The field trip to Grouse Mountain was PHENOMENAL despite the constant downpour of rain throughout the day!  (Many kudos to our stalwart parents and volunteers who braved the wet weather!)

After a long bus ride we arrived at the Grouse Mountain Tram.  It was exciting to all squash into the Skyride tram and head up to the Alpine Station. We could feel the swaying, bumps, and shakes as we headed up the Mountain, but it was so rainy and foggy that we couldn’t actually see how high we were!  Our morning was spent in an authentic Pacific Northwest Coast Longhouse, where we both watched and participated in, the educational Hiwus Presentation (First Nations Cultural Experience) led by an elder of the Squamish Nation. We learned about the ancient customs, legends, dances and rich history of our First nation people. We listened to singing and drumming, and got to do our own “Raven Dance”!

During the lunch hour we watched the Lumberjack Show.  The Lumberjacks didn’t worry too much about falling in the water for the log rolling competition, because they were already soaking wet!  They were really funny! Fortunately, after the show we were able to eat our lunches inside where it was dry and warm.

The afternoon was spent learning about the similarities and differences between the three species of North American bears.  The videos were wonderful!  Then we got to explore different tables of artifacts.  We had to sort out skulls, claws, and footprints to match them up with the correct animal.  All the parents were put to work at the tables, so we didn’t get any photos… too bad!  We also got to see the orphaned Grizzly bears as they wandered through their enclosure.  Wow, they were SO BIG!

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What was YOUR favourite part of the day?