Alberta Contract

In total we spent about a month and a half in what everyone in camp called the gravel pit. It certainly wasn't the nicest place to camp with gravel mounds everywhere that turned to mud when it rained but I got used to it and everyone didn't have a choice. The prices of the contract were not the greatest but we were given fast land meaning our crew was able to plant a good number of trees. It did take a while to get used to this but after a few shifts and getting some tips from Andre (our crews most experienced planter) I knocked it up a notch planting a lot more trees than the same time last year.

Mosquitoes on some blocks were bad, really bad, swarming me and the crew like crazy. The issue with the bugs is the shitest part about planting, well that and the downtime we have whilst waiting for trees and the stupid walkins into the block where we had to plant. Come to think of it, there really isnt much to like about planting but it pays well and enables me to live my lifestyle, a lifestyle that make people quite envious. 

Part of the contract involved getting helicoptered into the block that needed to be planted; as cool as this sounds the novelty wears off rather quickly; getting taken directly to the block on a few occasions gave me some extra planting time.  We did have some shitty weather where it rained quite a lot meaning damp at best clothing with wet boots, socks and feet which led to trenchfoot as you can see in the picture below. My boots were destroyed one evening because I placed them on the plastic rack above the open heater and over the course of the night someone turned it up too high and the rack melted through and one of my boots landed directly on the heater melting all the seals and making it unrecognizable. Our nights off from camp our crew headed to the closest town, Edson where we generally drank a lot and after a few weeks past we were no longer allowed back in one of the cheaper hotels in town. This is because one of our planters got arrested for being too drunk. During this season Camille and Ben (2 people on our crew) hooked up, as a practical joke and with Ben's permission I took his place in their tent covering myself up with a blanket when camille got back from the shower I waited for her to make herself comfortable in bed before frightening the hell out of her. Her scream was heard across camp – it was too funny – got you good Camille :).    

Heli-show in Alberta

Left to Right, Top to Bottom – Me with my $15 Shredded Wal-Mart rain clothes, JF chillin, Ben stuck in Mud, Babbs (Foreman) Quading through sticky Alberta mud, Andre smoking next to the helicopter fuel tank, Our crew at camp Gravel pit.

Some more people at our camp, McFrankenstein that i was made at 3am on a night off in Edson Alberta for $2.50… it consisted of 3 chicken patties, 3 beef patties, lettuce, tomato, swiss and chedder cheese smothered in BBQ sauce – happy days :), close to the end of the contract where camp was hit by a freak storm pretty much destroying camp but giving us a day off.