| Blue Ridge Expedition Log (2007-07-23--> 2007-08-05)
Leaders: Bryant Allen and Elizabeth Jackson
Students:Jon Atkins, Carley Berthiaume, Ella Branch, Sarah Bryant, Victoria Crenshaw, Oliver Fisher, Jenna Goldstein, Cathryn Grothe, Ashley Henderson, Mathew Lipman, Logan Sweet, Jesse Voremberg
July 23
Are you ready to Moondance?!
Hello from the Blue Ridge Expedition!
Our first day was spent running around the Atlanta airport collecting 8 members of our awesome crew... and I mean AWESOME! Everyone was sitting around with big smiles revealing their excitement, anxiety, and relief that we were beginning our journey. After a 3.5 hour drive up the mountains to the beautiful town of Brevard, NC, we met up with the rest of the group to complete our INCREDIBLE new family. Our first night was filled with tales of broken bones, fears, excitements, trip goals, life goals, and pizza! To start the trip off right, we set up our tents but slept under the stars...only to be awakened at 6:30am with rain drops on our faces. It was all worth it!
We slept for one more hour and then arose to face a day full of adventure and fun.
Since the third day was supposed to be our first climbing day at Looking Glass Rock and it was raining, we headed to Asheville for some indoor climbing at Climbmax. We all went through a belay class and learned the knots, commands, and techniques needed for the next two days of climbing. Oliver, Matt, and Jon powered through some crazy over-hanging walls, while Logan led the way up the tallest wall in the gym! And although Jenna had a tough time at first, she proved to be the master belayer of the group, offering to help everyone. After a long day of learning the new skill of rock climbing, we headed back to Brevard for some good old fashioned ice cream at Dolly's...mmm good! Dinner topped the day off with an awesome cook-out provided by our grill-master, Bryant, with frisbee, circle of death, some STOMP sessions led by Ella, and lots of laughs before heading back to the campsite. We had a great Moon-Up explaining our highs and lows of the day, and it is pretty cool to conquer fears and achieve goals all in one day, not to mention that the low of the day for most of the group was non-existent : ) !
After sleeping under the stars again, with no rude awakening, we headed up to the southside of Looking Glass for another day of stellar climbing! There were 3 climbs set up for us to try, and the group really went after it. The day was once again filled with FUN, laughs, cheers of encouragement, and exciting views from the top. Sarah conquered her fear of heights while Carley, the smallest of the group, completed the discouraging titled "Short-Man's sorrow". Cathryn and Victoria showed their natural grace and style on every climb, and I have to say that one of the highlights today was seeing Jesse get up Bloody Crack. This was the hardest climb set up and the rest of the group continuously made it to one point about 10 feet off the ground and Jesse pushed through it to the top; it was truly inspiring! Ashley is such a natural leader for the group, motivating the group to stay hydrated and positive everyday!
We returned to the cook-out spot for some much-needed, refreshing swimming and big fajita dinner...what a day! We're heading into the backcountry tomorrow for a great backpacking trip and you'll be hearing from us in about a week. Our hope is no rain or at least as little as possible for this rain-forest climate we're playing in. Tata for now!
Love, BRE3, aka, the grand finale!
August 2
Hello from the Blue Ridge Expedition!
It’s been awhile and we have covered some territory since you last heard from us...
After the awesome climbing, we all headed out into the Blue Ridge Mountains for some WET, FUN backpacking. Well to start things off on the right foot, we exploded our gear out of the Uhaul to back our packs and got severely dumped on by an afternoon storm; everything was soaked, and we watched the puddles around our tarp-covered gear grow as we hung out in the van. Although the group became even closer after an hour of continuous laughing and loud talking, our clothes and packs got pretty wet. The group was so awesome! They put smiles on their faces, helped each other out, packed their backpacks, and headed into the woods for three days of great hiking.
We covered about 3 miles our first afternoon, climbing up around Johns Rock to the Butter Gap Shelter at Cedar Rock (an awesome climbing area in Pisgah National Forest). The group cooked, yes, the group cooked, some fabulous cheesy pasta for dinner and went to bed tired, a little damp, and very happy. The next morning I decided to treat them to some yummy chocolate and peanut butter chip pancakes with some good ole southern Aunt Jemima Syrup on top! It was a great morning, and the group hit the trail running! We hiked about 3 more miles back down and around the other side of Johns Rock to camp at the base of the mountain. That night we had a blast hanging out at camp in this spot shaded by the trees from the light rain that continued throughout the evening. Everyone shared some fun stories, embarrassing moments, and good times before heading off to sleep under the stars...until we were awakened by the lovely drops of rain sprinkling our faces : ) !!! It was worth a shot; as the kids say, its much better to start off outside and then move to the tents if we have to because they LOVE sleeping outside!! (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that they get to hang out together for hours before finally being forced to go to sleep).
