every camp cheering each boater on in succession, offering pointers as they passed or just providing loud encouragement. All of the racers did an excellent job of pushing themselves against the river, but not once creating an atmosphere of competition between camp groups. By the end of the day, our guys were exhausted, happy, wearing new shirts, and psyched for a dinner out before getting back to camp. Another year, another Camp Cup, and another very successful day on the river. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Woody

Pictures from July 19, 2011  (password required)

Gettin' Muddy in the Cave!

We are proud of the High Rocks program, including our in-camp program and our adventure tripping program.  It’s all about choice.

The strength of the in-camp program was evidenced recently when several campers opted to stay in camp rather than go on trips because they didn’t want to miss their regular activities.  That said, we had one of the biggest tripping days today with seven trips out of camp.  Mealtime in the dining hall is sparse on days like this, which means our trip packer, Pat Noland, is working overtime to supply the trips.  This is most definitely a team effort, and folks like Pat help keep camp running smoothly.

In addition to the 3-day climbing trip & 3-day hiking trip that departed yesterday, we had an all-day hike, a mountain biking trip to Pisgah Nat’l Forest, an evening horseback ride, and a trip to sliding rock for the Upper Middlers.  Our advanced paddlers attended the “Camp Cup” on the Nantahala River.  Woody will write more about that tomorrow, so I won’t steal his thunder now.  Suffice it to say that the paddlers had a great day!

The “Starter Campers” and “Mini-campers” that arrived yesterday had their first full day of activities today.  It was great to see the staff and four-week campers taking the new arrivals under their wings & help them get adjusted to camp.  You’ll see several of them in today’s pictures.

Keep the cards, letters, and emails coming; they are eagerly anticipated by the campers.  Enjoy tonight’s installment of pictures.

Hank Birdsong
Camp Director

Pictures from July 14, 2011  (password required)

The two-day hike enjoying a little more of the forest before heading to Dolly's

It was a much cooler day in camp today with cloud cover and temperatures in the high 70’s.  The cooler weather was a welcome change from the warm temperatures earlier in the week.  I know some of you will be jealous of our temperatures and I remind you that the mountains are a wonderful place to be in the summer- coming from a girl that grew up in Columbia, SC!

Today was another busy day in and out of camp.  The paddlers went to section 9 of the French Broad River near Hot Springs.  The climbers went to the nose area of Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah.  The mountain bikers road in Dupont this afternoon.  The two day hike in upper Pisgah finished with a foggy morning hike to their pick up point.  This afternoon we had a large group of boys that headed over to Camp Illahee for tennis and soccer with the girls.  It was a popular event and the boys enjoyed the mixed company!  In addition to all the trips out of camp it was an active day in camp with an evening horseback ride in addition to regular scheduled activities.  Another busy but great day!

I was struck today about how many decisions the campers get to make for themselves on a daily basis.  From the simple decisions on wardrobe selection and what they will eat at mealtime to more complex decisions about arranging their activities and trips out of camp.  Many of the older boys have become pro’s at making sure they are getting their goals accomplished while they are here.  The younger campers often need a little more guidance and support from their counselor while being offered so many choices.  It is great to see the campers maneuver through the choices and learn more about themselves and what they really enjoy!  The beauty is that no on ever gets closed out of an activity at High Rocks.  There is always room for everyone!

We are excited to see what choices that campers will make tomorrow!  Until then I hope that you will enjoy the pictures this evening. 

