Hey, remember me the guy with the a-kicker of a moustache, I’m back! Our new Toaster 6000 sleeping bags are absolute belters. We only needed to use one as a doona and we were smoking even with the stove on low. A quiet morning in the office while Tan did the important stuff like washing and sweeping out the tent. 
My plan was to write up the audit in the afternoon but at times my role as the “pinch hitter” means the plans can change quickly. “Dan. Can you show Derek the holes at Wolf Lake so he can pick them up – the chopper will be here in 15 minutes”. “Tan get your gear, we’re going”. It wasn’t long and Tan, myself and Derek were waiting at the old camp. I gave Tan a few pointers and we adopted the crouch position and were walking underneath the rotating blades of the chopper.
Tan’s first chopper ride! It took a while for her to get the belt on and we were off to Wolf Lake. Getting up in the air, one month after my last flight and the scenery has changed dramatically. The birch has yellow leaves and the tamaracks (a deciduous pine tree) are bright yellow spotted in a blanket of green. The muskeg has taken on an orange-brown colour and the blueberry bushes are now red. It’s hard to believe we are in the same place.
Tan loved the chopper ride and it was good to see Wes again. I called him a “wanker” because that’s what we do. Wes was typically smooth and we barely felt the ground when we landed. We dropped into the central area of Wolf Lake and had to wait 45 minutes for the GPS to reach the base station 14 km away. While Derek and I played with the GPS, Tan went through her chopper induction. These are the nasty parts, stay away from here and get down low and go, go, go. In the interim, we all walked to the bald eagle’s nest. It was all quiet on the eagle front.
Wes had to go for an hour, so we dropped in on the southern area and I was amazed at the rise in the water level here. The semi-dry swamp was now in places up to 20cm deep in water. We starting picking up the collars and sat around while the GPS did it’s thing. 
My plan was to write up the audit in the afternoon but at times my role as the “pinch hitter” means the plans can change quickly. “Dan. Can you show Derek the holes at Wolf Lake so he can pick them up – the chopper will be here in 15 minutes”. “Tan get your gear, we’re going”. It wasn’t long and Tan, myself and Derek were waiting at the old camp. I gave Tan a few pointers and we adopted the crouch position and were walking underneath the rotating blades of the chopper. Tan’s first chopper ride! It took a while for her to get the belt on and we were off to Wolf Lake. Getting up in the air, one month after my last flight and the scenery has changed dramatically. The birch has yellow leaves and the tamaracks (a deciduous pine tree) are bright yellow spotted in a blanket of green. The muskeg has taken on an orange-brown colour and the blueberry bushes are now red. It’s hard to believe we are in the same place.Tan loved the chopper ride and it was good to see Wes again. I called him a “wanker” because that’s what we do. Wes was typically smooth and we barely felt the ground when we landed. We dropped into the central area of Wolf Lake and had to wait 45 minutes for the GPS to reach the base station 14 km away. While Derek and I played with the GPS, Tan went through her chopper induction. These are the nasty parts, stay away from here and get down low and go, go, go. In the interim, we all walked to the bald eagle’s nest. It was all quiet on the eagle front. Wes had to go for an hour, so we dropped in on the southern area and I was amazed at the rise in the water level here. The semi-dry swamp was now in places up to 20cm deep in water. We starting picking up the collars and sat around while the GPS did it’s thing. We saw a squirrel, ate beef jerky and talked shite. The bugs were sticky but at least they weren't chewing bits out of your exposed skin. 
We had to make some pickets, a 12 footer for me and a wobbly 14’ for Derek. They did the trick and will be visible in any snow depth! Making pickets for collars is a lot of fun. First you find a perfectly straight pine tree with a good taper, raze the branches off it, cut your “name plate” by stipping off some bark and then just give it to the poor tree. Once it has fallen, you give it a bit more of a clean up, chop the narrow end off, add some flagging and chuck it in the casing in the hole.
We stopped at the northern site so Derek could find all of the holes and made a small mud map. Easy!!!
On the way back, I gave Wes some curry about everything and anything. Wes knows I am a tourist in the chopper and today I was especially pleased he was the pilot. Not far from camp, Wes spotted a big bull moose and got down low and circled it a few times. This thing was magnificent and Derek counted 8 points on each antler. It was huge and we were wrapped. Even better for Tan, who took a while to spot him as it was a memorable flight for her. Funny thing is that Tan thought she wasn’t going to do any flying for a while.
We had to make some pickets, a 12 footer for me and a wobbly 14’ for Derek. They did the trick and will be visible in any snow depth! Making pickets for collars is a lot of fun. First you find a perfectly straight pine tree with a good taper, raze the branches off it, cut your “name plate” by stipping off some bark and then just give it to the poor tree. Once it has fallen, you give it a bit more of a clean up, chop the narrow end off, add some flagging and chuck it in the casing in the hole. We stopped at the northern site so Derek could find all of the holes and made a small mud map. Easy!!!On the way back, I gave Wes some curry about everything and anything. Wes knows I am a tourist in the chopper and today I was especially pleased he was the pilot. Not far from camp, Wes spotted a big bull moose and got down low and circled it a few times. This thing was magnificent and Derek counted 8 points on each antler. It was huge and we were wrapped. Even better for Tan, who took a while to spot him as it was a memorable flight for her. Funny thing is that Tan thought she wasn’t going to do any flying for a while.
We buzzed over the camp, our tent has the white roof on the far middle left. 
We went for a quick walk complete with bear bangers and bear spray. Dave, the cook, got a bit jumpy at lunch today when three wolves appeared out of nowhere. The bear banger gave them a fright and they were off. We had a quiet night in the tent, a little stuffed but it was awesome.
We went for a quick walk complete with bear bangers and bear spray. Dave, the cook, got a bit jumpy at lunch today when three wolves appeared out of nowhere. The bear banger gave them a fright and they were off. We had a quiet night in the tent, a little stuffed but it was awesome. 
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