Field work for 2011 has begun! After a few months of desk surfing, Stuart and I are very excited to be heading for the mountains.

We made the two-day drive from Victoria to Alberta complete with some supply purchasing, video shooting (forthcoming), geology lessons (for ellie), and mosquito hunting. We are now settled into the Shunda Fire Base near Rocky Mountain House. At this particular moment, we are camped out in the SRD office to get our internet fix. Here is a picture so you can play find-the-mlp-truck with us.

So, what next? For now we are a crew of two, but we’re looking forward to being joined by other project folk, former crew members and volunteers throughout the month. Our immediate plan, subject to weather, changes in logistics, helicopter support, and etc., is to start out the season repeating Bridgland 1927 stations here in the Clearwater district. We scoped some of them out on our drive here, and while it’s snowier than usual for August, it looks good. We’ll let you know!

In the mean time, here is a picture from where we stopped on the Icefields Parkway to pick wild strawberries.

We are off to a good start.

Ellie