I'd take more photos like this one, but it's really not fun carrying the camera up to the top of a piece like this, when every ounce in your back bags makes a difference.
Brand new boots, Black Tusks from Viking. Pretty hard on my feet for the first couple shifts, although they were really comfortable once I finally got them worn in. They wouldn't have been as hard on my feet if the blocks were flat.
Heart-rot.
Guy, getting ready to go over the hill.
One of the heli-loggers. What a crew. They set up their chain sharpener machine on the balcony of the motel, so they could sharpen their chains quickly every night.
Sun coming over the hill around 9am.
A nice view.
Today's piece doesn't look too steep.
Birds everywhere.
Port Hardy.
We had to plant a piece on that block in the background. Fairly heinous.
Nina, having a snack while she waits for me to bag up.
Cones.
The fire got away when they were burning the piles here.
Western Hemlock, maybe four years old?
This doesn't speak good things about the piece.
The shovel (a full-size shovel) shows the relative size of the stump.
The view to the right of my piece one morning.
And the view to the left, from the same spot as the previous photo.
Mature bald eagle. These things are as common as crows in some areas.
The views in the morning can be pretty spectacular.
Overlooking log booms up the inlet above Port Alice.
The Cluxewe area.
Moderately steep ground.
Looks good from here.
Port Alice at low tide, looking up towards the industrial park. Except that almost the whole town is an industrial park.
Another nice early-morning view.
Double-checking the math on tallies for the day.
Getting ready to head into a piece.
My truck on this particular contract.
More brush cones.
Rene, pointing at his house somewhere down in Courtney or Comox.
Juvenile balsam.
The mill above Port Alice.
Another photo from the top of a steep piece.
Sometimes, getting up into your piece is one of the hardest parts of the day.
Low tide in Port Alice.
Gorgeous view.
Early morning, in my piece.
This block was planted several years ago. Looks like they didn't quite make it to the top.
Typical fresh block.
Sun in my eyes.
Teresa.
Young yellow cedar.
Here come the clouds.
I have no idea where this was.
Near Campbell River.
Catching dinner? No, this was some sort of hatchery activity.
Juvenile Douglas Fir.
That main island that you can see is Denman. Hornby is just past it on the right (southeast) side of the photo. This was taken from a block somewhere in Cumberland.
A falling wedge on the block. The loggers leave a lot of crazy stuff behind. We find wedges all the time. And containers. And chains. And even the occasional old chain saw.
Cedar.
Block boundary flagging.
An island of trees rising out of the mist.
Boats in the Port Alice marina.
My piece, medium difficulty.
One of our blocks.
Feels like we're almost on top of the world.
Impact's office.
An old stump.
Strange lighting in mid-morning, as the clouds are about to envelope us.
A slash pile.
Yet another amazing early-morning view.
Boots are still holding up decently at the end of the fall, after five or six weeks of planting.