It sure was a fantastic day here at Camp High Rocks! The partly cloudy skies, reasonable temperatures, and plenty of awesome things to do sure helped a lot! Speaking of awesome things going on, I was privileged enough to be able to lead a mountain bike trip this morning. What a great group of riders. We have the benefit of our own 20 miles of trails, but our next-door neighbor, Dupon State Forest has over 10000 acres of fun trails. We are so close that the boys get in two hours of solid riding and can still be back for lunch. I like to take some trips out from time to time. It keeps my skills up, allows me to connect with the staff and show them that I’m not too old yet, and I get a great opportunity to connect with your boys. The weather was great, and the riding was even better. We even had a little waterfall treat.
Speaking of trips! We had several opportunities for the boys today. Two different climbing trips to our own High Rocks site, two different mountain biking trips, and an all-day hike into High Pisgah, where the boys hung out at some pretty cool locations at elevations approaching 5000 feet!
I tell parents that it’s not even fair sometimes. You can never be as cool as our staff. One of the key reasons all of this works is because our camp staff is admired so much by these boys. It gives the staff a precise advantage to handle all that comes their way because the boys want to stay on their good side. Adult mentors are an important part of every child’s life. The important part to remember is that these mentors cannot be their parents. It’s that need to impress, desire, and please these mentors that make it work. It’s also the kind heart and the ability to expect a lot that adds to that dynamic.
What makes camp amazing is not just the adventure program but the fact that we are doing all of this away from our parents. Of course, the activities are incredible, but the process, the journey of what we call camp, is where the jewel is found.
While parents want to be the ones to teach them everything, you can’t teach independence, you can only give it. It is something first to experience, then to meld and mold into what it really means. High Rocks is a great place to learn independence; from making a bed or making it to horseback riding on time. Independence is found all through the day. Research shows that if we do not allow our children to solve their own problems then our children will begin to believe that they cannot. Part of coming to a place like High Rocks allows for the separation for our children to learn just enough independence that requires them to figure it out without mom and dad around.
It sure is cool to go to places like this when you are at Camp High Rocks. High Pisgah is a special place with long vistas, cool rock outcroppings, and even several incredible streams. Life approaching 5000 feet is a little different and it is really cool! Just one more gem we have going on here.
Age Group 1 (Hillside, Connestee, Flattop): Had their Chill Night Tonight.
Age Group 2 (Foxhollow, Lakeside, Windswept): Canoe Fill-Ups.
Age Group 3 (Chalet and Overlook): Hung out at the Rope Swing and Waterslide.
Age Group 4: (Outpost and Sprucepine): Games on the tennis courts.
Age Group 5 (Halfway, Pinnacle, and Lookout): Kickball on the Athletic Field.
I forgot to mention that we have a new milestone gift for campers. The 3-year flag made its debut this summer. You will see a whole lot of pictures from last night’s campfire of the boys who received thos this year. We had a little catch-up to do.
Second, I have had a couple calls about Hurricane Debby. Even though it is not coming close to us, we will likely see some rain, but right now the weather is awesome! it’s just sucking all of the humidity out of here ad making for great weather!
Have a wonderful night!
Don
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