Yukon Jay - 小祥

Willow Creek Coal Mine

On Monday the McLeod Lake Indian Band hosted the Coal Forum with the support of our Ministry, and on Tuesday we went with them to visit the Willow Creek Coal Mine.

This is my first time visiting a coal mine so was very excited. The left pile is PCI coal... and as you can see, they are sprinkling it with water to keep the dust down in accordance with BC mine regulations. If they don't... I SHUT THEM DOWN! Their Japanese customers were there too, inspecting the quality of coal and the reserves.

Probably the best picture I took out of the 40 taken... this picture might be used for the BC Coal Plan, government coal policy document on how to make coal in BC a competitive market, sustainable and less dependent on international prices to avoid bust and boom.

Personal favourite... this is Roy, the General Manager of the mine. Took me a while sitting there and waiting for him to get into the right position as he talks to us. Finall got the perfect shot I wanted. :)

To Fort St. John

First of all... Fort St. John, what a dump! It's about 7 hrs north of Prince George... drove there last week after stopping by West Moberly Lake and Hudson's Hope, and finally saw what the fuss was all about. It's an oil & gas town that boomed overnight without any warning... attracting lots of industry people. The town is loaded with money... having a hard time keeping students in high school when you can easily make $20-$30/hour. I heard welders make $100/hr. As for the town, it is expanding like crazy... residential homes are built without roads paved, and no planning at all.

So the ride was 7hrs and here's some pictures I took on the road.

Here's Peace Valley... gorgeous, too bad it was kinda cloudy-hazy.

Saw lots of deer on the road. Also saw a coyote, some moose and three black bears, one was crossing the street. Still looking for them grizzly bears.

Pine Valley.

Same - Pine Valley.

And this is in Chetwynd.... what a site eh?

The Weekend

Had an interesting weekend. Friday night was in the lounge and the ladies invited us to a party at friend's house. When we got there, the friend that lived at the house was introduced as the 'pornstar'... it turns out she's a stripper... can't say I saw that one coming. These girls are all in the dental hygiene program so that's how they know eachother. Did I mention dental hygienists are hot?

Since I am here till August, I figured I might as well go out and explore the wilderness in northeast/central BC... So on Saturday my roommate, Sean, and I went out to Hart Lake to check it out, and also hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of a bear while driving. Unfortunately didn't see any, but did see deer.

We stayed for about 2 hrs and out of nowhere there was a twister. The twister is in this picture as it faded away... can't really see it. I got a video clip of it, but it's too large and unable to post it here. You can see the fisherman retreating toward land.

Afterwards went to Crooked River Provincial Park to see what was there.

A view looking out at the lake... once I figured out how much exactly I'll be making, I might start fishing again like back in the old days in Alaska.

On the road tomorrow as I'll be heading to Hudson's Hope in the morning, and then to Fort St. John in the afternoon. Got a 6-9 hr review committee meeting on Wednesday and will probably return late that night... maybe Thursday night if we decide to visit some mines on the way back, but that is unlikely.

Pictures, Trip, Military and Bears

This is the College of New Caledonia where I am staying. There's a connection Simon Fraser University, which as you know is where I go to school. New Caledonia, a Scottish name, was named by Simon Fraser, a British explore in the 19th century, because the area reminded him of Scotland.

The college residence. My room is about 4 doors from the right, 2nd floor.

I had my trip on Monday... it was nice to be home in my bed, see family and play with Nikki. A bit too much though... flew home Tuesday night, up at 5am for Vancouver-Victoria flight for 9:30am meeting, then back in Vancouver 3:30pm flight to Prince George. Vancouver-PG flight was overbooked and anyone who gave up their seat receives a $200 credit for next flight. I, of course, wanted to so I can go home again, but as a government employee that is not allowed. Stupid government policies...

That morning while driving to Vancouver airport, I heard on the radio the Americans, British and Canadians were conducting military exercises in Victoria that day. I thought cool... maybe I'll see something when I land. Sure enough... there 6 fighter jets on the tarmac of Victoria's airport when I landed. And in the afternoon, there were soldiers at the airport having lunch. Isn't there a base nearby?

The other day Bruce, Victor, Bob and I went on our coffee break and they asked me if I was bear smart. My response was not really, never had to worry about bears. So they took the opportunity to educate me on how to "escape" from bear attacks... When you come face to face... according to them you: 1) run at them head on, knock them to the ground - intimidation; 2) shove your fingers up their nostrils, make it unpleasant; 3) scream in fear as you do 1 & 2; and 4) be liberal with bear spray, especially their face. They laughed and joked, having a good time. In the end, I was more scared than when I sneaked into Burma in the night. Wrighte Lake sits at the base of a mountain and bears like to hang out there. Glen & Victor want me to scout for bears while they're fishing... Damn geologists...

That was last week and today we were talking about bears again. Bruce saw a grizzly bear yesterday, and Tom saw a few earlier this week. "Them grizzly bears look like they got plenty of food," he says.

I better see my bears when we drive up north next week for 3 days.

In Prince George

I arrived in Prince George on Thursday just as planned. I spent the day organizing my new office and unloading stuff in the car into my room. The dorm is alright... it is like a cell if you ask me. Believe it or not, my office is bigger than my place. Here are some pictures:

Looking inside from the door.

I've met a few people, including Trisha from next door and her 2 friends. They are from New Brunswick on an exchange program. What is really weird is that she knows Mindy... small world. These 3 girls are like my little sisters, somehow I feel responsible for them...

Then there's the guy I'm sharing the washroom with, Sean. We actually use to work together my first 4 months with the Ministry... he worked out of Victoria, but now with Ministry of Forest... traitor. We were both shocked when we bumped into eachother.

I've got my meeting in Victoria Tuesday morning. Because all flights to Victoria goes through Vancouver, I am flying home Monday night and catching the 7:30am flight to Victoria next morning. Once the meeting is over in the morning, flying back to Prince George in the afternoon. Looking forward to going home!

Williams Lake -> Prince George -> Victoria -> Fort St. John

It is just past 11pm and I think I got most of the things packed. Tomorrow morning I will have to put it all together and load the TV and the stereo in the car. I hope to leave no later than 10am... that's after stopping by the office to pick up some work stuff and picking up my last paycheque at Island Inkjet .

The plan is to drive to Williams Lake and spend the night there. This way I can take my time and enjoy the spectacular scenery everyone is talking about. Supposedly it is as gorgeous as the Lord of the Rings sceneries shot in New Zealand. I hope to take pictures on the road.

I will arrive in Prince George on Thursday and settle in rest of the week. Next Tuesday flying to Victoria for meetings with Environmental Assessment Office, and the following week will be in Fort St. John for more meetings regarding the same coal mine.