BC Forest Service: Driving Around In Trucks

 Above is a painting I did of an old Forestry truck that I owned after it was sold.

       I sometimes question my masculinity.  I am not what is often thought of as a typical male.  I have absolutely no interest in sports, and I am not a motor-head.  I am not interested in loud powerful engines or going fast in vehicles.  All that being said, I must say that one of the things I really enjoyed during my 23 years of working at the BC Forest Service (or the Ministry of Forests, as it was later rebranded) was being able to explore the Robson Valley by driving around in trucks.

        Our district was huge, as big as the country of Belize.  It was made up of mountains and valleys.  Highway 16 went through one valley east and west, and Highway 5 went through another valley north and south.  The rest of the area could only be accessed through a few secondary roads, some well maintained “Forest Service Roads” and a lot of very poor logging roads.

        The jobs I often had to do were varied.  I had to sometimes go out to pristine areas that were slated for logging to do timber cruises.  I had to get fire fighting equipment to fires, ferry barrels of jet fuel for helicopters, take boxes of baby trees to tree planters, and to visit isolated side valleys to determine what kind timber types were growing there.

        Sometimes the remoteness of the places I had to go to meant that a helicopter, ATV, or snowmobile had to be used, but most often it meant driving a big 4 wheel drive forestry truck.  I really enjoyed slowly bouncing along unexplored roads, not knowing what lay behind the next bend.  

        Of course, driving in the trucks was just a means of getting where we had to go.  Once there, things often became much more physical.  Tromping up mountains, and spending the day, fighting our way through the Devils Club (a nasty spiky plant), fighting mosquitoes, or snowshoeing through heavy snow.

        What a glorious thing it was to finally return back to the truck after a hard day in the bush, and to be able to finally sit down again.  It was always a welcome reward at the end of an exhausting day, even if it still meant  a half an hour of bouncing along a logging road, then another hour’s worth of driving on a highway before I finally got back to the office.

        Because the Forest Service used to hire on a lot of extra people over the summer, it meant that we needed extra trucks for them to use.  One of the things I always looked forward in the spring, was being part of the crew that was driven up to Prince George, to pick up the brand new rental trucks, and driving them back to McBride.

        Not only was it enjoyable to drive a brand spanking-new truck, the trip always gave us some “city” time, and since we had a truck, we often took advantage of the situation by purchasing items that we couldn’t carry in our own personal vehicles.  I bought a rototiller once and hauled it home, and another time bought a fruit tree that wouldn’t have fit in my car.

        I will always have fond memories of those forestry trucks.  They were not only a means of exploration and adventure, but also a sign that a hard exhausting day was finally over.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Seeing Green

     The winter after our first summer living in the Robson Valley, I got out some of the slides I had taken over the summer.  I was surprised when I started looking at them:  Everything was so lush and green.  It looked like something you would see in the jungle.  I later learned that our area is classified as an  Interior Temperate Rain Forest.

    After our long winters and things warm up, the plants know their growing season is rather short, so they get down to rapidly growing, and explode into foliage.

    I took the photo above looking down from the balcony to the small pool I have beside our “shade” deck.   The plants have been busy elbowing each other out of the way, trying to get as much sun as they can, for themselves.

    Below you can see the view looking out from the balcony.  You can see that there are areas where I have forced my will onto the landscape, in a desire to have some “jungle-free” space that can be used for other things.   Even though those areas have been cleared, I think you would agree that there is still a predominance of green.  Can you spot the pool featured in the top photo, in the lower left corner of the photo below.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

A Pine Martin In My Bedroom

     I have been blogging about my first experiences seeing a Pine Martin in 2013.  Today’s blog is the exciting finale to the story:

        As you can no doubt tell, the photo above is fake.  It is a poor composite I constructed in Photoshop, but it does pretty much show what I saw this morning at 4:45, when I raised my head off of my pillow to see what all the commotion was.

        I was asleep and I heard some scratching noises.  I assumed it was the baby squirrels (I had discovered they had a nest up under the eaves of our house.  I figured they were venturing around up in the ceiling.  

        Since there was nothing I could do about it, I tried to go back to sleep.  Then I was roused by our cat, who was jumping around by the window, and knocking off papers and books that were sitting on the short filing cabinet below the window.  

        I raised my head off of the pillow once again to yell at the cat, who seemed mighty interested in the curtain, or what was behind it.  Surely, I thought, those baby squirrels hadn’t gotten in through the window.  At that point, a head peaked out from behind the curtain--it was the marten we had been seeing around the house.

        I usually have the window shut overnight, because when it is open, the train whistle that originates across the river and valley, over a mile away, sounds like it is coming from just outside our house.  Over the last few nights, despite the train whistle, I left the window open, because it has been so warm.

        We do have a screen on the window, but it is held by some slots, and the marten managed to slide it out of the slot and squeeze through the crack on the loose side.  Now, it was hiding behind the curtain, and Lucifer, our cat was stalking it, even thought it was a lot bigger than she was.

        I jumped out of bed, my mind racing through all the possible solutions of how to get the marten out of the house.  The marten, who by this time was feeling outnumbered, to his credit was trying to get back outside, but couldn’t get the window screen open.

       The cat jumped, and the marten responded by leaping down to my guitar case, then the floor and finally behind a dresser.  Lucifer followed, and as the marten vocalized various hissing and growling moans at the cat, I tried disparately to get the screen out of the window, so that if the marten got back on the windowsill, it could escape back outside.

        I yelled at the cat to get away from the marten, and finally got her out of the bedroom, at the same time I opened the door to our balcony, thinking maybe I could get the marten to go out that way.

        In the end that’s what happened.  Once the cat was gone, the marten came out from behind the dresser, and I herded it out into my office, and seeing the open door, it scampered out to the balcony, and I closed the door behind it.

