Note: Below is a tentative list of possible activities. The final schedule will most likely change as we get closer to the event. Activities may be added, deleted or moved to a different day.
The Upper Yough (pronounced YOCK, like rock with a Y) flows through one of the last remaining wilderness canyons in the eastern US. The trip includes the “miracle mile” with a vertical drop of over 120 feet per mile with four class V rapids right in a row. It’s non-stop, continuous class III to V whitewater action, with boulder choked rapids that will test your brace and paddle stroke. This creates a river adventure with non-stop intensity, exhilarating thrills, and adrenaline pumping action! THE PADDLE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR NOVICE RAFTERS. YOU MUST HAVE PRIOR EXPERIENCE ON CLASS III OR ABOVE WHITEWATER RAPIDS.
Please note: This activity will NOT get back in time for dinner in camp. A meal will be supplied to enjoy during the hour ride back to camp.
Laurel Caverns is a 435-acre geological park featuring Pennsylvania's most extensive and deepest cave with over three miles of natural passages. Enjoy a three-hour-long guided tour spelunking 46 stories deep into the mountain interior. This cave has rough walls, a sandy floor, and very few formations typically seen in the more common high calcium limestone caves. Laurel Caverns is formed in an area of folded and fractured rock. Because of this, the entire cave is tilted thirteen degrees, resulting in many steep passageways that tend to follow the fractures in the rock. The cave stays at a temperature of 12°C (52°F) year-round. An excellent way to get out of the summer heat.
Hiking boots that lace over the ankle bone, two sources of light are REQUIRED. Long shirt and pants or overalls, knee pads are recommended. Gloves are not recommended but allowed for the soft skin. You bring your water or snack in a small fanny pack. Low-rise shoes and backpacks are NOT allowed. At least one light source should be a headlamp. The cave is a mostly dry cave, but shoes may get wet. Hypoglycemic people should bring food in your fanny pack or pockets. This a pack in/ pack out activity.
For the serious hiker who wants picturesque lookouts, varied terrain and an awesome workout, this is the hike for you! This 10.8 mile (17.4 km) hike with a gradual elevation differential of 1,700 feet features the best that Coopers Rock State Forest has to offer. The Raven Rock and Coopers Rock overlooking the Cheat River valley far below make this a popular destination. You’ll see remarkable rock outcroppings and crevices, rustic picnic shelters on the national Registry of Historic Places, and the Henry Clay furnace along your travels. The many different trails will follow a cliffside, a beautiful river, and will loop through hardwood forest with pretty streams and glens of hemlock and rhododendron. While some trails are rocky and others are easier to navigate, this hike will be walked at a brisk pace to cover its distance yet enjoy the stunning scenery..
it’s stunning lookouts you crave, you’ve come to the right place. This all-star 4.8 mile (7.8 km) hike with TBD ft of elevation difference takes you to the area’s two prime features: Coopers Rock and Raven Rock overlooks. Along the way, you’ll also see a log cabin shelter and historic picnic pavilions. Dramatic boulders and cliffs make this hike a nature photographer’s dream. You’ll have to watch your step on the rocky trail leading to the second lookout. More drama awaits you as you view the valley way down below.
Enjoy a day in Morgantown with several options that include:
Click HERE to see more details
We will have several in-camp activities like swimming, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing, archery, ropes challenge course, badminton, yoga, crafts and other workshops, as well as Shabbat services and Torah study sessions on Saturday. Click HERE for more info. Below are some highlights for Saturday.
A day paddle along the Cheat Lake / River from camp to Sunset Beach Marina to PA and back to camp (a total of 13 to 15 miles). We will have food break in the middle and then head back to camp. Enjoy the views of Cheat Lake Park and large estates along the way. Have a little fun along the way navigating a drainage tube into a sheltered cove for a little bit of a break. You can choose one of three areas for a food break: the protected bay, the beach with the restrooms, or the beach with restrooms and playground. The experience is a challenging out and back paddle for the experienced paddler and can be as tiresome as it is enjoyable to be on the river all day.
Just walk through the nature of Emma Kaufman Camp -- experience it! Join Gabe on a walk around campgrounds to discover the plant and animal life around you. Discover what tree bark is edible; natural poison ivy treatments, “weeds” stop the pain and swelling of bee stings -- and more. Learn to find animal signs – tracks, runs, holes, nests and how to read the story that animal tracks tell.
Enjoy a ride on one of Emma Kaufmann’s speedboats. Tour Cheat Lake, a 13-mile-long (21 km) reservoir on the Cheat River in Monongalia County, West Virginia. For most people, their first and only view of Cheat Lake occurs while crossing the Interstate 68 bridge east of Morgantown. Most interstate travelers do not realize that the majority of this picturesque lake’s 1,730 acres lies out-of-sight, north of the bridge where Emma Kaufmann Camp is located. Many large vacation homes, mansions, and luxury estates lie on its banks. The maximum depth is about 90 feet near the dam, while the depth under the I-68 bridge is eight to 20 feet. Cheat Lake dam was constructed in 1926 by the West Penn Power Company to produce electricity by hydropower. The dam located three miles north of Emma Kaufmann Camp and only 100 feet from the Pennsylvania state (Mason Dixon) line.
Join Ellen Flax for a Torah Study Session.
Dreams are taken very, very seriously in Jewish tradition. Learn about dreams, dream interpretation and mezuzahs while you make your own grapevine dreamcatcher. (BTW – dreamcatchers make great gifts.)
Join Gabe for a hands-on “discussion” about the role of nature in Judaism that features a wide variety of natural resources that illustrate Jewish beliefs, values, and practices. Learn the one natural resource necessary for the spread of Judaism – and its continuation today. What’s a moose have to do with Jewish life? Which tree makes tasty bread and cakes that are naturally Kosher for Passover? Experience the awe and wonder of nature that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called an “eternal amen.”