December 2010

Well almost another year over,
and enjoying a little time off for Christmas. My horses and dogs enjoying the -25C. temperatures. My good wife letting me to get into home decorating, I started with living room decor!!!!!!

Working in the Yukon right now, saw these Bison on the side of the Alaska Highway while driving up here between Muncho Lake park and Liard Hotsprings.

Not really impressed with the Yukon so far, we have a lot more beautiful scenery in British Columbia. The hotels we have stayed in have been quite rough and want extra money if you require beds to be made or towels to be changed daily.

I am sure though there are many beautiful places to see up here if you have the time to travel around, with your own RV.

A day out with the family

Took the kids out for a day trip, the one photo is of Pass lake around one and a half hours from home. The kids caught some real nice Bull trout but they are protected and had to be released. The dogs treed a Black Bear, and I took a photo of a Spruce Grouse hen.

Sandhill Crane

Coming home from work a few days ago I saw something run across the road about 3 or 4 hundred yards away. Not knowing what it was at that distance I pulled my camera out and was rewarded with these pictures of the crane. I have seen them before but never this close.

First time out of the gate.

Have a good friend with a bunch of horses, this one is a little frisky. Took him to the arena threw a saddle and a flank on him and he almost jumped out of the chute before the gate was opened, and then off he went. A good up and coming prospect for a bucking horse.

At one time my favourite thing to do was go hunting and take trophies. Now my trophies are taken with a Nikon D-90 camera and a telephoto lens.

Not exactly Moose sheds, but a old skull we found that a Grizzly had been chewing on. My dog Missey with her find. A bull Moose with a nice rack developing. A real nice Black bear, and a Beaver checking us out.

Moose sheds

Here are the Moose antler sheds I found earlier.

Hawk

Some kind of Hawk sitting on a Hydro pole
overlooking our jobsite looking for a Gopher to
grab and feast on.

May 16/2010

Well to heck with bridge construction pictures and on with things I really enjoy doing. The Moose antler I am holding is the largest one I have ever found. Moose shed their antlers every Winter between the months of December to March. In the Spring they start growing new ones which grow quite rapidly, they are covered with velvet and fully grown again by August. At this time they start rubbing their antlers on small trees and bushes which removes all of the velvet.

The bird is a Stellar Jay they are very beautiful and very noisy. They are mainly found in the forests, and are usually not found in urban areas. They feed on seeds, berries, and will also feed on carrion.

The building is just a new shed which I built for my horses, on my next day off I will install the tin on the roof and pack some fine gravel around it.

May 14/2010

Went out to the bush for a couple of days looking for last Winters shed Moose antlers. Found five real nice ones, and took a few pictures of a couple of beautiful Osprey, and a Squirell.

The new seat.

Looking forward to trying out my new saddle soon, just waiting for the snow to melt and everything to dry up.

Home for a while

Well a few days off to play around in the bush. Went out with my daughter this morning on the sled. Snow conditions were really icy, so went back home and grabbed the quad.

120' permenant complete.

March 3rd. and our 120' bridge is complete. The whole crew was all primed up for days off but unfortunately the weather is really changing right now, it is real warm and the snow and ice is starting to melt and the roads are starting to break up. So we get to stay and do another one, lucky us!!!

I was really looking forward to being home for a while with my family, but I guess it will have to wait. Days off are not really a break as I have a loafing shed to finish for my horses, a huge amount of Winter hair to groom from them both, and two hounds to run.

Bought my 2010 Trails West goose neck trailer in August and haven't even had the horses in it yet, yup sure hope things change soon.

Bridge that gap

Hi my name is Steve, and I am a Bridgeman. For the last 14 years I have been installing bridges on lots of BC. and Alberta's water sheds. I love my job as I am in the wilderness all the time. The company I work for, and myself are very committed to doing the best job we can, and as environmentally friendly as possible. I am currently working north of Fort Nelson BC. we will be here for a couple of months.



I am new to this blog stuff and it will take a while for me to get the hang of it but it will come. I will not have any photos to post for a while as my camera is at home, but when I get it I will show all the different construction methods for the bridge installs we do, and a before and after photo of completed projects. I am very proud of the work we do.