Inaugural Meeting!

We had a great turnout for our first meeting!  Thank you to everyone who showed up and for those of you who couldn't break free to attend but expressed interest in the club!

Highlights of the meeting and information about the club:

• Mrs. Irving, Ms. Fischer, and Coach Rinker will be the primary faculty members facilitating the club.  

• 3rd-6th graders may participate in the club.

• We will hold monthly meetings.  During the winter months, the meetings will be indoors at the school. Parental attendance is not mandatory for these meetings.  The next meeting will be November 2, 2014 at 3:15.

• When the weather is pleasant, we would like to spend some of our monthly meetings outdoors on a trail!  Parental attendance for these hikes will be encouraged, but likely not mandatory.

• We will host occasional weekend family hikes.  All ages may attend but you must be responsible for your own children.  

• We would like to plan a group camping trip at a local campground in the spring.

• We would like the opportunity to do a weekend backpacking trip with our 6th grade participants in the spring.

• We are in the process of creating a name for this club, because come on, "The Outdoor Club" is a little bland, and this club will be anything but, so it needs a cool and exciting name to reflect how cool and exciting it is!  See below for what the the kids came up with at the meeting, but feel free to add more suggestions to the comment section of this post that either you or your child(ren) come up with. Keep in mind that this club will evolve and become more comprehensive with activities (in other words, we might not always just hike or camp outdoors but do other cool stuff too like whitewater rafting, rock climbing, etc.). So we might not want to limit our name to only reflect hiking.  Here's what we have so far:

• Dragon Wings
• Nature Living
• Falcon Flyers
• Trail Ninjas
• Geometry Lizards
• Outdoor Fun
• Back on Track
• The Diamondbacks 
• Fiery Falcons
• Muddy Boots
• SROX (Shining Rock Outdoor eXperience)

This upcoming weekend, we are hosting our first family hike!  Details about the hike are below.  If you were not able to attend the meeting but would like to join us on Sunday, please do!  Families will be in charge of keeping track of their own children, and it's fine to bring younger children, if you're comfortable with that.  We suggest two adults attending if you have multiple or younger children.  Because of the popularity of this trail head, especially during the fall, please consider carpooling!

SRCA’s Outdoor Club - Our Inaugural Outing!

Join us for a family-friendly hike to enjoy the peak of fall leaf color! We will meet at the Black Balsam Trailhead in Pisgah National Forest at 1pm on Sunday, October 18th. We will hike the 2.5 mile moderate Flat Laurel Creek Trail with the option to summit Sam Knob, adding an extra 1.2 miles overall. Parents/guardians should accompany their child on the hike. Younger siblings are able to attend, we just ask for an additional adult to help with supervision.

What to Pack: Wear comfortable clothing and sturdy, closed-toe shoes. Pack a rain jacket, warm layer, water bottle, camera and a snack.

Directions: Take Hwy 215/Lake Logan Road for 19 miles to Black Balsam Knob Road. Turn left onto Black Balsam Knob Road. After 3 miles, you will reach the parking lot / trailhead.

Note that there isn’t reliable cell service in the area; there is a pit toilet at the trailhead.  

The fearless leaders of our Outdoor Club--Ms. Irving and Coach Rinker.  Ms. Fischer will also help run the club.  We are so fortunate to have such a great staff who is so excited about this opportunity!