Field Trip at Voyageur

Yesterday we hosted Josh’s 7th grade class from Cook County Middle School for a field trip to the end of the Gunflint Trail.  The weather couldn’t have been nicer and the kids had a fabulous time learning and playing in the great outdoors.

There were around 40 kids split up into four different groups.  Two groups were stationed at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters while the other two were at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center.

Canoeing on Sag
Going for a paddle

One of the groups at Voyageur learned how to use a GPS. Thanks to a program by the USFS or DNR, now I can’t remember which, each student was able to use their own GPS.  They are mailed out to us with instructions and then when we’re finished with them the teachers mail them back. We set up 3 geocaches on the property with prizes inside of each of them for the kids to find. One was in a minnow bucket at the end of the dock. Some kids took this as an opportunity to be funny and pretend like they thought the cache was in the water! We buried one cache in the sand at the volleyball court and each group dug additional holes to confuse the future groups.  They all did a great job with the somewhat confusing gadget.

Field trip to Voyageur
Using a GPS at Voyageur

The other group at Voyageur learned about the Firewise Program from Dick Parker. He’s an amazing volunteer in our community who helps us with Mush for a Cure, is the church treasurer, is an active Firearm Safety Instructor and Snowmobile Safety Instructor and volunteers on several boards including a volunteer fire department. The guy is simply amazing!  He taught the kids about how to protect a structure from a wildfire. They visited the neighbors house and evaluated how likely his house would be to burn down in the event of a catastrophic wildfire.

Firewise Program
Learning about structure protection

When the groups were finished at Voyageur we walked to the public landing for some canoe instruction.  Then the kids loaded the canoes and paddled over to Chik-Wauk Museum for another two sessions of learning.  They went hiking, explored the museum and enjoyed their short paddle on the beautiful, calm lake.

Paddling a canoe
Learning how to canoe

Thanks to Mother Nature the temperature was in the 70’s, the sun was shining brightly and Josh’s class had a great field trip to Voyageur!

Enjoying Saganaga
Paddling past Chik-Wauk