It's Alllllright...!

This is the view from block BK4B, just past the head of Baker Inlet. The water on the right is Alvin Lake...it was so beautiful!

The shift was a lot longer than expected so I was a very dirty girl with only a t-shirt, two pairs of underwear, and a pair of pants. Gross. Five days of wearing the same clothes and not showering won me the stinky girl contest and earned me a lot of comments on my hair.

First, I want to try and explain what my job is before I go any further, so here's what I wrote to Aisha, and hopefully it expliques things a little bit more!:

"so, in bc, there's a pretty comprehensive system of checks and balances between the government and logging companies/private contractors. a lot of the land in the province is diviied up into forest licenses, which many of the big name logging companies own (or lease may be a better word)...i.e. west fraser mills, weyerhaeuser, etc. each time that a company logs the land on their license they make a contract with the government to reforest the area to specific standards. it's my job to go in there and collect data to see if they're meeting and/or beating these standards. so, i go in and walk the land in a grid-style (to cover it equally and randomly) and take sample plots, usually every 100 metres or so. these plots are 50 metre squared circles and i tally up how many trees there are in them, what kinds, what the plants are like in and around this circle, forest health/pest issues, etc. and from there, we compile all of the plots on the land and do a few statistics on them to see if they meet the standards layed out in the logging company's contract with the government. and, if they don't meet the standards, then we 'prescribe' treatments for the land (i.e. you need to plant more trees, you need to clear away brush from the trees, etc.) trying to make them meet these standards. these standards also have timelines attached to them, so one of the big surveys that we do is called a free-growing survey. this is when we survey the land, throwing plots, when the area is a certain age post-logging. if the area meets the standards for 'free-growing' set out in the contract, then the company that logged the land is no longer financially responsible for it, and it reverts back to the crown for management. another aspect of my job, usually only in the springtime, is to do quality checks ("pay plots") on any tree-planting happening on ground for the companies that my company works for. that is what have been doing for the past week :)"

So, what was I doing in Baker Inlet? -you may ask, well, I was doing pay plots which are plots that I throw to collect information on the planting quality to determine the rate of pay for the planting contractor (i.e. if they're good then they get 100% pay; or, their suckiness correlates to a reduction in pay or a need for re-work of the areas planted). There's a bit of a supervisory role, too, in that I'm the representative of the company that logged the area, but most of that role was fulfilled by the guy who started this planting contract and I was just there to throw plots and clean things up, so-to-speak. Hope that makes sense.

I flew into Baker from Prince Rupert on Monday afternoon and had a great flight in. It was just me and the pilot in the Beaver, so that was fun. Just outside of Prince Rupert, near the mouth of the Skeena River, there's a big sand bar and when we flew over it the sand was exposed and a '?' of seals (what do you call a group of seals?! a flock? a pod?!) were sunning themselves--so, we buzzed the seals and they hi-tailed it for the water, it was pretty cool! Those little guys can move really quickly. There were even fuzzy baby white seals there as well.

Once I arrived at the floating barge camp (see photo at right) I got to hang out there for a few hours before every one returned back from work. I got to listen in on some crude conversations and get used to the fact that Maxim magazine is a staple in the bathroom... and yeah. Welcome to the faller's camp. Looks pretty nice eh? The little aluminium skiff in the foreground is what we used to get back and forth from the barge to shore (we were tenting on the shore but eating in the camp). Personally, I preferred hanging out with the planters in our camp rather than cramping their style on the barge. In the world of forestry there seems to be a very distinct hierarchy in place and treeplanters are at the very bottom of it all. And, because I was hanging out with them, I got lumped into that category. The guys that were staying in this camp were fallers: there job is to cut down the trees. Since this is a heli-logging 'show', the next guys to come in, once the fallers are done, are the riggers. Those are the guys that hook up the logs with choker cables which then get hooked up to the ginormous helicopter that is used to remove the logs from the block that was harvested, to put the logs of the barge. Once the barge is full, it starts its journey to a mill of some sorts (in Canada or the States). If you ever get a chance to see the heli-logging in action, take a moment to oggle at the skill required to get the logs off the block on to the barge: the pilots use the principal of a pendulum to land these brutally massive hunks of wood perfectly on the barge. There's also a person or two on the barge, moving logs around...I would not want that job...can you imagine if anything went wrong?!!! Yikes.

The planters that I was working with were great. If anyone's ever looking for a job with a pretty solid company, call Justin (below) at Little Trees (in Terrace, BC). They're all good-natured and alcoholic, as well as loads of fun and hard-workers! I was laughing pretty much non-stop after the first day of new-person awkwardness. The tree prices were good, too: $0.32/tree.

