1 Month in Camp
August 17, 2015 2:50 pm Leave your thoughts
I can’t believe I have been in camp for 5 weeks (coming up on the 6th), time is really flying by as I only have 3 weeks left in my summer work term. Life in camp is not bad, I would say the only downside is that there is no escape from the work, however, it is great work experience and a great opportunity for me to gain knowledge in road deactivation.
Work days have been fairly constant between seeding behind the operators and completing deactivation layout as the operators gain ground, the more exciting and interesting days have been when bridges need to be pulled. All hands are on deck when bridges come out as it is a real team effort to ensure everything runs smoothly, It’s pretty fascinating to see it all come together and I have to say the excavators we have onsite are some pretty incredible machines.
Hannah and I are definitely getting more comfortable with our deactivation prescriptions, we are really starting to get a feel for the road system and the natural drainage of the area. Our supervisors have been checking a few of our prescriptions and finding hardly any errors which builds our confidence and makes layout smoother and quicker.
We haven’t had too many encounters with wildlife in our time at Quesnel Lake, it is kind of a relief considering it is prime grizzly country. We did, however, leave a work area due to the fact that there was a mother bear and cubs in the area. We were working on rehabilitating some slopes when we heard a bear tearing up a stump about 60-80 yards up the slope from us, we immediately went to a safe area to assess the situation when a small cub poked its head out from over the slope. We called to our safety supervisor via radio to let him know of the situation and we proceeded to back out of the area slowly and returned to a supply cache down the road where we met our safety supervisor. We briefed him more thoroughly on the situation and he was pleased with how we handled ourselves. One cool encounter I had with wildlife was when we were driving down the forestry road on our way to the reload and saw a lynx on the road, I had never seen a lynx before and thought that it was a pretty interesting animal to see in the wild.
I haven’t been unable to take pictures of the job locations at Quesnel Lake, it’s pretty unfortunate because it is such a beautiful place to see. I don’t take my phone with me into the bush because I have damaged one phone already and don’t want to risk another to take pictures. Hannah has taken a few pictures so hopefully I can get her to send me some for my next blog.
It is surreal to think that my next blog will be my last of the summer, I am looking forward to writing it and reflecting on all of my experiences this summer.