Waspnado!
July 29, 2015 10:48 am Leave your thoughts
This past week has been quite chaotic. Being tasked with road, bridge and culvert inspections presented two major challenges; uncooperative weather and altercations with insects.
By uncooperative weather I mean that one day we got absolutely drenched and had to use the quad exhaust pipes to keep our hands warm. In the same week it was hot enough to go for a dip in the Willow River (see photos and video). Due to the very dry summer we are experiencing here in Slave Lake, the next challenge that presented itself twice this week was wasps. Our first wasp encounter occurred while laying out a creek buffer, my partner Kc and I both received two stings and our other partner, James put his arm through a red ant nest while scaling a creekbank. Later on in the week was our next battle with wasps. This time it was much more traumatizing for the crew. While marching in single file laying out road down an old cutline, we stopped for a brief moment to discuss something and much to our surprise Kc was conveniently standing in a wasp nest. This discussion was quickly interrupted by a squadron of pissed off wasps who harassed Kc pretty good. In the face of danger her selfless action to warn James and I earned her the outmost respect, but a cruel punishment while retreating from the battlefield, awarding her nine confirmed wasp stings. The three of us scattered in a very unorganized and panicked fashion. Communication over our radios at the time sounded like a massacre. Upon reflection Waspnado was quite hilarious if not character building.
Otherwise this week has been a blast, lots of highway driving and averaging about 120 km per week on the ATV’s, complete with all kinds of obstacles which means a lot of winching. From our bridge and culvert inspections we have developed keen eyesight for erosion and because of this a greater appreciation for wingwalls.
Unfortunately I lost a pair of rain pants off the back of my quad, so I’m down $90 but the replacement pair look sick so I’m over it.
Other memorable moments include copping a free large pizza from Domino’s since they messed up my order, which meant pizza in my lunch for the week. And last but not least, the abundance of wild berries in the bush right now made for a good feed of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and saskatoons if you’re looking hard enough.
