Mike Pearson's Adventures on a Pale Blue Dot

Iron ore dug out of the earth Sifted and separated Melted and mixed Heated into glowing liquid Moulded, squeezed and shaped Into Cat bulldozers and Kenworth trucks Into grapples and steel cable Into tugboats and shackles Into wrenches and fuel barrels Because the loggers are crying out for more For faster, for bigger For stronger, for lighter For more speed and more toughness Because this is not last year This is now The old gear goes to auction Passed down the line To the hopefuls at the bottom rung Looking, praying, betting To climb higher Laying it all on the line To log the high hills When the motor blows one final time When the tracks won't tighten anymore When the parts are too hard to find When the you are welding on top of welding When the steel frame has gone soft Yesterdays dreams get parked and forgotten Parts get pilfered, engines pulled Spare transmissions and diffs on the ground The machines sag back to the earth The trees grow up t...

This mostly a video post. I just dug these few clips up recently from the 2006-2008 years of the Sea to Sky Highway project. You will see in the beginning, several trim shots at Cut 14. These are gentle little shots to get the pioneering road in...and not destroy the power-lines and fiber-optic across the road. The excavator is there to control the blast mats when the shot goes off. The shot is designed so that the machine is not in any jeopardy. The highway is closed by traffic control people, but we only have a few minutes to get the shot done, clean the debris, and then re-open the road. On some days we have 5 minutes total. Some days are 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the time of day, day of the week, night/day and various holidays. There are blog posts that feature more detail on the whole Cut 14 adventure. There are also posts that detail the work on Cut 5, and show how close it is to the ferry terminal below. Cut 14...photos and stuff  http://adventuresinmikeslife.blog...

Logging isn't what it used to be. But then again, you could say that at the end of every decade for the last 100 years. From horse and oxen logging to steam from steam to diesel and diesel to helicopters innovation and the desire to go bigger drove the push to build new mechanical monsters. Loggers fall in love with their machines as much as they do with bar girls and pinups posters Bragging rights over horsepower and reach Cutting speed and comfort The new machine that is tight and fast the old clunker that needs jumper cables and ether two wheel, four wheel, six wheel and eight wheel drive Air assisted brakes beside a computer assisted engine Crew hauling crummies Log hauling off-road  trucks Stackers, packers and whackers Road builders and drill rigs High lead, ground lead and skyline Fuel trucks, shop trucks and low bed trucks Push cats and loaders The logger's life When you're in it You pray to get out When you're out You pray go be ba...

Men can be boys at any age.... Derelict logging machines at the end of their days. No longer hauling, pushing, pulling and lifting. The roar of Cummins, Cat, Detroit and Mack engines are silent now. The paint fades and the rust grows. Memories linger. If the wind is just right And you turn into it You can hear the whistles and horns Jake brakes and rattling chokers And the voices of loggers Who made a living on the side of a mountain With steel and diesel Who built legends amongst the cedars with tin hats and spiked boots.