It was a sweet afternoon for volunteer Nancy Lombard, of Moorland.

“I’m going to help make maple syrup,” she said. “You can tell it’s not processed. It’s naturally sweet.”

Her job was to stir the boiling sap and skim off anything that collected on top or fell in. She also got to answer a very common question from visitors.

“How much sap does it take to make the syrup?”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Under the careful supervision of Webster County Conservation Naturalist Karen Hansen, Rowen Lawler, 5, of Fort Dodge, gets to drill a hole for a sap tap Saturday afternoon during the Spring Into Spring event at Camp WaNoKi.

Her ready answer.

“40 gallons of tree sap makes one gallon of syrup,” she said.

Is all that work worth it?

“Oh yeah, for sure,” she said.

Beth Collins, of Fort Dodge, visited with her family and canine family member Nico.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Conner Nagl, 9, of Arcadia, contemplates the flavor of a sample of maple syrup Saturday afternoon during the Spring Into Spring event at Camp WaNoKi.

They enjoy the outdoors.

“This is a perfect day to get outside,” she said. “People should absolutely get out here. It really is a gem.”

Nico the doggo enjoyed all the smells, but he missed out on finding the hidden antler shed.

“Sadly,” Collins said. “He did not find the antler.”

Conner Nagl, 9, of Arcadia, got to sample some of the finished syrup after he hiked with his family with a walking stick he’d just made.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
The Collins family, of Fort Dodge, enjoys a hike through the woods at Camp WaNoKi Saturday during the Webster County Conservation Spring Into Spring event.

“It’s delicious,” he said.

His brother, Hudson Nagl, 7, had a less than stellar experience with the treat.

“I didn’t like it because when I ate it a bug flew into my mouth,” he said.

Rowen Lawler, 5, enjoyed the day with her dad, Shawn Lawler, of Fort Dodge.

“We’re going to try some syrup, we colored a bit and we’re doing a little hike later on,” he said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
A volunteer holds a jar of maple syrup made from tree sap. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

His daughter got to try something new too. She got to drill a hole in a log where Webster County Conservation Naturalist Keren Hansen showed her how to insert a sap tap.

“It was fun,” Rowen Lawler said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Webster County Conservation Naturalist Karen Hansen, at left, and volunteer Gary Lombard, of Moorland, pour out a batch of tree sap being boiled down to make syrup Saturday afternoon during the Spring Into Spring event at Camp WaNoKi.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Nico, and his human, Beth Collins, of Fort Dodge, enjoy a few moments of quiet Saturday afternoon during the Spring Into Spring event at Camp WaNoKi.