Upon returning to the Uhaul the following morning, we were slapped in the face by this lovely mildew-like odor...umm, time for LAUNDRY! So the group headed out of the Fish Hatchery parking lot to enjoy some good ole-fashioned fun at Sliding Rock before going into town; it was a blast! We got some great shots of eye-bulged, mouth opened faces as everyone hit the freezing cold water at the bottom. After a morning full of adventure, we went into Brevard to teach our group how to wash clothes at the laundromat. Everyone felt so much better after getting the mildew smell out of their stuff and putting on fresh, dry clothes! It was Logan's birthday, so we came up with a good plan for the next few hours to mix things up, have an unforgettable birthday celebration, and bring smiles to the group's faces again after telling them that there were no showers...thrift store! We headed over to the local Humane Society Thrift Store and everyone had a $5 budget to get a rockstar outfit for the dinner party. It was awesome! We had everything from 70 year-old women's hot pink dresses, gold sparkly shirts with big 80's belts, big goofy glasses, and moo moo's. I can't tell you how great the group looked parading into the restaurant together. It was truly a sight to see with Logan leading the way with a huge grin and an old wedding veil on...BEAUTIFUL! Needless to say, we all enjoyed Logan's birthday and forgot all about the dirt that had collected over the days. It was all worth it!
The next day was the beginning of our Mt. Mitchell adventure. We hiked into our campsite about 2 miles to get a good night's sleep for the big day to come. Summit day came around and after an oatmeal breakfast where we all learned that we could eat our oatmeal out of the packet it came in, we headed out of camp with the lightest packs yet. The hike was GREAT! The group moved quickly and happily up the side of Mt. Mitchell. When we got to the top, we enjoyed some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with apples and oreos for desert. It had been raining all morning, and as the rain picked up, we took shelter in the highest restaurant east of the Mississippi where we met one of the nicest restaurant manager's who told us all about Mt. Mitchell and gave us some napkins and pens to do artwork for the restaurant (providing some much needed entertainment)! We continued on a little damp as usual, laughing the whole way down to camp! Oh, and did I mention that I hiked in my hot pink dress!? Yeah, we were definitely the hottest hikers on the trail, that's for sure!
After a long days hike, the group slept soundly to wake up to sunshine beaming in our tent windows for the first time in days; it was beautiful! We hiked out to the van and put on some dry clothes for our long drive to eastern Tennessee to prepare for our next few days of rafting, fun, ropes course, fun, kayaking, and FUN!
I gotta go because the sun is shining, the weather is sweet, and my group is waiting on me to continue our wuffle ball game. Hope all is well with everyone's families, and although we are having a blast, we do miss you all dearly and love you very much! The kids have all written some shout-outs to you below...enjoy and see you soon!!!
A few words from your fabulous children:
Hey Mom, Dad, Ben, and Melea, I'm having tons of fun on this trip. Thank you for allowing me to come on it, and I can't wait to see you in a few days. Love, Jon
Hey Mom, Dad, & Emily! I'm having soooo much fun at camp. I can't wait to tell you all of my hilarious stories. I love you!! Love, Carley
Hey Mom, Dad, and Anna! I'm having a great time, and I'm so excited to see you again. I'm so happy I came on this trip. See ya soon! Love Jesse
Hey! Moondance is so fun, and I had an awesome birthday. I can't wait to raft tomorrow! Love, Logan
Hey Mom, Dad, Claire, and B~ Thanks for sending me on an AH-MAZING trip~ I love everything! Thanks! Love Ya~ Miss Ya! Love Ashley
Hey Mom, Dad, Mal. It’s Mat. Thanks for sending me to this awesome camp. It’s so much fun. Love Mat
Hi! It's Cathryn. I'm happy. I'm feeling glad. I've got sunshine in a bag! I'm having fun but miss you. Love you bunches! - Cathryn!
Hey Yall! Having an amazing time on BRE 3 !! Love ya and miss you guys so much. GREG- have an amazing time at camp. Love Jenna
Hey mom and dad! I love yall so much and miss you terribly, but having so MUCH fun! LOVE AND MISS YALL!!! Love Sarah!!
Hey Guys! I am having a FANTABULOSO time at BRE 3. Hope you guys are doing fine and missing me lots! Love Ella
Hey mom and dad! I'm having so much fun! I made so many new friends & I can't wait to see you on Sunday. I love and miss ya'll ---Victoria
Hey everyone, I am having an awesome time here in North Carolina and Tennessee. I can't wait to see you all in a few days. ---Oliver
Your kids really are great! Thanks for sharing them with the Moondance family!!!
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