        Needless to say, it was a while before, I calmed down enough to go back to sleep.  Life in the frontier is not always as relaxing and stress-free as urban dwellers often think.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

The Pine Martin Gets Closer

     A couple of days ago I blogged about seeing my first Pine Martin in 2013.  Well, that wasn’t really the end of my martin story.   A couple of weeks later, I had another blog about the martin:

          Some of the critters we have around here are sure publicity hungry.  On May 23, I wrote about spotting my first marten along our trail.  I took its photo and posted it on on my blog.  They are rather secretive creatures that you don’t normally see.  It wasn’t even in the type of forest where they usually live.  

            I suspect this one got hooked on the international publicity, because the other day, it had scampered  out of the woods, and was running around on the branches of the birch tree that sits 10 feet (3 m.) from our house.  I assumed it was interested in getting its picture taken again, so I obliged it.

Take look at my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

At The Whistlestop Gallery

     McBride is known as sort of an “Artist Town” because of the many talented artists that live in the area.  The McBride Train Station features The Whistlestop Gallery, where many of the paintings and other works of the local artisans are on sale.

    On Wednesday, a film crew from a Prince George television station traveled to McBride to film a piece about McBride and the Whistlestop Gallery.  I was asked to show up as one of the contributing artists to be interviewed.

    While one of the Whistlestop officials was being interviewed, I was standing out in the lobby awaiting my turn.  As I stood there, a tourist couple came in and were looking at some of the brochures on display.  Being a friendly local resident, I asked the lady tourist where they had come from.

    She replied that they lived on Vancouver Island.  She then told me that they had driven up to the university in Prince George to visit their daughter.  She added that now they were on their way to Clearwater, to see a friend who lived there.

    Then she said that long ago she had a high school teacher in Victoria who had inspired her to pursue an education in biology, who she thought had later moved to McBride.  

    I asked her what was his name, thinking I might know him.

    “Mr. Foster” was her reply.

    “Mr. Foster?” I surprisingly remarked,  “He was my next door neighbor for 35 years.”

    Then it was her time to be surprised, and we talked about the Fosters, who had just recently moved down to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

    The incident shows what a small world it is, especially for people who live in a very small community.

    My interview with the TV presenter, must have went okay, because I later learned that after I had left, he bought the print of my painting of Mt. Robson, I was holding up, as I explained my painting technique of painting just one two inch square every day.

    I also learned that the woman tourist who I was talking to, bought one of my art cards.

You can see my other paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Seeing My First Pine Martin

         The following is from a blog I posted in May of 2013.  It was after a day when I saw an unusual number of wild critters.

        Yesterday, was another one of those rare days, when all sorts of wildlife were out galavanting around in the woods.  I blogged about the black bear we saw on our morning walk, and when we started out on our afternoon walk, we were wary of coming across the bear again, so I thought I would make some noise as we walked so it could hear us coming.

        Usually the late afternoon walk, I take some oats and corn along to scatter where the trail runs beside our pond, to feed the ducks (and inadvertently) the deer.  After I had emptied the plastic jar of the oats and corn, I just drummed on it’s bottom and whistled a happy tune to alert any bear as we continued down our trail. 

        Shortly upon entering the woods, I saw some commotion, and watched as a mother moose, and calf retreated deeper into the bush.  When we got to the field where we had seen the bear, it was empty, but a big hawk or raptor took flight.  When we re-entered the woods at the far field, we scared off a spruce grouse (a chicken-like bird).  

        Like I was saying, I was trying to make noise kept vigil as we walked, and through the high brush I saw movement in a tree.  When I got a clearer view, I could see a dark furry animal, but wasn’t sure what it was.  It was bigger than a cat, and it had a really furry tail.  I took two photos, and when I got home I looked it up in my BC Mammal book.   I decided it was an American Pine Marten.

        Martens are pretty elusive animals.  I have never before seen one in the bush.  They eat voles, insects, squirrels, and have even been know to finish off an apple pie that had been left in a window to cool.

        Seeing a marten, was really a special treat for me.  They are usually only found in deep mature conifer forests.  This one was in a mixed forest mostly aspen, cottonwood, and birch trees, with only a scattering of spruce and balsam.   They are a sign of a healthy mature forest.

        Pine Martins are prized for their fur, and are sought after by trappers.  Hopefully, this one will have a long life in the neighborhood.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Merlin Bird ID App: Early Birds

     Last night at 3:45 AM, I was awaken when my wife fell, on the way to the bathroom.  Still very groggy from being suddenly awaken, I got up to help her.  I helped her get back on her feet, and supported her as she walked to the bathroom, then back to the bedroom.  

    This middle of the night activity, woke and excited Kona, and so I carried her outside so she could pee.  When I got outside, there was already a bit of light in the sky (we have very long days this time of year.)   What really surprised me when I got out there, was the number of birds that were tweeting and singing their songs.

    I am used to hearing this very early morning bird chorus in June, but it is usually during my half-sleep when I was in the bedroom.  Last night was different because all the songs were louder, since I was outside. 

    Instead of just waiting around for Kona to pee, I went upstairs and got my iPhone.  On the phone I have the Merlin Bird ID App, which, when you turn it on, identifies the different bird sounds going on.  I only had the app on for three minutes, and I was very surprised at how many birds were out their singing their hearts out in the early morning.  Above you see the birds the Merlin app recorded.

    I was especially happy to see the American Redstart and the Western Tanager on the list.  They are such beautiful birds that I hadn’t actually seen for a few years.  I am glad that they are still around.  

    Not being a hardcore birder, there are only a few birds that I can identify by their songs.  The Merlin app is wonderful for doing so, for you.  

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca