University of Wisconsin - Extension

This summer seventeen Elderhostel participants, lead by the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center's UW-Extension environmental educators Cathy Techtmann. Kathleen Morgen and Elizabeth Post, experienced Lake Superior through a potpourri of perspectives.

With a program focus on the history of fur trade, the group went back in time to 1793. As new recruits, they paddled the Center's 34-foot voyageur canoe and learned lessons about the sustainability of Lake Superior's resources from UW-Extension staff playing the roles of "real" voyageurs.

On the water experiences continued with guided explorations into Lake Superior's Fish Creek Estuary, in safe, double seater kayaks, to discover how past and present land use changes are affecting this coastal wetland.

The group's growing knowledge about the importance of Lake Superior's plant communities was put into hand's on use, as they learned how to make natural fiber baskets from local plants. They even captured some of Lake Superior's unique beauty to bring home with their memories of Elderhostel Week through basic photography training.

The week-long Eldershostel program was a new partnership with UW-Superior and the Center's UW-Extension office. Dates are already set for a repeat performance and paddle in 2002.