The Nantahala Outdoor Center is a bustling place with restaurants, whitewater rafting, equipment rentals, picnic tables right at the playhole for boater viewing and a whole plethora of cabins and campsites. Good thing it’s still the off-season! Much of the time, we have this whitewater Disneyland to ourselves. We are camped at a more remote location which is about a five-minute walk from Base Camp, where we have classes, meals and heated showers. The Base Camp facilities are pretty awesome- the biggest kitchen we’ve seen yet and many shower stalls flowing with endless piping-hot water! Not that steamy showers are a huge neccessity this week because the weather is tricking me into believing that we are actuallly in the middle of July. It is downright HOT. Luckily, the icy Nantahala River is a five-minute stroll, tops. This week’s location is a bit unusual for us as we are normally in more remote areas. It is almost a special treat for the students to be able to interact with other kids, boaters, Appalachian Trail hikers and vacationers, not to mention having the ability to buy a pizza for lunch! Our campsite is just right for us, 7 wooden platforms and canvas tents surrounding a fire-pit. Tino made excellent use of the fire-pit for his mentor activity last night. The group grilled out over an open fire, letting tasty meats and veggies cook slowly on a bed of coals, then building the fire back up to roast s’mores!

As previously mentioned, this week is focused solely on playboating. The students will be competing in the NOC Shoot-out this weekend, up against all the playboating superstars. (I’ll be sure to post the results!) After many hours of practice on the NOC wave this week, I’m confident that they will do great! The wave here is a bit special – it is a man made wave, formed by a collective effort of throwing rocks into the river. There is even a sign posted which reads, “Please do not change the wave!” There will also be an attainment (upriver) race, which some of the staff are competing in.

The group is getting along great. We are taking advantage of this excellent group space to play evening games of Catan and Scrabble. Last night we celebrated Alex Anderson’s 16th birthday with a German chocolate cake. All the students are upbeat and excited about this weekend’s competition.

Our base here is somewhat of a traveling-teacher’s dream, with tables and quiet study space galore. Several students are working on cool projects to break up the monotony of indoor work, such as Tino’s survival class, which is stirring up some fresh, country apple jam!

I hope everyone is doing well back home, and be sure to check back after the weekend for competition results.

Callie