Each day here at GRP, campers (and staffers) are surrounded by new experiences, natural beauty, and, best of all, adventure.  Most would probably say the new day’s adventure begins with the morning mentor hikes, but anyone who has experienced camp life would agree that the adventures really begin with the morning breakfast bell.  That’s not to say I’m not a morning person, but truly, I aspire to be as roaring to go in the morning as my campers.  Once we make it through breakfast (don’t worry, everybody does make it through breakfast) that’s when mentor hikes start.  

The kids all meet with the mentors leading their hike that morning and learn what they need for tackling the day’s expedition properly.  After all, a proper adventure requires proper preparation.  Some of the typical GRP adventures include a trip up to the Indian Cave and Long Rock where campers learn about the native people who used to live in the area, treks through and around Hemlock Field, a small field that lies adjacent to the Green River, and possibly even a trip to the farm to learn about sustainability and food production. Of course there are others, but so far as examples are concerned, I’ll limit myself to these (I could write about the adventures waiting to be had at GRP for pages).  Some of the best mentor hikes are the ones where something unexpected happens, such as a wild animal sighting.  This is normally something like a snake, turkey, or deer, but once in a while someone catches a glimpse of something really cool or uncommon, like a black bear. One group of campers even saw a scarlet tanager up around the Spire (another really cool mentor hike location).

Most of the conventional adventure takes place during mentor hikes, and during lunch, the whole camp gets to hear about each mentor groups’ adventures. The adventure doesn’t stop there though. Campers get to go check out a whole slew of activities while they’re here, and often times the activities themselves are adventures.  For example, I was teaching creative writing today and in the middle of a writing exercise a camper noticed a small ring-neck snake.  Naturally we stopped what we were doing to check out the snake and learn more about it.  The crazy thing about GRP is that adventure is ready to be found around every corner, and that’s just in the day to day routine.  

Here, campers are living out in nature for one to three weeks.  It’s hardly surprising that dull days are a true rarity.  Then, of course, there’s campout. It’s pretty much the coolest adventure ever.  During each two and three week session, campers go on a two night campout that takes them throughout the preserve-  (but that’s not until later in the session and I’m sure someone else has already been assigned the privilege of talking about campout in more detail).

Just know that it’s awesome and the campers usually have the time of their lives on campout.  Plus, it always rains, and as everyone knows, few adventures are complete without rain.  With that being said, I can only assure you that, if you truly knew the adventures to be had here at GRP, you would be crazy jealous.  I know I would be if I weren’t already here.

-Orion

One of the great things about being at Green River is that life is never dull. Any given day, activity areas and filled with smart and interesting people. This is especially the case during meals at the dining hall.

The discussion at dinner began innocently enough. It was the dinner before the day that our two-week campers arrived and we were all in a good mood in eager anticipation.  I was sitting next to three other mentors: Bentor, Katie, and Snowbear.

“I went on a short hike right before dinner” I started “and as I was leaving Upper-Bald field, a few turkeys flew from the field right into the trees. I can’t believe how big they are and how quickly they took flight!”

“I find turkeys terrifying!” Katie chimed in.

“Really? Terrifying?” Snowbear looked at Katie with surprise. “I love them.”

I jokingly reminded Katie that she has worked with Golden Eagles, all sorts of owls, and other powerful and seemingly more intimidating birds in the past and gently poked fun of her apparent turkey-phobia.

Snowbear then started telling a story of tracking turkeys next to his house. They would come to his back yard and he would sometimes follow them out of curiosity.  One time, he heard a turkey call right on the outskirts of the woods next to his house. He decided to follow it. The turkey call led Snowbear deeper and deeper into the woods.

It seemed that just as he was coming upon the turkey, the call would get further away.  Nevertheless, Snowbear was determined to find the source and perisistently followed. He was up for the challenge. After a while, he finally set his sight on … a crow?

“I was amazed at how well this crow mimicked a turkey.”  Snowboard said with a smile on his face. “He had me fooled all the way.”

This was no easy feat, as Snowbear is an excellent tracker.  As I sat there and listened to the end of his short story, I asked why he thought the crow was immitating a turkey and leading him deep into the woods.

“I really dislike ‘why?’ questions.” Snowbear said to me slightly frowing his brow.

