It is a rainy day at camp, and I have just emptied nearly 3 inches of rain from the office range gauge. This is a gradual accumulation of the past 48 hours, but you get the idea…It rains at camp! Western North Carolina has many wonderful attributes: the mountains, the waterfalls, the wildlife and the overall environment. Perhaps the least known is that the mountains are a temperate rainforest. Brevard, North Carolina, receives over 60 inches of rain each year, and just to our west, still in Transylvania County, the Gorges State Park receives over 80 inches of rain in a year.
How does a rainy day impact summer camp? Obviously, some of our activities move indoors, but others are able to continue as always. The lyrics from one of our Keystone Camp songs even has, “Sometimes rain and sometimes shine, a Keystone Camper never minds!” The campers continue to follow their normal daily schedules on rainy days. We are very lucky to have a lot of indoor spaces, and the gym, the Pavilion, the Lodge and our incredible Arts and Crafts Shop can accommodate many different groups at once. Gymnastics, Hard Core, Cheer, Dance, Drama, A Capella and Crafts all go on as usual. Campcrafts and Nature have their own indoor spaces. Our Rock Wall, Archery and Riflery are all under roofs, so these activities all continue as planned except in extreme weather. Horseback Riding moves in to the barn where the girls are able to work with our Horsemanship classes on grooming and care of the animals. Tennis and Badminton make use of the ping pong tables, and Swimming, Canoeing, Kayaking, Golf and Team Sports relocate to one of our available indoor spaces.
This all works well for a day or two of rainy weather. If we are in for a long spell of rain, then we bring out our creativity. We have had summers where we have seen a full week of what seems to be non-stop rain (and sometimes, it has been non-stop!). When this occurs, we look at mixing and mingling our classes and providing fun options to break up our time inside together. Spa Day, or a mani/pedi anyone? All camp Charades? A mud puddle hike, or perhaps mud sliding down a hill? (Bring along some clothes that can be permanently stained with mud.) You will be surprised by the great deal of fun that can be had by our girls on a rainy day at summer camp!
And another inch was just dumped from the rain gauge…