Zoob

Pictures from July 08, 2011  (password required)

It is Friday and that means the last day of trips for the first week of camp. After several days spent knocking the rust off of skills built in previous years, it was time to head out and put them to use. Five different trips headed out today which is not quite our maximum but definitely left camp feeling somewhat quiet and relaxed. The climbers were up before anyone else and had already eaten and left the property before the other campers came staggering to the Dining Hall for delicious sausage biscuits and gravy. With our weather pattern heavy on afternoon showers, the climbers are working to enjoy every moment of dry rock and sunshine and had a great day out on the Nose of Looking Glass. The cavers also had a fun time at Worley’s Cave in TN, with some of the younger guys finding some tiny cave salamanders no bigger than your thumb nail. The sheer amount of mud coating their coveralls and shoes upon returning to camp was testament to their exuberant assault on the slides and tight crawls found inside the cave. Canoers were off to the Tuckasegee for a full day of solid intermediate whitewater. With our regular rainfall the river levels have been perfect, allowing for exciting water features and a slight cushion over those sneaky shallow rocks. Our hiking trip headed to Pisgah for a loop up and over John Rock complete with some gorgeous views from the top and a nice rock face to have lunch. The group then checked out the Pisgah Forest Fish Hatchery which is always a favorite due to the feeding frenzies campers can create with the available fish food. The hatchery grows nearly 500,000 trout a year and offers informational tours on the area’s stream ecology and wildlife. Our last trip of the day was a mountain biking expedition over to DuPont State Forest. The group based out of Sky Valley and had a very busy day riding multiple loops. The highlight however was in running across groups of Army soldiers conducting wilderness survival training in full gear and armed with fake guns. The guns appeared authentic and inspired great interest in our young bikers, creating lots of conversation back at camp.

In camp our activities continued apace. Sailors had a very windy day which allowed for exciting runs before the wind and narrowly avoided capsizes. In horseback riding, campers got a chance to practice riding bareback and had a great time learning to balance without the aid of stirrups. The tennis courts were swamped with our afternoon rain shower and a new game was created which was heavy on aces and lots of splashing. Down in crafts the groups were presented with their awards for the Iron Camper projects causing tons of laughter at the ridiculous titles but resulted in a lot of creativity in the individual efforts.

All in all, a great way to wrap up our first week. I hope you enjoy the pictures from today and please tune in tomorrow for news of our first Saturday and the Illahee square dance!!

Woody Noland

Head Counselor

Pictures from June 27, 2011  (password required)

The Three-Day Hike heads out to High Pisgah!

Even though we are starting to hit the countdown, there is a lot of awesome stuff happening in camp this week.  Many activities are sending out some advance trips.  The boys have been working hard on their skills and are now seeing the fruits of their labor in great two-day climbs, three-day backpack trips, more advanced whitewater, and even awesome pottery that is finally ready to be glazed.  We are still full speed ahead with six trips out of camp today. 

It is one of my favorite times of the session to see the guys stuff come out of the kiln at pottery and ceramics.  They were getting ready to glaze several things and send them back in the kiln for one last fire in the next couple days!

Tomorrow hosts equal excitement with another full-load of trips out.  The arts and crafts guys are working on the finishing touches of their projects, and I even saw some guys working hard at the gates course this morning for a possible solo boat test.

We sure are having the time of our lives!  Looking forward to seeing all of you on parents’ day!

Don Gentle

Nothin' sweeter than the waterslide on a HOT day!

It’s hard to believe we are almost halfway through the session.  Tomorrow is “bed switch” day so everybody that didn’t get a coveted top bunk on opening day will get their chance.  Tonight at dinner more than half the camp was away on some sort of event.  Pinnacle, Halfway, Lookout and Holiday Inn are all at Sliding Rock followed by Dolly’s Ice Cream.  About 25 campers are on an evening horseback ride that ends with a cookout at Townsend’s mom’s house (one of the camp founders- Jane Williams) and 10 campers are still out on a 3-day hike.  Tomorrow will be another active day with six trips out of camp.

