By Melissa Stahl
Lately not many trips have been going out, but starting in February that will all turn around. This is one of the busiest times of the season for Mini-School to send out trips based on winter type activities.
Coming up first—February 2-5 Doug will be taking a group of Mini-Schoolers on the Winter Activities trip. On this trip they will be staying at Doug’s cabin near Grantsburg, Wisconsin. During the trip students will be involved in a variety of outdoor activities, including snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and, if you choose, building a quinzhee.
The next trip leaving (and I hear it’s a favorite) is the Michigan Ski trip. Randy will be taking some students out to Ironwood, Michigan to ski or snowboard. The trip is from February 7-12. This group will be staying in a condo! This sounds like a great trip to me!
Then, early in March, one of Mini-School’s toughest trips will be leaving. This is the winter camping trip. Doug will be taking the students up to the Boundary Waters. When they arrive they will immediately get geared up, then begin hiking to the base camp, where they will spend their nights. They will build quinzhees, which are shelters made from mounds of snow. Quinzhees are used to sleep in, and they keep a person warmer because snow is a better insulator than a tent.
Doug will be leading the students on hikes and will keep them busy with activities like snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and other outdoor activities.
Just like all the trips, students will be learning things you can’t learn by reading a book. They will be learning many outdoor survival skills and they will learn how important knowing them really is.
After the trips I talked about are done, we will have a layoff on trips during March, but no worries, there will many more in April, May, and June. You can find out about them in the next issue of Com-Mini-Cations!