The Dinsmore Composite School's Grade 7/8 class' bi-annual trip to the Cypress Hills Provincial Park was a great success again this time around.  The class headed out from Dinsmore Monday morning (June 25th) stopping at Swift Current for gas and some DQ.  We arrived at Cypress Hills Provincial Park and set up our tents in the beautiful Loch Lomond area of the park.  That evening we went on a horseback trail ride and went to Lookout Point and Bald Butte where we hiked and got caught in a rainstorm.  The class had supper while waiting for dark so that they could attend the observatory, unfortunately, we were hit by another big rainstorm and were unable to look through the telescope due to cloud cover and lightning.  

Day 2 saw the class up early and heading out to Fort Walsh.  The class looked through the interpretive center with Eston school's grade 6's and then headed down to the Fort.  As the class arrived they were greeted by an RCMP Corporal (in character) and he took them through the Fort as if they were new raw recruits (There may have even been a cannon involved).  The class learned some games from the time period and even did some fur trading.  After lunch, we went on a 6km hike out to the Cypress Hills massacre site and back (An interesting place with a very sad history).  The class headed back to their campsites where they changed and had some fun on some paddleboats before having a late supper.  The rest of the evening was a mix of games and campfire stories.

After a big couple of days, Day 3 had a slow sleepy start, but we all made it to the visitor center to take in the presentation on the Cypress Hills Geology followed by a lesson on Geocaching with GPS units.  The class then headed back to their campsites one last time to pack up, clean up and head out.  They then went to the Great Sand Dunes near Leader where they had fun running and sliding.  We hit The Big 10-4 in Leader for ice cream before finally arriving home Wednesday night.  What a great trip!  A huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Lori Beattie for organizing the trip and to our parent chaperones for accompanying, driving and teaching: Mrs. Joanne Elstad, Mr. Gavin Blackwell, and Mr. Cole Flath.  We couldn't have gone without you.