Last week, Cherokee Creek was on Summer Break. For the handful of students on campus this meant fun field trips like the annual Granite City Trip with Teachers Nick Linscott and Betsy Riordan or the trip to the water park with Academic Dean Denise Savidge. For staff the break means training, skill development and, well, a good bit of sitting still.

What better way to close the week than a student and staff paddling trip on the Chattooga River? On Friday we headed out with all eight canoes, two ducks (inflatable kayaks) and a couple of personal staff boats for hours of good fun…and some new members of the Chattooga swim team. 

Check out the pictures below, including Alexander, Jackson, Primary Counselor Yanic McDowell and Therapist Carla Shorts leaping into the outflow from the famous Bull Sluice rapid. 

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Last year we were given an incredible gift by an alumni family: 8 fully outfitted whitewater canoes! These are top of the line tandem “Captions”. Often, boys arrive at Cherokee Creek having canoed at summer camp or in a local waterway – in flatwater boats. Whitewater boats take a little getting used to. They are different in a couple of critical ways: they have less surface contact with the water; and they are designed to turn on a dime.

As we teach boys to become whitewater boaters, we start with “boat feel” – getting used to how to sit comfortably and move with the boat instead of working against it. A paddler who stays relaxed and moved with the boat is far less likely to find himself on the “swim team.”

Check out the video below of Sam and Dylan on Lake Hartwell. As they paddle into the sunset they are relaxed, have good momentum and paying attention to the distict feel of a whitewater canoe.

Moving water is next! Stay tuned…

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Students clean one of the Earl's Ford campsites before launching for some canoe drills.

What a great fall weekend full of great outdoor treats! Students and staff took full advatage of our volunteer agreement with the Forest Service. The boys headed to Earl’s Ford for a service project on both Saturday and Sunday. After cleaning up campsites and the river bank, our tricksters took some time to practice their whitewater canoeing and fly fishing skills where Warwoman Creek meets the Chattooga River.  

To celebrate Halloween staff and students gathered around the fire for S’mores on Saturday night. What a great sweet treat!