The sun, for the first time in a few days was a pleasant surprise over Camp Timberlake this morning. With rain and a strong chill in the air putting a damper on some of our activities the past few days, today was nothing short of a spectacular day in Black Mountain!

Morning activities ran smoothly with lots of bars being earned and a ton of fun being had. Fencing is a great activity for the campers to participate in at camp because it is not typically an activity they can do at home, which is a big part of camp and what activities we teach. Counselor Drew J awarded Brandon P and Parker C bronzes in fencing class for meeting their requirements. Rocketry, along with many other activities were open during free time today to give campers the opportunity to spend more time on the activity of their choice to receive bars. There were seventeen bars earned today by launching successful rockets up at Spencer’s Green. A few notables include silvers bars by: Hugh S, Charles S, Andy L, Andres D, Mason J, William G and Michael L. These campers had to launch their skill level 2 rockets and recite Newton’s three laws of motion to receive their silver bar.

Backpacking had a fun day on the low ropes course where the objective is teambuilding and working together to achieve a task. The team led by JB G won the course competition in third period, plus an overall bright spot in Victor A! Kayaking during the chilly first period water played “Finding Nemo” games where Will C won “Mine Mine Mine.” Jack D won another game called “Fish are Friends Not Food.” In other kayaking news, there was an off-site trip to the Pigeon (class 3 river) where the gang took two laps around and according to counselor Andrew R (who went on the trip even on his day off, for fun) said “two laps on the Pigeon was a ton of fun.” Campers Hank B, Harris C and Eric H were the only ones on the trip but pushed themselves and each other to get better and dominated the day.

On a perfect day for climbing, the excellent climbing staff at Timberlake tested the camper’s on their newly learned skills and techniques by putting them through a time trial where Ian C “dominated” on the lower tower. Campers also tied knots and went for bars at free time! Even though the World Cup is over, Camp Timberlake still has a bit of the fever, and the only cure is obviously… More soccer. Soccer players today worked on goalkeeping and shooting. Bailey M actually led the goalie workout showing tremendous leadership and willingness to help out his fellow men on the pitch. Noah C was praised as well for his performance in shooting.

A mountain biking crew set their sights on the mighty Tomahawk trail during first and second periods where they biked over two miles! John S led the trip while George H took the caboose in an awesome ride.

Tomahawk, the youngest of the seven Timberlake cabins, took the cabin cleanup crown today with a perfect 10.0 on the grading scale! Meanwhile for the always highly anticipated evening activity, El Presidente was the game of choice by activity director Matt H where it was one of the closest battles of the session. Campers are ranked on a military scale from Sargent to 5 star general to EL PRESIDENTE. The president is typically hid somewhere in the boundaries and flags are pulled and depending on the rank of the camper is how the points are decided and tallied. The campers love this activity which is brand new here at TL this year and is already the second time playing it this session by popular demand.

So just another jammed packed day of growth, friends and adventure of all kinds at Camp Timberlake. Our days never fail to make an impact and provide the most fun and enjoyment possible through camp and the people that make it possible!

Counselor Will Hixson