and the fires burn on....

We're working on a fire near Hudson Hope right now - far enough in the middle of nowhere that we have to camp out. We just spent 3 nights, then they let us come back to town for one night for some more food and a shower and then we're back out for another three. You wouldn't believe how disgustingly dirty you get after four days on a fire without a shower! At least the hours are good (we're up over 1000 converted hours this season already!), and the setting is beautiful (in a steep, lush canyon), but man is it starting to get cold this late in the season! Yesterday morning, we all woke up to a thick layer of frost covering our gear. Brrr. Hard to believe that fires can burn in weather like that!

RIP: Rouge

"He was a good fish"

Rouge was one of 4 fish that the guys bought on our way through Kamloops a couple weeks ago coming home from the fire in Golden. The first one quickly met it's demise when Cole ate it - whole and alive - in the restaurant where we had lunch. Rouge, shown here, was the next to go. He died of apparent overconsumption after going 3 days with no food at all. The other 2, miraculously, are still going strong.

why does biking make my bum hurt so much?

I took my new wheels out for their first long ride - 100km along the Hudson Hope Road. The first half was beautiful. It was sunny and the riding seemed easy. Then I turned around and realized why the riding was so easy: I had a 20kph tail wind. Which meant that on the ride back, I had a 20kph headwind. Ugg. Still, it felt awesome to be out getting some exercise and training for my big bike trip this winter. I just have to do that, oh, 50 more times and I'll be in Mexico :)

20 raging rhinos and a kiddie pool full of pilsner (cont'd)

20 raging rhinos and a kiddie pool full of pilsner

rhinos in the rockies

We just got home from an amazing 2 week fire near Golden, BC. The fire was at 6000 feet, right in the rockies so the terrain was steep and the views were spectacular. Pretty much my ideal fire, in fact, made all the better by the fact that we stayed in a beautiful log lodge and ate in restaurants every day.

Still, it's nice to finally have some time off to relax and catch up on sleep and chores. Ok, and to party it up a bit. I'm sure there will be some great pics after our big rookie party slash year-ender tomorrow night.

Dustin and Alex hard at work


A burnt-out bear den...or so we figured


Working and enjoying the view of Kinbasket lake.


"Oh, please make the helicopter stop!" A hungover Jodie on the long flight to work at 7am.


Just another day at the office - John reading the morning paper on the way to work.


Cooling off after a long hot day on the fire.