My day has been a constant stream of campers and staff asking “How’s your eye”?  Yesterday I spent rest hour and the afternoon clearing a section of the lake between the cabin field and the bridge.  The area has been overgrown for years & I wanted to clear it out for hikes and fishing.  The area was covered in poison ivy, so I was prepared with gloves, long sleeves, and jeans.  Everything was going along well & I made good progress until I was on the mower going back & forth over a weedy area.  I felt a sting on my face then saw hornets all over me.  I took off across the pasture, threw off my sunglasses, and wiped hornets off as best I could until I was a safe distance away.  The total damage was minor.  I got two stings to my collarbone area, two on my arm, and one on the white of my eye.  The eye was quite the curiosity as I went around camp & said “want to see something cool?” Lots of oohs & ahhs & does it hurt??   Fortunately, there was minimal swelling & I’m back to normal now (mostly) -never a dull moment at camp.

I was planning on heading out to work on another trail project today, but I sent out my crew with Dan Noland instead so that my eye had another day to heal.  Trails are a constant process on 1100-acres of property.  We are opening an old section midway down the road that will be very helpful to horseback riders, hikers, and mountain bikers.  I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

We continue to have wonderful weather with an occasional afternoon shower.  Our one big storm earlier in the session hit us with a lot of wind & some hail.  No major damage here but I just found out that a nearby camp had softball size hailstones during the same storm!!

Enjoy today’s pictures and keep the cards and letters coming- the campers love to find something in the mailbox!!

Hank Birdsong
hank@highrocks.com

Pictures from June 19, 2011 (password required)

You never can tell what a Sunday will bring, or any day for that matter, to camp.  Of course we have a pretty strict schedule on most days, but even then the great things that come from camp are usually those gifts and events that are not on the schedule.  The five minutes in line at the dining hall with a counselor or maybe a special game at rest hour with a cabin mate.  What we get out of camp is way more than we can ever imagine.

This Sunday brought us Krispy Kreme doughnuts, an awesome morning service and skit centered on Shel Silversteing’s “The Giving Tree;” A wonderful children’s’ classic about unconditional love. We then had great fun with all sorts of amazing choice period options all morning long, and a lunch that kept on giving all the way into dinner.  The afternoon brought us fun hikes, field games, and a grand time on the waterfront with our age groups. Finally, we wrapped up the day with a campfire and story that couldn’t be beat.

On this special day for dads, I would personally like to say Happy Father’s day and thanks for letting your boys experience High Rocks.  We sure do enjoy their time here as much as they do…  There are some great photos from last night’s dance with Rockbrook.  Sorry we only captured the younger half.

Sweet Dreams,

Don Gentle
don@highrocks.com

Pictures from June 18, 2011 (password required)

It’s Saturday!  This is such a fun day of the week – everyone is in camp today and each activity likes to do something fresh to spice things up a bit.  The climbers enjoyed a day of ascending the tower to the beat of techno music; canoeing played some fun lake games where the kids all got wet; hiking went Americana with “car camping day” where they cooked around a giant fire and two-burner stove with pie irons and hot dog sticks; the horseback riders had Gymkhana, where they play games on horseback and get to eat doughnuts; and the swimmers played a game of greasy watermelon (they also finished the melon off at the end of the hour).  All in all, it has been a busy and fun day.

Earlier I was thinking about what I should write about for the blog today.  My thoughts are that many of you have gotten letters home about camp, but that there are probably some boys who haven’t written home yet at all – so, this morning I sat down to chat with a random sampling of fellows so that I could pass the good word along.  Here is what they had to say:

John told me that climbing has been his favorite part of camp so far because he loves the feeling of being safe and also getting to do really awesome things.  When I asked him what he is looking forward to, he was quick to let me know that he is eagerly anticipating the 2-day climbing trip to the Obed in Tennessee.

Patrick immediately told me that horseback riding has been the highlight of his week.  He loves riding Thumper, Molly and Barclay and is very excited about going on a trail ride during his activity hour on Monday.

Blake couldn’t choose just one favorite part about camp – his answer included horseback riding, the Rock-it (our inflatable water attraction), climbing and tennis.  He’s really excited about the prospect of heading out of camp on both canoeing and climbing trips this week.

