Photos
These pictures were taken in July of 2010, in our last camp of the season, near Fox Creek, Alberta.
Leading Sean's crew out to a block.
Kammec, in Whitecourt. The bumper started to rip off the front of my truck after I tried to pull out a stuck reefer. I went to the Whitecourt Auto Mall and they put a bolt into it for free, to help secure it to the truck, and then I went to Kemmec and they did a fifteen-minute weld job for me, also on the house! Both of these places do great work, and I use them whenever possible.
Detaching the water lines from the reservoirs so we could drain the rest of the water at the end of the contract, in preparation for packing up camp.
The Whitecourt Auto Mall.
Greg, explaining progress on a map of the block.
"Pine Cone Malone." The cooks asked everyone to dress up as their favorite superhero one more. We had pretty limited materials to work with in camp, but Allain got fairly creative.
Sunset in camp.
Measuring the caliper of seedlings.
Glenn, dressed up as another superhero. I asked him to tell me who he was dressed as, but he said "no."
Dirty hands at the end of the season. The dirt wears off in a few weeks, especially once all the skin wears off.
It's about to rain really, really hard in about ten minutes.
Ross, from Millar Western, checking out stock after a tree delivery.
Time for an air filter change. The diesels don't really like clogged air filters.
Loading camp into the reefer at the end of the contract.
Early morning camp meeting, last day of the contract.
Scooter, after a bit of a rainstorm.
Sean's crew, handing in tallies at the end of the day.
Our helicopter.
Loading up the Star Destroyer for a garbage run the next morning.
Auditing more seedlings.
This photo doesn't really show anything too interesting, but I was struck by the vivid colors after supper.
My tracks down the road after a rainstorm. Very slick, impossible to drive in a straight line.
Trying to pull the reefer up into camp. The driver cut into the driveway too soon and buried the back wheel in the ditch (out of sight here).
This is what the back wheels looked like before we dug them out.
Freshly cleaned headlight. It's impossible to keep the trucks clean, but it's always smart to wash the headlights and brake lights at every possible opportunity.
This was an odd bundle of pine trees - it had a spruce tree in it.
A view of camp at night. Best cell phone service ever.
The lineup waiting for breakfast to begin on the last day of the season.
Mathilde, helping do a garbage sweep after most of camp has been packed into the reefer.
Sean's crew truck, and a cache that he set up.
Another elevated tree cache, on Greg's block.
Another retarded driver. Actually, I can't completely blame the driver on this one. This accident happened right in front of our camp, on pavement, in daylight. It was the worst paved road that I've ever seen. No potholes, but it's pretty bad when a paved road gives a full "washboard" effect. I had to drive through this section at about 40 km/h to keep from shimmying into the ditch.
Greg's quad and trailer.
The dish pit, after the crew filled it in at the end of the contract. Time to start breaking down the personal tents next.
One of the planters, planting a tree.
Sean's crew, getting ready to start a new block.
A close-up of some "Labrador tea," a tough plant to work through.
Cooling down in the pool after a sweaty bag-up.
Anna, in a field of canola.