The day after the Grade 4, 5 and 6 students descended upon Gatineau Park, it was the Grade 7 and 8's turns.  Following the same routine and trails, we hiked through Mackenzie King Estate through some of the interesting ruins where we discovered the different buildings in Ottawa that they were salvaged from.  From there, we hiked the Waterfall Trail, exploring the streams along the way (drinking from it using Ms. Reyburn's water filter), snacked beside the waterfall and had very professional photos taken by Lareine and Simon at the bottom of the trail.  Following our stop there, we hiked through the woods to the lookout at the top of the Lauriault Trail where we stopped again for a snack and water break before descending the other side and heading to Mulvahill Lake.

No creatures made themselves known to us (except for some snails) but we discovered so many interesting things along the shore of the lake: particularly wild mint and thyme growing abundantly.  Students quickly collected some mint and thyme to take home for tea and homemade zaatar.  We spent as much time at the lakeside as we could before hiking back to the bus and returning back to school.  

The Gatineau Park trips are always a welcome day out on the land for our students and staff.  We never know what we will discover and the learning is always rich!  We are so lucky that Gatineau Park is only 20 minutes away from York Street.