Sirup Shack

 McCloud Nature Center is about 25 minutes from our house and we have never been!  I keep hearing about all the cool programs they offer throughout the year.  As we were looking for something to do together last weekend, I saw that their Sirup Shack was open.  Yes, this is how they spelled it!

Our first stop was into the nature center itself.  It was very small and didn't have many things out because they had been serving pancakes all day with fresh maple sirup they had produced.

For the program itself, we first went out to a wooded area behind the nature center where they had a Native American camp set up to demonstrate how maple sirup was harvested.

We got to go in the wigwam.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the snow was melting quickly, but there was still a chill in the air.  Inside the wigwam was significantly warmer.

The educator showed us how the women of the tribe would care for the boiling sirup over the fire.

Then she let Camden take a turn doing what the children would do - cart the 40 gallons of sap it took to produce 1 gallon of syrip from the trees to the fire.  After about 20 seconds, Camden said, "Ah, Mom.  This thing is getting a little heavy."  Exactly!

Next we went to try our hands at actually tapping the tree.  The educator taught us how to determine if a tree was a maple when there are no leaves.  Then Camden got to drill and tap the tree stump.

Afterward we took a little trail to the bridge and creek.

It was so wonderful to be outside and getting fresh air!  As we made our way back to the nature center, we stopped at some of the trees that were along the trail that were tapped and collecting sap for the park to make it's own sirup.

Across from the center was the Sirup Shack.  This has modern sirup making techniques and where they boil their sirup.