Kelley, on her birthday.
This is pure gold - SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY trees in a box, and they are stubby boxes. That's a lot of trees. For years, I've been cursing at nurseries that pack 180 trees (or less) into a box.
Not wanting to buck a trend, Kent decides to get his truck stuck in the middle of the main road, on the way out to the pre-work conference. He was really impressed that he did it in front of about sixty or seventy people, including some planters and supervisors from two of our other camps.
Using a large tarp to keep the sun off our walk-in cooler, so the compressors don't have to work as hard.
A moose.
"Make like a Catholic"
A young pine seedling.
A pretty flower on the block. I couldn't identify it, but Alice wrote in to say that she thinks it is Russet cotton grass. Thanks Alice!
Kent, walking away and smiling about the stock-handling (or lack thereof). This wasn't one of our own trucks - we transport all of our trees in insulated wooden canopies or insulated FIST trucks, to keep the trees cool. I'm not sure which company this was, but they were parked just up ahead of our meeting spot, and I couldn't resist getting a photo. At least the dog in the back provided some shade for the trees.
Unloading gear and trees after we get to the block.
A view from one of our fill blocks.
No, the bed of my truck is not supposed to be detached like this. It came off the truck.
After picking it up and resetting it into place (with the help of several planters), I was able to get back to camp slowly. But by the time I got back, it had shifted off-center again.
This time, I had to fix it on my own. I managed to do so, with the help of two jack-alls. But I took it in for professional welding afterward. Thanks Darren!
Folklore trucks, overwhelming the machines at the laundromat in PG on 15th Avenue.
Now that's how you "dig in" a propane tank, so it can't fall over accidentally.
David, using his tent bag as a mosquito-protection-device.
A deer, wandering through the block, about a hundred feet away.
Shelley, preparing roasts for supper.
Following a logging truck down by the intersection of the Holy Cross and the Kenny Dam Road.
The Kenny Dam itself.
Ellie, bagging up.
Skid marks where one of our trucks went into the ditch. Another example of why you should always wear a seatbelt. Can you imagine if this ditch was twenty feet deep?
Damages to the side of the suburban, after it went into the ditch (above). The door side-swiped a tree and got dented pretty badly. Unfortunately, the bigger damage was underneath: the vehicle drove over a rock which destroyed the drive shaft and damaged the transmission. In the end, the vehicle had to be scrapped.
Sean, bagging up on the overflow block.
Duct tape wrapped around the trailer pin on the quad trailer. This way, when the trailer is being moved from block to block, the pin can't dangle and bounce against the tailgate of the truck that is moving it, which can destroy the paint job on the tailgate. It also minimizes the chance that the chain attaching the pin to the quad will snap, preventing you from losing the trailer pin.
Sunset in camp, early in the contract, before we lost the suburban.