There was a bit of down-time for me, as the 'checker', so I put on the planting bags at one point and planted some trees. Lo-and-behold, it's a lot like riding a bicycle, as one of the planters pointed out: you never forget how. In fact, I found it easier than before. Go figure. That's my hand after putting 1,000 trees in the ground. I didn't have any gloves...! The only bummer is that I can't get paid for any of the work because that would be a slight conflict of interest!!!

I love helicopters. I didn't get to fly in one this shift, but I did get to sling some trees! Oh boy. To the right are four slings full of boxes of trees at the head of Baker Inlet. The helicopter comes in with its long line hanging a ways below the body of the chopper. At the end of the long line there's a thing called a carousel: the carousel has little slots where you can attach the sling. The helicopter then gains elevation and pulls the sling into the air and flies it to the block where the trees are to be planted, at which point the sling gets dropped in a particular spot. This is all done for heli-access blocks where there is no road available to truck in trees.

As a side note, our helicopter pilot was an ex-army pilot who has undergone a sex change. You can only imagine how this gets played with in a camp full of loggers. "S'him". "2-0-switch pilot" (the helicopter is a Bell-206...and 'switch' and 'six' sound interchangeable on the radio). "It". So not cool. She's got guts, man, working in this environment. Maybe it's better than the army...yeesh.

Other fun stories from the shift...well, I was supposed to leave at lots of different times so that became a bit of a running joke! First, I was scheduled to fly out on Wednesday afternoon, then my boss realised that the flight should have been for Thursday (because I had a first aid course to recert on Friday and Sunday). But then my plane didn't show up. Hmph. So, I got to put my sopping wet tent back up and stay until the end of the contract. We finished on Saturday and boated out in the sun, wind, and pea-soup fog. Almost ran into an island at one point but thankfully our trusty driver saved the day! It was kind of creepy being in a boat in fog where you couldn't see anything. Occasionally islands would mist in and out of view, looking more like paintings than real islands with real trees.

Well, I think that's all for my adventures right now. Perhaps I'll tackle the weeks jokes and folks in another post! -L.

Jelly Legs and Bruises

The first shift of work has flown by and, all-in-all, twas a success.

My new co-worker, Hannah, and I were working close to Kitimat, BC in pretty coastal terrain and it was beautiful. The weather was amazingly hot and sunny for the first two days and then we were blessed with some manic weather systems that never got too extreme for comfort: just the right amount of sun, wind, clouds, and sprinkles of rain.

The last block we worked on yesterday was so close to the ocean that we could smell it. Mmm. I miss that smell and always associate it with walking off the plane in Vancouver now.

I think that my body has survived the shift in part due to the fact that I got to sleep at a motel and watch satellite TV every night. Plus the dinner from Haryana's (the best Indian restaurant in Canada, in Terrace, BC) on the first night of the shift energised me for the next few days (but I don't recommend leftovers for lunch because they make for some hefty burps whilst climbing up hills...!).

Jasper is getting in shape (as am I). He had a great day yesterday and is doing fine today (that's the real test, to see if he makes it stiff-free the next day!). Anyway, I'm happy that he's getting back into the swing of things because I was feeling guilty having brought him out here and leaving Des dogless... :(

This is where I'm going this week: Baker Inlet, it's located on the mainland, south of Prince Rupert across from Pitt Island and the Grenville Channel (have fun on googlemaps!). Hopefully there won't be snow! I'm going to be doing pay plots on the planting that's been happening there for the past little while--just finishing up the contract that someone else started. I fly in on Monday afternoon and come out Wednesday. This means that I get to go to Prince Rupert which means that I get to go to Cowpuccino's, the best cafe in the west! The coffee's not A+, but it's good and fancy, it's their baked goodies that are to die for. And the atmosphere. I really like the atmosphere. If I have time on the way back I'm going to get some sushi for the drive home, too, from the best sushi place that I've ever been to. Food for thoughts during the week!

Have a beer for me at Copa and cheer for Oil.

Cross-Provincial Tangents

Alrighty. I have arrived. (Don't take that too literally.) I was just blessed with two fantastic days of pure sunshine and calm weather. The drive from Calgary to Jasper was spectacular (although, admitedly, the once section I did encounter overcast skies was for the most part of the Jasper-Banff Highway...which wrecked photo ops, as did my lack of forsight in purchasing a roll or two of film in advance...sorry!). It was probably one of my better trips up north, truth be told, except for the last hour and a half into Prince George last night (more later).

