Quest
A Mountain Adventure Camp
Welcome to the Quest blog! Quest – A Mountain Adventure Camp is a small summer camp for adventurous kids between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. It will be based out of our North Asheville home and virtually every day we will enjoy rich adventure here in the Blue Ridge Mountains! At this age, kids crave adventure and some friends to experience it with. The goal of Quest is to help fulfill this drive children have to learn about the world around them and have a blast doing it! We will strive to strike a nice balance of exciting adventure, fun learning, relaxing play, and getting wet, and safety will always be top priority. Our adventures will include physical endeavors, nature studies, learning new skills, science, art and building projects, bonding with friends and the all-important “watching the clouds go by”. Please look below at the Weekly Schedule, and Master List of Activities for specifics.
Camp hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., but earlier drop-off and later pick-up to accommodate parent's work schedules are fine. We can take three kids each week plus my 8 year old son. Four kids can attend during the week of June 20, as my son will not be present. Please see Week One schedule below for alternative themes.
Weekly Schedule:
***Three notes: 1) Get Wet Every Day (GWED) means either swimming in the JCC pool or a swimming hole, wading or playing at home with slip n' slide, squirt guns, water balloons, sprinklers, etc... Kids can choose. 2) “Choose Your Quest”: kids can choose the activity for that day. I will do my best to accommodate their wishes as long as parents approve!...and 3) This schedule is flexible and may change due to weather, availability or other factors. All updates will be communicated to you through emails and the blog.***
One: June 20-24 Summit Craggy Mountain; ride bikes, visit farm and eat ice cream at the Biltmore Estate; multiple science experiments!, hike and wade at Montreat; DuPont State Forest hike and wading; create something architectural or artistic; and GWED. My son, Quinn, will not be present during this week.
Two: July 5-8 Bent Creek mountain biking and Lake Powatan Swimming; visit Carl Sandburg's Farm; Davidson River trip (swimming holes, sliding rocks, picnic lunch and Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education); build catapults; gem mining (Asheville Outdoor Center); GWED.
Three: July 11-15 Geocaching at the Arboretum; farm tour and goat cheese-making demo at Spinning Spider Creamery; Graveyard Fields to hike, swim and pick wild blueberries; Balsam Mountain for aquatic ecology program, flying Harris Hawk “Zeus” and Bald Eagle, “Freedom”, hike and swimming or wading; build a personal raft and, of course, GWED.
Four: July 25-29 Summit Pisgah Mountain; learn nature photography; trail riding on horseback at Hickory Nut Gap Farm; UNCA Botanical Gardens for wading and either ropes course or disk golf nearby; write a group detective story; creative fort building; and GWED.
Five: August 1-5 Chimney Rock State Park hike to the top then swimming in Lake Lure; tubing on the French Broad River; Asheville Glass Center for tour and glass-blowing demo; geocaching trip; card and magic tricks; visit to Balsam Mountain for reptiles program, birds of prey (including Zeus!), a hike and swim in their gorgeous pool; GWED.
Six: August 8-12 Take the plunge at Sliding Rock; Forest Discovery Center at the Cradle of Forestry, “Choose Your Quest” day for campers; disk golf at Richmond Hill, build and paint 3-D sculptures; GWED and.... end of summer celebration for ALL Quest campers and their families!: Astronomy Night with cook out and camp out in our yard!
Master List of Activities:
If everyone is in agreement, we will happily change activities to please the campers.
1) Big Thrills and Adventure:
*Summit Pisgah Mountain!
*Summit Craggy Mountain!
*Hike Chimney Rock then swim at Lake Lure beach
*Mountain Bike at Bent Creek then swim in Lake Powatan
*Slide and splash at Sliding Rock!
*Tubing in the French Broad River w/ Asheville Outdoor Center
*Top-roping with climbing instructor, Benji (when he's available)
*Swim Davidson River in Pisgah Nat'l Forest (swimming holes, sliding rocks, picnic and Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education)
*Swim in Bottomless Pools near Lake Lure
2) Experience Nature:
*Trail Riding on Horseback at Hickory Nut Gap Farm (July 28)
*Hike, wade and pick blueberries at Graveyard Fields
*Help the Nature Conservancy with a kid-friendly Service Project
*Visit the Balsam Mountain Trust's Nature Center: observe songbirds with binoc's and learn their calls, learn Aquatic Ecology by finding and identifying aquatic species in mountain streams, hike in their pristine woods, meet their amazing reptilian friends, experience the thrill of having Zeus, a spectacular Harris Hawk , fly to your glove and eat from your hand, meet Freedom, a beautiful American Bald Eagle and carry her on your arm, as well!