Katie and I both looked at one another and then let out a collective “Really …?” When I am not at Green River, I am a high school mathematics teacher. When Katie is not at Green River, she teaches middle school science.  We both consider ourselves scientific and curious, so to both of us, the essence of science is observing an interesting event (in this case the crow’s behavior) and then coming up with a hypothesis about that event.  Why did it unfold the way it did?  Making conjectures is an essential part of the scientific method. We were both curious as to why Snowbear wasn’t a fan of the “why”.

“Could you please elaborate?” I asked as Katie and I settled in to listen to his explanation.

(Snowbear’s explantation and mine and Katy’s reflection on it will be posted in a few days)

-Pawel 

-Update on the new campers at GRP!- 

Everyone has arrived safe and sound this beautiful June day, and they are all ready for an amazing week ahead of them!  After saying goodbye to parents and family, the kids split up into their cabins and got to know who they will be living with for the next two weeks.

Activities this afternoon included the trust circle, the swim test, dodgeball, kick ball and a friendly game involving a Frisbee.

Dinner at GRP is served family style with each cabin sitting at their designated tables where they can talk about the activities and experiences they’ve had throughout the day, it’s an extremely nice way to have some one on one time with one another. 

Tonight’s meal was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and our awesome salad bar, filled with an assortment of yummy vegetables.  Needless to say, everyone left the lodge with full bellies ready to enjoy the upper council fire.  The campers are ending their first day with a nightly ritual of “Rose, Bud, Thorn” held in each cabin before lights out.  

We can’t wait to start this new adventure with the kids and are all looking forward to an amazing two weeks with them.  As always, it has been another wonderful day at GRP.  

Your GRP photographer,

-Samantha K. 

Greens are finally ready to be picked!  We delivered several pounds of kale and a few pounds of pac choi, with even more on the way.

Pac choi is a lovely little chinese cabbage that is excellent in stirfries.

There are some wonderful blooms showing up on the farm as well.  We have picked the first early yellow crookneck squash as well as some yellow pattypan squash. 

The zucchini will be ready soon as well.

One of my favorites, the nasturtiums, have started as well.  The seeds of this plant can be used as a substitute for capers when pickled.

A few fun animal sightings to report as well. 

A teeny tiny turtle turned up while we were weeding.

A bear has visited the farm for at least the last few nights.

And just yesterday the new batch of chicks hatched!

We are certainly looking forward to campers arriving on the farm tomorrow!!! 

We had a grand week here at GRP! Despite the lack of sun on its given day (Sunday), the weather was in our favor the rest of the week.  It was perfect for  hikes, fly fishing, activities, and games here at the Preserve.  

On the mentor hikes, our campers learned about the plants and animals present in the Green River Valley. The adventurous campers also partook in some chilly traditions here at GRP: “polar bearing” and “Cherokee head dunking.” We all enjoyed some fun activities with our friends in the afternoons, after the cherished rest hour.

We had multiple campers hit the dream shot in archery and BB skeet this week. Our campers learned the importance of only taking the food you are going to eat thanks to Ort-Man and Scruffy, our beloved superheroes who have come to Earth to fight the Ort Wars forever more! The food chain and effects of DDT were portrayed through a fun game of Predator/Prey on Monday night. It was great to see the campers all decked out for Pirate Night on Wednesday!

We enjoyed the Upper Council Fire last night and laid our spirit stones around the fire. The following sessions will surround their spirit stones around those already in place. They will be moved at the end of the summer to the hillside with all the other spirit stones from years past. Our campers are always welcome back to view their spirit stone as a memory of the great times here at GRP. 

It was a bittersweet morning here at the Preserve. We were sad to see our campers go, but delighted that they are reunited with loved ones and can take on the world with a newfound confidence. It gives us great pleasure that our lovely campers are leaving with a different view and appreciation of the natural world we all reside in. 

See you next summer!

Maggie 

 Green River preserve has a tendency to attract the best and the brightest from all over the United States. The children who choose to attend this camp always seem to surprise the staff with their appreciation, understanding of nature, and overall intelligence regarding wildlife and vegetation. It makes you wonder if that has anything to do with the environment that Green River Preserve promotes; I’d like to think it does.

