Gneiss Schist

...the title really has nothing to do with the post, but I figured I should throw in some funny geology jokes in here at some point just because.

We've finished 7 grids out of 14 already, and we've only been here for 2 weeks! It's been pouring with rain for the last few days so it's making the access to the logging roads really difficult (we don't want a repeat of day 4...). We've (well, really just Jan) been trying to figure out which grids we can get to with the road conditions the way that they are but the best we could do yesterday was an attempt at a 'mountainous' grid. It was a DISASTER! It was a 1.5km trek to get to the start of the line and a 2.5km trek to the end of the line through thigh deep snow and endless swamps and then another 2.5km trek back to the truck (with a 35lb backpack). Chris W and I were working together and we had about 12 no samples (a station that doesn't allow for soil samples to be taken due to terraine, swamp, or snow) out of 51 samples we were supposed to take. There were about 9 lines on that grid and we did three of them but we're not going to go back until later in the season when the snow melts and the roads clear up. Thank GOODNESS!

Tomorrow is a big day for me - I'm going into Williams Lake (2.5hr drive) to pick up a whole bunch of stuff for camp: diesel tank, food, home hardware supplies, stuff from marks work wearhouse, and a whole whack of drop offs to do. I'm going to be a busy bunny but at least I'll have cell phone reception!

1st payday tomorrow! It's pretty repetitive around here these days though. We're switching cabins to the one next to ours which has 2 actual bedrooms (omg!) and more space for the three of us that live here. It's kind of cramped in here at the moment but we're managing. Jan sleeps in her tent out behind the cabin and seems to be happy to do so. I spend most of my time hanging out in the Chris' cabin because they have external hard drives with over 100GB of tv shows, movies, and games on it... they're entertainment central!

Anyways, I'm going to go check out the rock library at the managers cabin! Woohoooo Volcanic rocks (and pyrite!)

-C

Getting into the groove

After getting the trucks unstuck and everyone back into the groove after that little blip on the radar, things went back to normal pretty quickly. Saturday I did my first line solo! I was dropped off on the south end of a long logging road and put to work. Every 50m I stopped, marked the station with the pink and blue flagging, labelled it with the tags, and took a sample of soil. Chris W and I were working together again and oh boooy it was snowing hard! This grid (1.1.1) was the one where the trucks got stuck and we had to walk for ages and ages... we've nicknamed it 'The Hell Grid' - (original, I know). It's already got a bad rep and now, add snow! We got that done pretty quickly and were finished everything by about 2pm ready to get back to camp early and relax.

Sunday was a totally different story. The geos decided to take Chris and I (the two student geos) out into the field with them to look at rocks! Farshad, the regional geology manager took me with him. It was really nice to get out into the field and actually do what I want to be doing in the future. We walked around (me guiding with the map and compass and occasionally banging on rocks) and tried to find as many outcrops as we could. They were hard to find (especially with the snow cover and all) but when we did find them we found a whole lot of volcanic rocks. Vesicular basalts, flow breccias, and rhyolites. Rhyolites and andesites are good host rocks for sulphides and gold in epithermal altered rocks, so we're getting close to the target! Farshad was super helpful and taught me how to prospect and write proper company-grade rock descriptions. Wooohooo!

I'm getting comfy here - the crew is great, the place is awesome, and I'm still having fun 8 days in! I'll try and post pictures soon but the connection is pretty slow so it might take a while!

I miss the city a bit, but I'm having fun and am perfectly happy where I am doing what I'm doing with the people I'm with. I am a happy camper <3'

-C

Lesson 1: How to dig a hole

Alright so here we are: day 5 on the job!

I started out on Monday flying to Williams Lake early in the AM to arrive at 9 ready for action. Mark Rebagliati picks myself and another guy Chris up and we drove to WL town to run some errands and grab a fridge while I'm there....

Skipping to the point: we get to camp and we're staying at this place called "Teepee Heart Ranch". It's a sweet little German tourist spot where Germans can come and 'experience a dude ranch'.

I'm sharing a cabin with a lady named Jan - she's a seasoned dirt bagging/line brushing vet who is a great mentor to a rookie like myself. She took me out yesterday and taught me how to not rely on my GPS but to use my compass as my guide. It was great to learn and she's constantly teaching me things!