Road trips are a good time for thinking and wandering through thoughts of the past year, thinking about the one you love, friends, your crazy family, and now trying to incorporate all that into this blog has become my new task for this drive! Unfortunately, somehow I've forgotten most of the clever things I wanted to say and I'm feeling at a bit of a loss for words at the moment, so perhaps I'll start with my usual count of how many, and what, animals I saw along the way.

Oh, but first, the construction! The highway in the National Park from Canmore to Lake Louise is undergoing a mega facelift. Oi! I advise anyone who's thinking of driving across the country this summer to take either the southern route through Fernie, Cranbrook, etc. or the northern route (the Yellowhead, Highway 16) because the #1 is going to be a nightmare this summer: aka superhighway creation time. (All done in a sensitive manner for the following reasons?!:)

The National Parks were littered with mountain goats and sheep, and a few elk. Very exciting. The sheep were molting (is that what you call it for sheep, or is molting only for ducks?!) so you could see their old fur on top, and the newer, shorter summer-weight coat underneath (yeesh, I sound a bit like a Patagonia ad). It was cool to witness the dramatic change that they undergo...and I thought Jasper shed a lot of fur!!!

When I arrived in Jasper, Jasper and I went for a meander and hit up the best cafe in town: the Bear's Paw Cafe (I believe that's what it's called!). Mmm. We grabbed a latte and sanger for the road (I say we because Jasper partook in the sandwich ceremony!)...and a rice krispie square :)

The next hour or so was in Mount Robson Provincial Park and then in the Headwater's Forest District. MRPP is beautiful especially at this time of year when traffic is at a low-point. The forests are really lush and green, and the mountains just reach straight out up from them. It looks like prime hiking ground there.

The area around Prince George is my most detested section of the journey. This time it was made even worse by some shitty planning and a good stubborn attitude. Never drive west in the springtime between 19-21h. Not only are there normally deer all over the roadsides at this time of day, but if you're driving west you can't see them, nor can you hardly see the road for the most part! Thank goodness for passing lanes. Driving tip: Ignore the "stay right except for passing" sign and motor your ass into the middle lane and stay there: this gives you a good lane on either side of you to deek unpredictably moving natural objects. Always be prepared. If only I wasn't so adament on scamming the cheapest bed in town (they had a check-in deadline of 22h...) and then perhaps I wouldn't have engaged in a suicide drive for a good 1 1/2 hours or so. At least there was no one else on the road (that I could see!) so I don't have to feel (too) guilty about endangering others...

So, my wonderful accomadations for last night were at the University of Northern British Columbia. Wonderful. $16.50 with your trusty student i.d. I can't think of any other post-secondary institution where you see a moose sign under the speed limit while driving up to the school's perch, on top of a hill. Nor have I ever encounted a sign on the residence dormitory saying: "Beware of black bear mother and cub spotted on campus". Unique is the only word that I can think of to describe this.

My second favourite part of this drive (after the Calgary to McBride stretch) is the jaunt from Houston to Smithers. This is when the 'real' mountains reemerge with their snowy peaks poking out of the rolling pasteur- and woodlands. Once I can spot the ski hill on Hudson Bay Mountain (the one that presides over Smithers), I know that I'm almost done the drive. The valley here is wide and fertile but well defined by the mountains, much like the area around Dunster and McBride is--but different! (You'll have to see for yourselves!)

It's nice to be here. I miss folks, especially Des, and our home, but I don't miss Montreal just yet. It's nice to be out west. The day-to-day has a different flavour for the meantime. I'm sure that soon (as of tomorrow evening!!!) it'll be consumed with work (but that's great!) so the day-to-day will be even different. But it's all good.

I've got a digital camera at my disposal once more so I'll keep you visually posted from now on. And, I'll add some more verbal nonsense when I'm feeling a little more on the ball. -L.

Oh Calgary...Yee-Haw

After a whopping 48 hours in Calgary I am ready to judge, and be judged in return if my comments do require it!

The rumours are true folks; the Globe & Mail and my beloved CBC were not lying: Calgary is BOOMing. Period. As Meghan so poignantly put it at breakfast this morning in lovely Marda Loop, "It feels like California". Think of every stereotype encountered in magazines and movies that you have of the big C and apply it to Cowtown, sans palm trees and convertibles. I can now understand why there has been a 'shortage' of construction materials and labourers: EVERYbody is renovating. It's unreal. Seriously.

Surprise surprise, I spent all afternoon in a car yesterday which was extremely bizarre after being so privileged as to be able to walk everywhere in a decent period of time in Montreal. The car was fun to drive, the tunes were good, singing was fun, but I had to sit in traffic and lights and...it was just so different than the past while in Montreal. Something else that was so different from Montreal is that while sitting in traffic, stopped at the lights on a sunny day, windows down, what do you here? Country music. Ah. Sweet crooning about beer and lost romances. Calgary.

