I spoke to Tan this morning and she will be in the air soon after a token visit to Clancy’s for old times sake.
We picked up Leo and flew over the top of Kewen Lake, fond memories of awesome sunsets and great pike. We circled the camp and I coud see all of the clean up we had managed. It’s looking good. Hornado jumped in and wanted to chop shit down. We got to Wolf Lake and we had to wait after extending a hole. Matt, Leo and I ended up making pickets and having chopping contests. Eight chops was not my record – actually I was rubbish. The pickets we made will be visible in 6 foot of snow. We will have no problems locating these in winter.
We went over to the river which I just drilled under, days previous. It is a beautiful spot. My polaroids didn’t locate any grayling but this is the spot to get them. Fast flowing water with big rocks. After picketing all of the existing holes, Wes took us over to the central area. We did a couple and then I said to the boys “Follow me!” Matt thought I was trying to locate another hole but my plan was to find the bald eagles nest. Standing under the tallest tree on the tallest hill I told the guys to look up. There it was, 1.8m wide and about 1.2m high, perched high a top of the trees. The base was covered with slightly rounded branches that had fallen out. I was expecting to see skeletons of prey but instead we found a few feathers. Leo decided he would be “Chief” for the moment, compared to my George Washington pose an hour before. 
This was the first time Leo had been in a chopper since he has been in Canada, so we made the most of it. We located some old core near a swamp from the air, a job for some one to cut a track in and then we did a fly over of the Horseshoe deposit. This has been Leo’s pride and joy for the last two years and it was good for him to get the aerial perspective.
We landed by the redecorated dunny, dropped off Horn. It was 2:00pm and we all were starving. A quick bite to eat and we chased Cookie the resident pug around. Cookie wears these booties which are really cool. Lucky Cookie is a girl dog. It was a good relaxing day as I needed it.
On an evening trip out to the rig, I saw the thickest rainbow ever. The late sun was shining under some clouds with rain falling producing a monster rainbow. Pity the photos didn’t come out too well. The sun shining on the lakes was spectacular too.
We picked up Leo and flew over the top of Kewen Lake, fond memories of awesome sunsets and great pike. We circled the camp and I coud see all of the clean up we had managed. It’s looking good. Hornado jumped in and wanted to chop shit down. We got to Wolf Lake and we had to wait after extending a hole. Matt, Leo and I ended up making pickets and having chopping contests. Eight chops was not my record – actually I was rubbish. The pickets we made will be visible in 6 foot of snow. We will have no problems locating these in winter.
We went over to the river which I just drilled under, days previous. It is a beautiful spot. My polaroids didn’t locate any grayling but this is the spot to get them. Fast flowing water with big rocks. After picketing all of the existing holes, Wes took us over to the central area. We did a couple and then I said to the boys “Follow me!” Matt thought I was trying to locate another hole but my plan was to find the bald eagles nest. Standing under the tallest tree on the tallest hill I told the guys to look up. There it was, 1.8m wide and about 1.2m high, perched high a top of the trees. The base was covered with slightly rounded branches that had fallen out. I was expecting to see skeletons of prey but instead we found a few feathers. Leo decided he would be “Chief” for the moment, compared to my George Washington pose an hour before. This was the first time Leo had been in a chopper since he has been in Canada, so we made the most of it. We located some old core near a swamp from the air, a job for some one to cut a track in and then we did a fly over of the Horseshoe deposit. This has been Leo’s pride and joy for the last two years and it was good for him to get the aerial perspective.We landed by the redecorated dunny, dropped off Horn. It was 2:00pm and we all were starving. A quick bite to eat and we chased Cookie the resident pug around. Cookie wears these booties which are really cool. Lucky Cookie is a girl dog. It was a good relaxing day as I needed it.On an evening trip out to the rig, I saw the thickest rainbow ever. The late sun was shining under some clouds with rain falling producing a monster rainbow. Pity the photos didn’t come out too well. The sun shining on the lakes was spectacular too.
The area here was burnt out about five years ago, common in this part of northern Saskatchewan, so the undergrowth was small and all the pines were burnt out and semi-rotten. The best thing about this was the blueberries. Thousands, no hundreds of thousands, plump ripe sweet to semi-sweet to tart blueberries littering the area. Matt and I gorged ourselves. From what I can gather if you need to eat one food that has the most nutrients / balance then blueberries are the key.
We pegged the holes and then the line cutters come in for a hover landing. As soon as they got out we walked up the hill 150m and got into re-making the chopper pad in the previously cleared area. We got stuck into it for about ten minutes. No pressure as the chopper was circling over head as he had no place to land. After some fast foot work Wes was down and all was quiet again. We pegged some holes and cut down some trees. It is much easier to traverse the country when it is burnt out though the blueberries were a major distraction. 
Matt and I went to the next site and we landed on the edge of a small lake. We found the collar locations and then Wes flew the line cutters across to make the next heli pad. Next stop was a quick inventory of the core sitting on the side of Collins Bay. With map produced, core photos taken and five holes pegged to bid au revior to Tent Seal for the day. Thomas saw a bear in the burnt out country. I don’t blame the bears for being there as those blueberries were nice.
We flew past McClean Lake mine site and to see all of the mill and plant enclosed was a subtle reminder that winter will be very cold. We come in early as I had to check end of hole at Wolf Lake. As we took off I snapped a shot which always makes me laugh is the “Watch for Arriving or Departing Aircraft”. It’s true as the airport is quite busy with float planes, commercial planes, cargo planes and helicopters forming a constant stream of aerial adventure. 
Leo, the driller, is a great old bloke, and he has some stories to tell. The hole had some weak anomalism. Looks like we may stay a little longer. Tent Seal will have to wait. On the way home I spotted two moose, probably the same cow and calf. Wes knew the story as soon as I spotted them and slowly turned around. It was funny as they didn’t move, just stared at us while we stared at them. They were in a small creek eating lily pads. These moose are difficult to spot.
Saskatchewan, the land of endless skies, and when they reflect in the glassy lakes it is even better!
Wes took Brad, Corey, Brendo and I out to Wolf Lake this morning. We had to check the rocks at the end of a diamond drill hole and drop off Brad to do a downhole geophysical survey. This area has a huge bald eagle nest in the highest tree on the highest hill. Getting to fly close to it was good. 
The weather was great and we got to West Bear to resample old core. I love flying in the helicopter and Wes does a great job flying it. We have got him to say “Wanker” which is very funny. The chats about random stuff in the chopper are entertaining. At West Bear, we had to unstuck loads of core and mark it up for sampling. Everything was going well until the boys disturbed a wasps’ nest. Well, I ended up getting stung on the right eye brow and it did hurt, a strong stinging sensation and it swelled up very quickly. Brad didn’t know why I went crazy and squashed the remainder of the nest with my gum boots until I told him that I just got stung.
The sunny day turned into a stormy day and we had a couple of retreats back to the old generator shack. It is empty now and it was great cover from the heavy intermittent rain. The frogs were out and about again. 
By the end of the day, the swelling had gone down and it didn’t hurt too much so I’ll be alright. The late afternoon sun peeked its head from amongst the clouds. The Pronto flight come in, a small prop plane which will take me to Saskatoon when I take my first (and only) break of the program. Here’s a photo of the plane (mainly for Tan’s – I don’t like little planes – benefit).
P.S. I got to clip my right middle finger nail today. Something I haven’t done since the 20th March when I ripped it completely off!!! 
We got a few pike and then headed back to our original spot in Kewen Lake. The lake narrows at our fishing spot and then runs under a bridge over rocks into another section of the lake. A picturesque spot!
