NWT-Mat-3

It takes all kinds of equipment to prepare for winters work. These 3 photos show the use of a helicopter in transporting a quad (ATV) to the cut block. It will be used to travel from block to block.

The trip itself gives a great view of the terrain.

The river is the Hay River. The top right photo is Mat's own house.

Shannon, Mat's brother is the company's timber marker and is also the photographer for these Ariel shots.


	This is the view from the chopper over the saw mill and green houses. The yard is almost empty of logs, waiting for the new season to be re-supplied.

The photos below show the Hay River gorge with the Mackenzie highway running through the hamlet of Enterprise along side the river.

The 4 photos of the waterfalls are of the Louise Falls, (Upper centre right & bottom left). The bottom (Centre & Right) photos are the Alexandra Falls, a few kilometres away.

(Top Photos) They are building up the sides of the road so it will hold water for an ice bridge. That's Mat shovelling as he pumped water into the contained area. At -32c below zero water freezes pretty fast, and at that temperature you can tell by the ice crystals in the air. This was a 3 day job in December, from the first to the third.

(Right Photo) Building up the shoulders while flooding the contained area

This group of photos show that the late fall (autumn) construction of a winter road is not your usual every day drive down a side road.

In this case, 2 km past the ice bridge they just built, the skidder went down, and they had to gather some 3X12 boards and logs together.

Using the hydraulics to lift the tires out of the water, they then jammed the logs under the tires. Next they laid down the 3X12 boards on the ice in front of the wheels, and then they drove the skidder up onto the boards and left it there until they cleaned the road with a Snow Cat.

They rented this snow cat from Carter Industries to clean the road of all snow and grass so it would freeze over.

The snow had to be removed as it acts as an insulator and the base will not freeze properly for heavy loads.

THE START OF A NEW LOGGING SEASON IS NOW UNDERWAY IN CANADA'S NORTHWEST TERRITORIES.

MOTHER NATURE THROWS A SCREW INTO THE WORKS.

(January 2008) We have had a lot of unusually warm weather up here in the plus 7 range. The logging road and a creek built up melt water, and soaked the snow fill. Then I came along and drove right into it, not knowing that it was soft and the old KW & I together sank slowly into the drink. The first photo (below left) is when I got stuck & hooked up the tow cables. The lower (centre) photo shows what happened after the first pull. The rear fell in to almost over the drive wheels and started to tilt over to one side, and we had visions of losing it.

It was loads of fun, then on the way home that same day, my brother rolled our Ford service truck.

He survived OK with only a few bumps and bruises. The truck did not fair as well and was a total write off.

It was another great day in the bush, Never a dull moment.

A LITTLE SET BACK IS NO REASON TO PACK IT IN; WE CARRY ON AS THE SEASON HAS TO BE FINISHED.