Happy Tuesday from Camp Timberlake! Today we opened our third day of session 1B with a bang, starting our morning off with a delicious breakfast of french toast and bacon, and of course, our famous grit bar. After raising our voices to the skies in the morning yell we headed off to chapel where we heard from one of our assistant directors, Caleb, sharing a true story. 

 

As the boys got started cleaning their cabins, we had several trips head off property for some pretty epic adventures. Eric H, Drew R, Wilson R, Cullen S, Charles L, Teddy S, Palmer E, London A, Maddox K, Ellis T and Colin G headed to section 9 of the French Broad river for a day of whitewater rafting. While the unusually wet month we’ve had so far has been a bit challenging for some activities, it has been absolute heaven for our paddling program. The river today was flowing beautifully and the self proclaimed “Red Hot Rafters” made it down section nine in record time and the waves were bumping and boofing today. 

 

We also had a big group go rock climbing today at Little Lost Cove. Charlie A, Owen M, Fox S, Gus A, Burns N, Hammond F, Garrett L and Arnold A had a great day out on the crag. Little lost cove is aptly named. After a moderate hike ends, the climbers come to a cliff face with gorgeous views. After either rappelling off the cliff or walking around a small trail they discover a little ‘cove’ sheltered by the slightly overhung cliff. Great climbing routes are all along this rock face and the boys gain more exposure the higher (and closer to the original cliff top) they get. It’s a climbing experience not to be forgotten and our guys absolutely crushed it today, even finishing their climb and hike out before the afternoon rainstorm hit (more on that later). 

 

Back at camp we enjoyed a midday meal of Jumbalaya, cornbread and fried okra and had a great time celebrating Matthew D and Hill W’s birthdays. Birthdays at camp are the best and there’s nothing like being serenaded by the entire dining hall before sharing a delicious cookie cake with your cabin. We also announced the cabin cleanup winners for the day, Big Piney and Stomper’s Knob! Both cabins scored an incredible 9.75 out of 10 today. Way to go guys. The last announcement of the meal was the most anticipated and boys drumrolled on the table waiting to hear the winner of last night’s game of super mario. And the winner was…The Golden Eagles! 

 

This afternoon we enjoyed a fun free time and trading post before a rain storm rolled through camp. It is very typical for rain storms to roll up quickly in our mountains, particularly in summer. Usually they last about 20 minutes or so and then pass. This storm fit that exact description except the 20 minutes of rain were about some of the heaviest and windiest rain of the year. Most of us were in the chapel as the rain rolled through and it was pretty spectacular watching the show nature had for us. An impromptu singing of the camp hymn broke out and as fate would have it, when the last notes of the final chorus rang out over the lake, the sun peeked it’s face back out from behind the clouds. 

 

After the rain we still had time for some great progress in afternoon activities. Barret G ran the crooked mile for the 6th time this session. Mason S earned his gold in archery. Ryan H and Henry O both earned silver bars in tennis and Ryker R achieved his gold in canoeing. Way to go guys!

 

For dinner we enjoyed perhaps my favorite meal here at Timberlake: Grilled chicken tacos. With tortilla chips and tortillas, grilled chicken, guacamole, sour cream, mexican rice, corn and black bean salsa, cheese lettuce and tomatoes all on the table the only way to describe the meal was to say it was a feast! After topping off our dinner with some churros for dessert, the Sultan of Fun himself emerged wearing the red helmet to announce the evening activity. Tonight was a split division night, with Junior and intermediate camp enjoying the giant slip and slide and a lake night, half of senior camp playing Bandits Rancheros and the other half playing futsal in our gym. Whether fighting hard for their tribe or just enjoying the wet and soapy ride, it was a memorable night for all. 

 

As the sun sets here at Timberlake, we are thankful for another incredible day of growth, friendship and adventure, and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. Until next time, 

 

John

Director, Camp Timberlake

Guacamole connoisseur 

Crooked Mile Pathfinder

Proud Golden Eagle