It's weird. After having lived in Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Smithers, I always felt like Calgary was a place where I could return to (whether I like it or not) if I ever felt the urge to hunker down and work and buy a house. Vancouver was too expensive. My french is lacking for Montreal and jobs appear scarce there. Smithers is too far from a major centre...but lovely. But Calgary, Calgary seemed affordable, etc. My fallback city has been nixed, I think. House pricing is off the charts (on my mum's street the average housing/lot price is over $1,000,000 for sure, with an undeveloped lot behind her that looks out onto a bunch of bushes, aka "just like a country lane", that is up for close to $3,000,000 including the planned house to be built on it...no view...no waterfront...just a "cute country lane"...woah). I don't think you can buy a house in Calgary for less than $200,000 now. I suppose that's on par with Montreal, but considering how low it was just a few years ago, these ginormous leaps in price are hard to stomach. That and the cost of living on the whole is just so much more. I miss Segal's.

Oh, but then there are the mountains, still gleaming with snowy peaks, so close they look as though you can touch them with your fingertips. This is something that Montreal just don't have!!!

Well, with all that said, the weather has been extremely cooperative since the eve of my arrival with the sunshine shining bright (I can't type the '-ly' that I think is supposed to be on the 'bright' because I'm in Alberty...when in Rome...). Jasper and I have been going for multiple long walks every day with all the stay-at-home moms and their purebred pooches, whom are all very nice, I might add. And, can I just say that I love the bikepaths here. They're so cheesy, but so peaceful. Think Rachel bikepath transplanted along the riverside, with trees and the sound of water, no cars, and people ringing their (mandatory) bells when they want to pass you. It's so...cute! It seems rather gingerbread-y but kind of nice when you wish to escape the spontaneously opening car doors (Anna) and potholes and general chaos that comes with riding on the car-roads. Bike paths are cool when you feel like leaving the daredevil rush of the street behind. The other positive thing about the bikepaths, in Calgary at least, is that they help to create an ecosystem network throughout the city. For example, today I saw fish in the river (trout, I think), two families of goslings (yellow fuzzy-wuzzies), geese, and a pheasant (which was a real surprise). There was also a beaver's house and there were definitely coyotes lurking in the bushes but they tend to only come out at night once the traffic has died down. Entuka, it's all pretty neat, especially considering that what I saw was about a 5 minute drive away from downtown...or maybe a 10-15 minute bikeride would be the better parameter to explain the proximity of wildlife to the hussle and bussle of the oil town.

The following is something that would only happen in Alberta: I was walking Jasper along the back strip (as we like to call it: a bank that's wild and not developed) when he started taking a crap. Lo-and-behold there was an old arthritic labrador there with like owner. With a bag at the ready, the old guy came over to me and told me not to pick 'it' up, "I don't know if they've changed the by-law or not", he said, "but it used to be that you didn't have to pick-up in wild areas like this one. Besides", he added, "you're only replacing what 6,000 buffalo used to leave behind." Then he asked me if I hunted with my lab. I said no, but had my oh-so-cool response ready: "I work in the bush with him". This led me to find out that the old guy had once worked in Banff National Park sampling trees one summer, way back when. It was a great conversation.

What else? Well, owning a car is fun *sarcasm*. Insurance, repairs, and gasoline...oh my. You can fill in the rest of the blanks.

Other fun Calgary tidbits: best Huevos Rancheros I've ever tried in Canada @ the Galaxy Diner, yum & everybody's friendly--it's true!

Cheerio, Lins.

My last day in Montreal (until July!). For all you Montrealers out there, go and find the flowers!!! The hint: Mont Royal. They're beautiful. The white ones are trilliums (the flower of Ontario...how ironic?!). I've only seen one red trillium. Tell me if you find others. Enjoy the summer...and see you soon.

Saveurs of Montreal

Squeezing the last good drops out of Montreal has proved fruitful and refreshing the past week: moving, painting, moving in, eating, eating some more, seeing good art, spending great times with friends. All good.

The trip out west has been postponed a few days thanks to the world of silviculture (motto: hurry up and wait). Although this is mildly frustrating, it's nice to be initiated back into the mantra of this field of work so quickly so as to get used to it and not be disappointed. Hurray for hurry up and wait.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?!) the forecast for the next bit is rain in Montreal which should be conducive to some muddy walks with Jasper Friendly Bear, and some cozy time in our new abode. Maybe the flowers will even begin to grow with the rain? Hopefully.

G'nite.