Young minds are willing, receptive, unpredictable, creative and highly imaginative. Although all of the qualities mentioned are commonly known, what makes the children of Green River Preserve different is that upon arrival, all of these children agree to respect themselves, their peers and nature for the entire duration that they attend camp. This ceremony is called the Respect Circle. In my opinion the Respect Circle ceremony that we do impacts the children in such a way that it changes their very being while they are here at Green River. These children ascend to a level of deep understanding and emotional maturity in regards to microscopic life living on the bottom of a log, a nest of spiderlings inconveniently placed in a bathroom and even taking a drink of water when their counselor asks them to even though they might not fully believe they need to.

I believe this to be true simply because they are held at a high standard and are immersed in an environment where they are treated as if they are completely capable of doing so. I personally am astonished by these children when I see them in groups, either playing a game, doing an activity, processing and understanding the needs of their peers or thinking over the positives and negatives of their actions and how they affect others. I’ve come to the conclusion that the environment that nurtures these campers can’t help but put them on the path to becoming young leaders and innovators for the future.

– Zechariah C. E.

Tonights closing ceremony touched my heart in more ways than I can explain.  In just one short week, I’ve watched these young minds become friends, leaders, teammates, listeners and most importantly; family.  They have grown so much and it has been such a privilege to have gotten a chance to watch the magic that Green River Preserve really has on these children.  

The Upper Council ceremony tonight was truly a beautiful thing to witness.  I listened ever so closely as a few children read poems they had written in Creative Writing class today, and found myself fighting back tears because of how in ‘awe’ I was at their words of impeccable wisdom and understanding that I truly never understood until hearing them being spoken by the children themselves.  

I believe Green River has taught the kids this week so much about life, nature and themselves, but what I think most people fail to understand is how much the kids of Green River teach us adults about life, nature and ourselves;  and for that, I want to thank the kids from the bottom of my heart, because they have instilled a hope in me that I never knew was there.  May their light always shine and their hearts remain open.

Your GRP photographer,

-Samantha K   

BRX1 has kicked off to a great start. Expeditioiners arrived Saturday, June 8, and spent the day settling into their base camp, Reasonover. They learned all about our work crews (cooking, water, fire), played some initiative games and trust builders, and began to look at the schedule and potential camping spots for their backpacking trip.

It rained and poured most of Sunday but cleared up in time for the group to head to Dupont State Forest and check out Triple and Hooker Falls on Monday. The amount of water was incredible! What a special opportunity after 9″ of rain in a short period. 

The group spent Tuesday at Big Bradley Waterfall swimming and climbing. Everyone tried at least one of the three routes the leaders set up. Many of them reached the top! The fun factor all in all was extremely high. Climbing and swimming- who could ask for more! The group was all smiles. 

 BRX 1 has now ventured off into the great Pisgah National Forest, specifically the Shining Rock Wilderness area. They plan to spend 6 nights and 7 days hiking a spectacular loop with many elevation changes and outlooks along the way. The weather looks good through the weekend, and we hope it will hold for our expeditioners. Once we hear any updates, we will be sure to post them here on the blog. Happy Camping!

It’s another great day to be at GRP ad the weather has been beautiful!  We made it into Coolsville this morning at breakfast – which means we had very little ORT, aka left over food. ORT Man and Scruffy, (super heroes from the new millennium), promised to jump into the lake if the campers got into Coolsville three times before the week was over. It has been a real struggle the first two days, but we now only have one more Coolsville encounter to go!  

I noticed campers of all ages making a real effort to take only what they thought they could eat, and building each other up when they completely cleaned their plates. It takes teamwork to do these types things – the campers have made a commitment to themselves and each other to work hard towards a goal. We’ve seen teamwork displayed over and over these past few days. Cabins have been coming together to get to know each other and work towards getting cleanest cabin from the Cabin Fairy.

Last night at the Variety Show, talented kids worked hard to give us a great show full of comedy, theatre, music, and songs. Counselors have told me numerous stories of campers working together at their daily activities, like at canoeing where teams worked hard at noodle tag.

The campers have done some awesome and exciting things so far – I’ve seen many jump out of their comfort zone to go on a strenuous hike, get in the water, try a new activity, crawl into a dark cave, or even try a new food. Every day, campers are recognized for some of the amazing things they do.

Tonight, we have pirate night and staff hunt on the schedule. Staff hunt is a great game where campers look for staff members – those that have been at GRP longer are worth more points – and, if found, the staff has to jump in the lake. I can’t wait to see everyone bedecked in their pirate costumes and to see how many people are forced to walk the plank tonight.

-Z