Old Rag Mountain is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is situated in the Shenandoah National Park. The drive is just under an hour away from Woodberry. The group departed on buses promptly at 8:30am. Old Rag is a very challenging 8.8 mile hike and rock scramble with spectacular views. At the summit it sits at 3,291 feet. This year we were fortunate to have Mr. Nolan LaVoie, the head of the Woodberry Outdoor Program, assist Coach Alexander in leading us on our hike. He snapped some photos for us showing one of the most challenging areas of the mountain. Thank you Mr. LaVoie!
After the exhausting hike, the campers boarded the buses to head back to the Forest. The buses remained silent on the way home as the campers and counselors couldn't help but doze after conquering OLD RAG.
Meanwhile, back at the Forest, the guys played hard! In addition to their hike of the perimeter trail, they organized into groups by age and played games of wiffle ball, basketball, and dodgeball. Eventually they made their way to the outdoor pool.
Our perimieter trail is a total of 8 miles in length and was completed and dedicated just a few years ago. It continues to be kept up (cleared and trimmed) by the students of Woodberry. Today's perimeter trail group saw what the recents storms have done to the trail. It's quite rocky, still a little muddy, and they even encountered a washed out bridge. It is quite a beautiful trail and at certain points there are fabulous views of the Rapidan River and it's rock formations.
After a long rest period the campers were ready to go again. They all headed over to dinner and then met on the steps of the Dick Gym to find out their game schedule for the evening. It was another beautiful evening and the games were exciting and competitive.
We had a hockey game go into overtime. The Barbee was rockin'! Outside on the football field, for the first time ever in the history of sports camp, we had a team try for a field goal. With two special teams college level players on our staff, we decided to offer clinics on kicking and punting. Counselor Michael Armstrong will be kicking for SMU next fall and Blake Bozymski is a punter for the Tarheels of UNC. The Oregon Ducks tried for a 26 yard field goal and made it. It was an amazing sight. Everyone on the field went CRAZY!
Yesterday's activities had no affect on our campers. They are so full of energy! After the games teams raced up the hill to visit the Fir Tree. It was a great day and a great evening.
Photos from Sports Camp June 18