*Visit an Alpaca and Llama Farm
*Pan for Gems and Minerals
3) Learn Something New:
*Go Geocaching at the Arboretum (and other locations) – a global treasure-hunting phenomenon!
*Play Disk Golf at Richmond Hill
*Rock Climb at Climbmax Climbing Center
*Rock Climb at Climbmax Climbing Center
*Visit art studios (e.g. glass-blowing) and observe the Creative Process!
*Learn and practice the skills of Nature Photography
*Put a few magic tricks and card tricks up your sleeve!
*Learn the elements of a detective story and write a quick one as a group. See if parents can figure out “who done it”!
*Review principles of “Leave No Trace” during our adventures
*Learn some basic first aid procedures, outdoor safety rules and what goes into a great wilderness survival kit!
4) Relaxing Summer Pleasures:
*Hiking and wading at Montreat
*Visit Carl Sandburg's Farm – friendly goats, stunning grounds
*Botanical Gardens, wading, picnicing and ropes course across the street
*Biltmore Estate bike riding, wading in Azalea Creek, petting farm and ice cream cones!
*Living History Exhibits, Interpretive Trails and Forest Discovery Center at The Cradle of Forestry, Pisgah National Forest
*Spreading out a blanket and watching the clouds go by – we really are going to do this every week!
5) Science, Art and Building Projects:
*Jasper Johns-style (or any other style) painting on stretched canvas, ready to hang on your bedroom wall!
*Build a catapult
*Create and paint cool 3-D sculptures of your dreams!
*Extract the double-helix DNA structures from broccoli
*Build a personal raft
*Famous scientists and experiments
*Famous scientists and experiments
*Turn an egg into rubber or milk into plastic!
*Astronomy Night with a cook out and camp out
*Forts galore, and so much more...
*Construct a bamboo tee pee
*Construct a bamboo tee pee
6)Rainy Day Activities:
*Lunch and movie at Asheville Brewing Company
*Bowling
*Roller skating
*Play Games
*Visit an Animal Shelter to spread love!
& Things We Probably Won't Be Doing:
Visiting places the kids go frequently, such as the Health Adventure and the Nature Center. As wonderful as these organizations are, we are on a world-expanding Adventure Quest here! We are also going for a Screen-Free camp, with the possible exceptions being a) an occasional short educational clip that directly pertains to and enhances something we're about to do, or b) a fun movie on a rainy day.
How to Sign Up
Please contact me, Libby Mitchell, either by phone (828-450-8818) or by email:
libmitchell@gmail.com to let me know of your interest. Sign up is on a first come, first served basis. Reservations will require a deposit. Last minute sign up is welcome whenever space is available.
The weekly fee is $110. (best deal in Asheville!), with a $60. deposit required to reserve your spot, and the remaining $50. due on the first day of camp. Each week, $25. of expense money for fees and treats will also be required on the first day of camp. Any unspent funds will be returned to you at the end of the week.
A single Drop In day will be $25., and expense money will depend upon the activity that day. If a child is “dropping in” for a specific activity, I will make sure that that is what we do on their camp day, weather permitting, of course.
There are only four days of camp during the week of July 5-9, so the fee for that week will be $90., with a $50. deposit to hold your spot. Expense money for that week will be $20.
All deposits are fully refundable with 14 days prior notice. Cancellations less than 14 days prior are also fully refundable if I can fill your spot. I will do my best!
A waiver and info sheet will be sent out to you to fill in, or you can do it on the first day of camp. If your child may need an epipen, please supply it to me on their first day of camp.
The weekly fee is $110. (best deal in Asheville!), with a $60. deposit required to reserve your spot, and the remaining $50. due on the first day of camp. Each week, $25. of expense money for fees and treats will also be required on the first day of camp. Any unspent funds will be returned to you at the end of the week.
A single Drop In day will be $25., and expense money will depend upon the activity that day. If a child is “dropping in” for a specific activity, I will make sure that that is what we do on their camp day, weather permitting, of course.
There are only four days of camp during the week of July 5-9, so the fee for that week will be $90., with a $50. deposit to hold your spot. Expense money for that week will be $20.
All deposits are fully refundable with 14 days prior notice. Cancellations less than 14 days prior are also fully refundable if I can fill your spot. I will do my best!
A waiver and info sheet will be sent out to you to fill in, or you can do it on the first day of camp. If your child may need an epipen, please supply it to me on their first day of camp.
Campers should bring a good lunch and a snack, plenty of water, comfy clothing, sturdy sandals (eg. Keens) or shoes for hiking, a hat, sunblock and something they can get wet in. I will always bring abundant extra water, snacks, sunblock and first aid supplies on our trips.