Scott had a hard time deciding his favorite part, but the first thing he came up with was how much fun he had on his cabin overnight to Rocky Springs shelter.  He is also really enjoying canoeing and looking forward to the Green River trip this week, but concluded his comment by saying, “I’m looking forward to everything!”

When I talked to Sam he told me that he liked all of his activities – not one in particular, he just liked them all.  He said that he is excited about going out on trips, especially when he’ll get to go out for some mountain biking.

Luke told me that he really likes going out on climbing trips, and that he enjoys having climbing in the morning because it’s a really good wake-up.  He is also planning on going on the 2-day Obed trip and is really excited about getting on the rock.

The last camper I got to talk to this morning was Max, who, I’d like to mention, I saw fold and throw a very impressive paper airplane a couple days ago.  His favorite parts of camp so far have been riflery and pottery.  For the week coming up, he is especially looking forward to doing a woodworking project.

I’m sure you can gather by the responses I got that the boys are staying active, having lots of fun, and getting to experience a lot of different things this session.  I expect that today will be awesome in camp – between the fun in activities, sodas at dinner and a square dance tonight, it’s hard to go wrong! 

I hope you all enjoy the pictures tonight – check in with us again tomorrow!

Crystal Clusiau

crystal@highrocks.com

Pictures from June 17, 2011 (password required)

Campers enjoying the view from John Rock in Pisgah National Forest. You can see a good shot of Looking Glass Rock in the distance. We climb there often.

The end of the first week is nearly upon us and today was the first taste of what the next two weeks will be like. With four full camp days under their belts, campers are now experiencing some of the rewards for their hard work and get to show off some new skills. In-camp was in full swing with guys refining their strokes in our canoeing gates, regularly hitting bull’s eyes in riflery/archery, confidently guiding horses along cool new trails, and producing some remarkable projects in pottery and woodworking. Appetites are continuing to increase and almost everyone is sleeping until the wake-up bell as the crew hits that healthy, active camp stride.

Our tripping schedule was loaded today, a foreshadowing of what is to come. Cavers headed out before most people made it up to breakfast armed with coveralls, helmets, headlamps, and excitement running high for the tight crawls and mudslides to come. Climbers were not far behind with a crew bound for the Nose of Looking Glass in Lower Pisgah. Reports were the weather was perfectly conducive for a long, cool day of testing newly learned moves on real rock. Mountain biking headed out with a group of guys intent on putting some serious miles under their wheels, and judging from their tired, satisfied faces at dinner; mission accomplished. Canoeing took the first full day trip of the summer to the Green River which presents tons of technical, challenging rapids for the tandem canoe. Partners practice ferrying, catching eddies, how to read the water, and what to do if you happen to encounter a rock. Another group of guys that looked proud but eager for some downtime this evening. The hikers rounded out our tripping contingent with a jaunt over to the Holmes Educational State Forest where they learned tree identifications and stream ecology. The campers were eager to get a hike in as well and so ended up summiting a nearby mountain at record speed. Once on top, the trip practiced several styles of fire building before descending nearly as fast.

All of camp is showing signs of a week well spent and a new idea of what can be achieved in the next two weeks. The weekend will provide a much needed break with the focus put on goofy fun and spending time with friends before the pace picks up again on Monday. Please enjoy the photos this evening and check back in tomorrow!

Woody Noland
woody@highrocks.com

The Puddle Pals” (Hillside & Connestee) – Capture the Flag
“The Hobbits” (Lakeside & Foxhollow) – Rope Swing/Waterslide
“The Flying Cheesecakes” (Flattop & Chalet) – Dodge ball

“The Titans” (Windswept & Outpost) – Waterslide/Rope Swing

“Group 7” (Halfway & Lookout) – McCallie Ball
 “Shallow Pop Culture Reference” (Pinnacle & Holiday) – Chambers Ball