Photos
These pictures were (mostly) taken in May of 2011, in our first camp of the season, in Vanderhoof, BC.
Snack time. When you look at the size of the deer, and then look at the size of the eagle, you start to realize how big these birds really are. That's a pretty large raven too. This wasn't actually on this contract - it was on the drive through Ontario a few days before the start of the season, but I thought that a lot of planters would appreciate it.
The first wild turkey that I've ever seen. This photo was also taken in Ontario.
The mural at Celtic.
The hot wings are extra fiery at Boston Pizza this afternoon.
Jim, handing out Folklore t-shirts to everyone at the start of the season.
Our first meeting in camp. I like the bleachers.
Those boots rock.
Spruce cones.
Warren from BCTS, talking about soil layers during our field pre-work.
Zach, showing his rookies how to bag up.
It's amazing how much faster trees grow in a burn, due to temperature differences and carbon load. Look closely and you can see the tiny trees that were planted outside the burn. They were planted at the same time as the big ones in the burn.
I don't understand this entirely yet, but the new 2011 Fords have some sort of "diesel exhaust fluid" that needs to be added regularly.
Nicole and Zach.
Doing a Mock Emergency Drill and first aid simulation.
Packaging Mike for transport.
Loading the "victim" into the ETV.
Our block. Uh oh. This could pose a bit of a problem. Luckily, the front half of the block was relatively clear of snow, so in the end, we only lost one day of work to a "snow day." And since it was snow on the ground that was the problem, rather than a snowstorm, we had the unusual circumstance of being outside getting tans on a snow day.
My boot, after walking through the block. I'm not actually sure why I took this photo.
Signs at the entrance to one of the logging roads.
Logging equipment.
A large load of trees, about to be delivered to the back of the block.
Some pretty interesting mold or fungus or something on the ground. I liked the color contrast between the orange and the green. Very Irish.
Paddy.
This was an odd sign. There wasn't really any evidence of a road beside it. They must have done a good job of deactivating it.
A tree planted a year or two ago. This extreme bending is caused by snow press during the winter. After three or four years, the tree should straighten up as it tries to grow toward the sun.
A little bird that came up to hang out a couple feet away from me.
The camp was pretty muddy, so we put a bunch of floorboards down in the mess tent.
Stephane, our head cook.
I believe that our ping pong table was modified somehow to involved alcohol. And I believe that Liam is saying, "You're going down, boy."
Susie, doing a little light reading around the firepit, while we're waiting for snow to melt.
This was a first for me - American White Pelicans.
The ultimate tree planter.
Getting a quick visit from Kent, one of my former checkers. He was driving past our block on the highway and recognized P4, my purple pickup truck.
Kristin, getting some work done.
Taking apart the mess tent at the end of the contract.
Kini, planting a few trees.