todays wood gathering along with mountain pics from bush cruises recently

I havent contributed much to threads for awhile so thought I would post my recent travels. It was 4c/39f today. Weve had unseasonably warm weather this spring so a cool stormy day was perfect for wood gathering in the hills. I bucked up a dead larch on a steep slope and took off my safety glasses when I was done cutting. I decided to put them back on as the sleet was whipping into my eyes. I guess safety glasses are for ice as well! If the trees look slightly bent its because of the winds we had this afternoon. If a tree fell on my exit road at least I would have had a chainsaw to make quick work of it! Fresh snow up high and old snow visible but this gang can tell the difference Im sure.

 

The redish one laying down is a larch. I was hoping it was somewhat dry as the needles didnt grow out and the branches were brittle. I think it died a season ago and may
need the next two summers to be ready. At 19.5 mbtus its our gold crown firewood here. Also the first cool pic with the mountain in the back drop shows a live larch tree.




I havent burned much cedar for awhile but with recent threads about @campinspecters cedar I thought I should grab some considering I could drive my truck up to it (mine is red however). Whacking this apart to leave the center rot was easy. My wife was so happy I brought home cedar for the first time in years that she can easily make kindling when Im not around. It smelled so good we put a few splits in the kids rooms and next to the wood stove. My 13 year old son was amazed at how lite it was. Hes used to hauling doug fir, lodgepole and larch rounds mostly.


This last pic is the finished product of my efforts today. The back row and a half is larch and the next few rows is red cedar along with 8 rounds of lodgepole pine which ended up being to wet for me to bother but once its bucked up it goes into the truck!

 

This first pic is the larch that I initially suited up for. It wasnt as much as I had hoped but putting gold into the truck is always a good thing. The stream in the cedars was taken on my way home. It was pouring out but it looked rather pretty so I thought I would share. The one with my pooch in it is this load along with another truck load of spruce. My wife questioned why I moved the patio table and chairs onto the lawn this afternoon. I told her I would split this wood up soon. I may add another truck load to it before I do it though ;-)

 

Beautiful views of the mountains Sean, thanks for sharing the pictures. But I will say 4c/39f is too cold for me I would be in front of the fire at that temperature. Its 12c/54f here today and it's great when the sun is shining but when a cloud roles over I start to feel a bit chilly. I suppose you guys are used to it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I left the office last Wednesday and went on a bit of a bush cruise. This is about 30 kms off the pavement in my "back yard" I saw a mama griz and her cub. That stream is high water right now but our streams are full of native cutthroat trout and bull trout.

 

These were taken last week around the same spot as my first few posts. The weather was very, very warm. The last shot is the one I Iike the most. It shows the road out from where I spied a large standing dead doug fir tree. There were a few red needles at the top. Im trying to decide whether I should drop it or not as it likely wont be ready to burn this year. Time, space on my property and priorities all weigh in on my decision. Im having a hard time leaving it there though....

 

Wow! Beautiful pics, Sean !

 

Thank you. Actually its been stinking hot here this last month with highs to 29c! It was nice to have some cool weather the last few days to allow the forest to rest a bit. Also we have a hard time with gardening around here since we can get frosts (had one the other day) but often the summer weather is very, very warm. If you follow such things we are in a 3.5 region on the gardening scale. Canadian Rockies mountain weather temps are up and down and subject to cranky fits.

 

Nice scenery to look at while you work!

 

Some day Sean, I’m hoping we can get together and go look around in that terrain. That is just something...
The cedar is such a welcome sight and the smell!!! I’m wonderin about the diameter of that one but if that is some old growth...???

 

Pic's are utterly breathtaking...........!!! Thank you for sharing!

 

Sounds good! You know how to find me. Not really sure on the diameter but I guess its hard to see the scale from the log on the ground. I should have leaned my fiskars against it. There is a larger partial round in the truck picture that might give you an idea. We actually have old growth cedar around the area that is quite big which is surprising for being so far inland.

 

Thanks for the pics Sean, beautiful country!

 

X2, calender material right there. Thanks Sean !

 

Very awesome pics, you are truly blessed to live where you live.

 

Thank you. They could be better if I took them with my canon rebel instead of my iPhone.

 

Thanks. You have some pretty awesome scenery yourself not to mention some truly big trees!

 

That would be a high point for me if we could do that, if youre ever in my part of BC please contact me. I havent met any FHC members in person yet. I did pass somewhat near FatBoy85 last Christmas but its hard to spare time during that season.