TrailRidge Mountain Camp - the Buladean Years - Mark's Blog

Kirk Moyer - 40 years later...

11/3/2022

Ten years ago, first-year camper Kirk Moyer from Metairie/New Orleans, sent me an incredible piece talking about his TrailRidge memories. Kirk was there that first year (1982)and came back for a second. That first year was no cakewalk so the fact that anyone returned was somewhat of a minor miracle. Kirk resent his story just this week to commemorate the 40th year of TMC's founding. Thanks Kirk. He's actually going to be up in the TrailRidge-Roan Mountain-Hughes Gap areas in a couple of weeks.

Check it out: https://www.trailridge.info/uploads/7/7/7/4/7774835/i_blazed_the_trail_-_kirk_moyer.pdf

Kirk Moyer from his first-year application for camp.

A recent Kirk, along with his wife, at a recent coronation ball for the upcoming New Orleans Mardi Gras.

Ben Parker and Steve Sovelove...still camp friends nearly 40 years later

10/19/2022

It’s always good to get some updates from past staff and campers. Ben Parker (5 years at TMC including the very first) and Steve Sovelove (2 years, ’85 & ’86) are two camp counselors who have remained friends for nearly 40 years.

Steve lives on Lopez Island, Washington and works as a cabinet/furniture maker. You can view his gallery at Phoenixrainwood.com. He and his wife, Alisa, are now empty nesters, and just spent two weeks in Spain. Steve’s younger son goes to the University of New Mexico,

Steve met up with Ben and has spent nearly a week having a camp reunion. Steve and son, Tyler, and Ben had two days of great hiking in the Sandia Mountains here. Their hike included 3,000 feet of elevation change.

Ben, lives in New Mexico with his son, John, and works as a stock investor. Ben is recovering from some recent spinal surgery…but is still able to get out there and hike some trails.

Remembering Samuel Brinkley...

9/19/2022

If you ever did bicycling at TrailRidge, chances are you made the "Samuel Brinkley Memorial Ride." Check out my video about this bit of local folklore.

Unsolved Mysteries - The Lucy Story (filmed July 1989)

2/1/2022

Here's the fourth of five recently discovered and digitized old camp feature films created by kids and counselors. This one is about the abduction of Lucy, the camp goat. Check it out.

A Nightmare at TrailRidge

1/17/2022

And so, here we are 33 years later getting a chance to look back at our younger selves. This video was filmed in 1989 and stars a bunch of campers along with Davies, John, and Barclay.

Hiking on Roan Mountain

1/10/2022

Here's a link about hiking on Roan Mountain along with some nice photos. This was recently published online in the "Only in Your State" blog.

The Second 1988 Movie

12/7/2021

We made a second movie in 1988, in July. This was probably during our longer session. Check it out. it's fun.

The first of a handful of TrailRidge Feature Videos

11/27/2021

Apparently, in 1988 - campers and counselors on a rather boring Sunday afternoon decided to write, direct, act, film, and "kind of edit" a feature film. These movies are about ten minutes or so each and while the quality can't compare to what we could do today with a decent digital camera or a cellphone...they're still funny to watch.

Check out this first one, "A Camper's First Session - or A Parent's Mistake."

Camp friends are the best.

11/27/2021

Camp friends are always the best. Ben Parker keeps in touch with several former campers/counselors including Steve Sovelove. Steve and and his family have been staying at an Airbnb this week in Albuquerque visiting their son at the University of New Mexico. This week Ben has been on several hikes with Steve and one of his son's. Ben says Steve is doing great. Still building furniture on Lopez island north of Seattle.

First photo: Ben (left) and Steve.

Second photo: Steve and his son.

7,500 Acres Donated to SAHC to continue to protect Roan Mountain

4/23/2021

Wonderful Earth Day news for lovers of the Roan Mountain area. Billionaire Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, has made a donation of 7,500 acres of land to add to all the other wonderful land making up that land mass.

Check out the story on WLOS-TV.

https://wlos.com/news/local/earth-day-gift-thousands-of-mountain-acres-donated-to-conservancy?fbclid=IwAR227wN5L4ME2YD61MSS6J9uvZGAK9mzusFXqJD0ANt2_mmumn6hUoe6buo