| TAMARACK Student Life | |||||
|
Class of 2000 Winter Camp Our first trip of the year was the winter camping trip near Swisha, PQ. It tested our resistance to the elements and our ability to function as a group. It was the first time we had gone for five days without bathing. Everyone slept outside in quinzees on the first night but unfortunately the warm temperatures made it dangerous to sleep outside for the remainder of the week – we stayed in cabins instead. Through out the week we went hiking on snowshoes, learned to use a compass and had our own version of the Winter Olympics. In the evening we dried out around the wood stove, cracked jokes and reflected on the day in our journals. The main focus of the trip was Lake Testing on Lac Pennisault. We drilled holes and gathered samples and data from the lake. We used the water and bottle sampling equipment that we designed and built ourselves. When we returned to camp we did chemical tests on the water samples to determine the nutrient levels of the lake. Later, back in civilization we analyzed the data and wrote a report. The entire winter outing was a success despite the wet weather. With the help of our student teacher Krista Buckley, TAMARACK helper Carl Hoelke and our teacher Mr. Steer, the whole class had a fun and educational trip.
Work Experience @ Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Our TAMARACK class went to AECL March 6-10 for a week of work experience. Pairs of students were placed with a variety of AECL employees to learn about their profession and the work world in general. Some students worked on site in the active area (ie. Fuel Channel Thermalhydrolics) while others helped with environmental studies (ie. ground water and stream flow). We all gained some knowledge about the field we worked in. Thank you to AECL and the people who let us tag along for the week.
Highland Trail May 8 - 12th we hiked the Highland Trail in Algonquin Park. The sky spat rain at us for the first three days and on the first night it absolutely poured. Our spirits remained relatively high even though some people had wet sleeping bags and clothes. As a result of the heavy rain the hiking trail sometimes had a strong resemblance to a creek. We hopped from rock to rock and tight-roped it across logs with the hope of keeping our boots dry. The forest we walked through was beautiful. There were hundreds of trilliums - mostly red and a few white. Brilliant green moss covered every available rock or rotting tree. We hiked through sugar maple, beech and yellow birch. Nearer Provoking Lake there were stands of huge hemlocks. We also saw lots of balsam fir, red and white pine, basswood and spruce along the trail. The weather cleared up for our last two days and on the final evening about half of the class took a quick, cleansing swim.
Forestry Our class biked out to the Petawawa Research Forest on May 17th. One group spent the day clearing out some over-grown cross-country ski trails. Other people did grounds maintenance and painted fencing. We learned a little bit about the local vegetation from the foresters.
Lake Placid, New York Three vans full of TAMARACKers pulled into Algonquin Loj on May 22nd ready for a week in the Adirondacks. We knew the trip was going to be great because we had rock climbing, hiking or mountain biking during the day and showers and toilets to come home to every night. We didn’t dwell too long over the fact that the forecast was for clouds and rain. Instead we unloaded our gear and headed out to conquer Cascade Mountain. For the rest of the week our class was divided into three groups with two adult leaders in each. Everyday each group would do a different activity (biking, hiking or climbing). Collectively we hiked Mount Marcy, Giant Mountain and Algonquin Mountain. One group biked the Olympic cross-country ski trails, another biked that ‘military roads’ and the third group unfortunately had to turn back half way due to the weather. Rock climbing was a new and adrenaline-filled experience for many of us but one group didn’t get a chance to climb because of the rain. In the evenings we would cook and eat supper, talk, play catch with a Nerf football or write in our trip journals. Thursday night we went to Lake Placid for a night on the town - shopping, cheap dinner and a movie (Mission Impossible 2). Everybody had a good time in the Adirondacks and some people are talking about returning in the fall for a weekend.
Temagami Canoe Trip June 4-11 our TAMARACK class went on our final trip of the year- a canoe trip in Temagami. We started at Ferguson Bay and paddled up to Diamond Lake. The water was so clear we could see at least 12 feet down. On our trip we saw a lot of exposed, lichen-covered, sharp rock. The forest was mainly coniferous with many red pine and wind-sculpted white pine. Day 2,3 and 4 had extremely challenging and rocky portages, cramped campsites, beautiful scenery and huge waterfalls. On Day 4 we portaged 4 km crossing over from the Lady Evelyn to Diamond Lake. The next day we paddled down Wakimika to a great campsite on Obabika Lake where we stayed for two nights. We spent our layover day at a sacred native lake where we scrambled all over boulders and then had a two-hour-solo. On Day 7 we paddled down to Obabika Inlet. We had been fortunate to have cool, sunny weather up to this point in the trip but on the last night we had to cancel the campfire because of the wind and rain. In fact there was even a hint of snow in the air. The wind and white caps prevented us from leaving the next day until noon. We finally did arrive at the shore of Ferguson Bay where our parents had been waiting for 6 hours. This canoe trip was character building and really brought the class together as a whole. It was likely the favorite trip of the semester. We owe a lot to the staff who came on this trip even though they consistently took the best campsites every night! Thank you to Mr. Steer, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Ellarma, Mr. Sage, Krista Buckley and Shannon Corrigan.
The TAMARACK Song
We were out for a week at Restall's camp
Chorus
We were hiking along the Highland Terrain
Chorus The Adirondacks is an awesome place
Chorus Paddling up north in Temagami
Chorus |
|||||
|
|||||