On Belay

It’s hard to believe this is our last full week of First Term. This time next week we’ll be preparing to say our “see you later’s” and anxiously awaiting the announcement of who won the Tribe Competition. Because we only have a week left, we’re going to make sure we make the absolute most of it.

This week we have several days of climbing and rappelling trips with our good friends at Higher Ground. Boys who are in the Brave or Chief age group and also enrolled in our climbing activity are eligible to go on a full day climbing trip. At 8 o’clock this morning, eleven Braves loaded a bus and headed 45 minutes down the road to Sand Rock, AL. They were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery Sand Rock has to offer while climbing some challenging natural rock climbs.

Our Warrior cabins are each going on rappelling trips to nearby DeSoto Falls. Each cabin will go as a group for either the morning or the afternoon. Cabins 1 and 2 kicked us off today and they had a blast. After arriving to the drop off area, the groups receive their instructions, gear, and then head off on a short hike down the trail to the rappelling site. Once there they were able to rappel about 45 feet down to the ground below. It was neat to hear stories about nervous campers overcome their tentativeness and conquer their fear of heights.

Those of us back at camp enjoyed a normal, full day of activities. Ms. Gail fixed a delicious meal of breaded chicken and scalloped potatoes for lunch. For dinner we had one of my favorite Alpine meals, Red Beans & Rice. We started our next to last rotation of activities and are gearing up for final competitions. The Cherokees won last week by a total of 9 points. With tribe points up for grabs in final competitions this week, it is sure to be an exciting finish.

For Rapids that Flow,

Ben