End of a Good Week

As we cruise into the weekend of the session, the sounds of camp in full swing have normalized delightfully into the daily cacophony of fun that we associate with the place. There is a steady hum of noise and energy about camp that just feels right!

At the end of the “work week”, our campers have found a rhythm to their day that allows for individual agency across camp. Campers know the next steps in their day (though they may not know what day it is) and are a major part of moving the program forward. It allows them to build some ownership of the experience which can take shape in them putting equipment away, picking up trash, or just looking out for another member of camp who might need a helping hand. 

Friday is also the culmination of a lot of effort on part of the campers and counselors both. They have been building new skills and refining learned ones with goals to get on trips, advance in shooting ranks, or begin trotting/cantering. As camp goes along, they get to experience some of the payoff to that work as things that were once hard come more naturally now.

Today saw a fair number of trips heading out of camp as guys were ready to begin putting their skills to the test. Canoeing took groups of paddlers to the headwaters of the French Broad river in the morning and afternoon. The section is fairly short and packed with class 1 rapids that push boaters to work with current moving steadily in one direction. With rocks, eddies, strainers, and the occasional tuber group, there are plenty of obstacles to add challenge to their run.

Mountain biking did a morning mission to Dupont with a group bound for the Ridgeline trail. After a series of climbs which had our guys puffing, Ridgeline is quite the reward in a fun, fast, flowy section of trail that really opens the eyes of our riders to what the sport can look like. There was lots of excited chatter at lunch about the trip, with some rather tired expressions to go along with the stories. Climbing had a morning group bound for the High Rocks and both Windswept and Chalet had their turns on the High Ropes course!

In camp things were also cranking before the weekend. Canoers were speeding around the endurance course, doing competitive BLTs, and partying to tunes with a canoe slide. Potters were building ocarinas after finished up some truly excellent frogs. Horseback riders were hard at work in the ring and getting set for trail rides to commence soon. It always gets a rider’s attention with they leave the security of the outside rail and suddenly have a thousand acres to negotiate with their steed. A busy day indeed!