102 Sarah Lee Cherry Pie, Anyone?

Some of the best experiences I had working for the Pacific Forestry Centre as a technician were the days I spent in the Chilcotin country roaming the Fraser Plateau in a Suburban four by four. Our base of operations was out of Riske Creek where we had a number of trailers behind the Chilcotin Inn.

One of the studies that we conducted during those years was to learn more about the dispersal of the mountain pine beetle. This required flying balloons filled with helium from which we hung traps to hopefully catch the beetles and learn more of how they traveled from place to place and at what height.

I will never forget the time in which one of our balloons got caught in a sixty foot spruce tree and I had to climb to it’s very top and free the balloon. I don’t mind saying I was extremely nervous as I slowly climbed the tree inch by inch through its mass of prickly branches covered with pitch. If you have ever touched a spruce you will know what I am talking about when I say prickly branches, as nothing is pricklier then a spruce. And yes, don’t forget the pitch, I came down covered with pitch, but I rescued a $700 balloon. I felt good about it, not so much that I had rescued a $700 balloon, but because I made it down alive.

Much of our experiments were on or near the property where the Canadian Military Engineers bivouacked several times a year and we got to see them practice their war games as we drove to our study area. I was always curious as to what they were doing as they ran around blowing things up and whatever else they did to sharpen their skills.

On the way to our study area and the military reserve was the local dump, which had the most amazing stuff, mostly because of the military’s presence. We found ourselves checking the dump every day after work to see what new items had shown up at our “tasty pantry”. Unused rations appeared every day, but the best time to visit the dump was the military’s last day out, just after they broke camp to return to their base at Chilliwack. The haul that day would be better then average as any opened cases would be tossed out with whatever was still in them.

The choicest haul ever from the dump was the time Doug rescued a case and a half of Sara Lee cherry pies. I still remember the night we ate hot cherry pie with vanilla ice cream thanks to the Canadian Military Engineers, and Carol, one of the crew said, “No way am I going to eat anything from the dump.” But when she saw us smacking our lips for more, she soon got over being squeamish, and got in on the feed.

So the question still remains, does Canada really need a military or should we rely on the US to protect our borders? You have my vote, just as long as the pie keeps coming, “Go Engineers, Go!”