The other girl I'm temporarily sharing a cabin with is Elena and she's a nice girl. Fairly city and her main job is in the HDI office but she comes out for field jobs whenever she can. She's only here for a month but she'll be around for the future in HDI I'm sure!

Two of the geotechs around camp are Chris and Chris: one is a young 23 year old Geology uni student, and the other is a 35yr-ish seasoned sampling vet. Both are awesome guys and both know what they're doing and are trying to show me the ropes the best they can.

I'm the only rookie of the lot but it's nice that everyone is looking after me. I always have help if I need it and I'm not afraid to ask questions or make comments (no matter how stupid they are!).

The job so far consists of heading out to a target grid as determined by geophys surveys and mapping anomalies, and setting up flagging that follows lines 500m apart going in the same direction (usually E/W). Starting from one end and going to the other, soil samples are taken at 50m intervals for (usually) about 2.5km distance (about 50 samples each line).

I'm outside for about 10hrs a day (getting the face tan of my LIFE!) and having a blast.

Yesterday wasn't so much fun though.

We got to our grid which was at a fairly high elevation, and got one of our trucks stuck due to the very recently melted snow. The geos were tottering around in another truck elsewhere, but even after warning them they got their truck stuck too! 6 people, 2 stuck trucks in the middle of nowhere. Our work day was cut short due to the extra hands that were needed to help get the trucks unstuck, but by the time Jan and I had arrived at the 2nd truck (everyone else had given up hope on the first after attempting that one for 2 hours already) it was determined that the best we could do was call for help using the satellite phone. We called for help, but the roads weren't marked and the person who was supposed to rescue us got lost! Since it was getting colder, later, and darker, we decided to start walking. We walked for 15kms before someone came to our rescue. It was a brutal trek after a fairly hard day at work (being a pro, Jan works at the speed of light and it was tough trying to keep up!). Most of us were in bed by 930 due to exhaustion so nothing too interesting happened after we got home and walked like zombies to our cabins.

Next morning, we all pile into the one remaining truck to try and attempt to pull the two out of the mud. Truck #1: Success! Got the grey truck out by pulling it with the blue truck. We then drive down the road to get the red truck out with the blue truck after driving the grey truck to safety. In the process of lining up the blue truck with the red truck to hook the chain to it, the BLUE TRUCK gets stuck in the mud. So now we're back where we started. Two trucks stuck in the mud and only one to use for 6 people. It was interesting. This evening, they got pulled out by not one, but two heavy duty tow trucks and it took them 5 hours to do it!

End of the story: After getting multiple trucks stuck multiple times, all large trucks are out of the mud and safe on hard ground!

Thats about as interesting as it's gotten so far. Chris W (23yr old) said getting the trucks stuck was the most disastrous start to the season he's ever had! Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought it was slightly ridiculous.

Now: onto another day! It's the first time I'll be on my own! Wish me luck!

Heigh ho, it's off to work I go!

After getting back into Canada by the skin of my teeth (or the edge of the ash, however you want to think about it) I have exactly 1 more day until I am officially on the clock for Amarc . I have absolutely no idea what is in store for me, but I am full of excitement and nerves.... After a quick stop at MEC to pick up some last minute diddly bops (backpack/sleeping bag stuff...) I have a full evening on Sunday relaxing with my sister and her family before the insanity begins.

I've never had a job in the field before, so this is going to be an interesting adventure for me! Being a junior geologist is quite the broad job description. My contract states that I will be responsible for:

Collection of samples and conducting of required surveys

Establish, implement and/or maintain grid layout for sample and survey locations

Splitting drill cores and producing cross sections

Assisting with setup layout of site structure

Establishing and maintaining survey networks

Core shack maintenance

Geotech support for environmental drilling projects

Other related duties as required

So I'm in for one hell of a summer!

I'm looking forward to meeting my crew who I'm going to be spending the next 3 1/2 months with. Geologists tend to be really laid back, relaxed folk who love nothing more than sunshine and a cold one (at least thats what the UVic crew is - hopefully that's universal!)

I've never actually kept a blog before, so this is another adventure I'm going to be embarking on...I'll be posting pictures, thoughts and events as they occur during the summer.

When I find gold in dem dere hills, I'll let y'all know!

-C