Carmanah, chainsaws, clearcuts

Today I will be taking the ferry from Vancouver Island to Vancouver to start tree planting on the fourth. Ready? Not too sure but it doesn't matter so much now.

While on the island I took a trip up to Tahsis which is a tiny logging town, up island, off the beaten path. Drove eighty some kilometers on really rough logging roads. On Saturday I went to see the largest/tallest (not quite sure) red cedar in Canada, the Carmanah. That third picture hardly does the tree justice. My guess is that it is thirteen feet wide. It's a thousand years old and it's branches are the size of the average southern Ontario tree.

I've also learned how to use a chainsaw and with my new ability helped to clear a logging road of brush for friends who have a salvage claim. I saw a tree faller fall old growth cyrpus, fir and cedar. Stood watching fifty foot tall trees come crashing to the ground, only to see the fluorescent helmet of the faller run along his exit path. He carried a twenty five pound chainsaw like it was a kitchen utensil, working non stop only to sit and take a gulp of water and have a smoke. Once he said "it'd be a crime to leave a beauty like that standing" about a tree on the border of the claim, and I was reminded that this man had the mindset of a true logger. Mind you the trees that were not 'harvested' by these guys for their small scale sawmill were going to be clear cut in a large scale operation in the coming months regardless.

I made sushi for the first time, enjoyed the last steak from Georgina (a cow I helped slaughter when I was last at the farm), and went to the local pub for what really are the best wings.

I've posted a few pictures. Now I need to pack, clean, and get ready for another season (though it will be short) of planting. Once again I'm living out of a suitcase and I love it. My knowledge of island geography has increased substantially since being here. Navigating through logging roads helps with that I'd say.

Well I should be off. I've got lots to do before heading to the ferry and as of now, I've started hardly any of it.