Chainsawin'! Day 2

It's taken me a few days to write this post.

I wrote my Chainsawin'! Day 1 post on my phone during the evening after the first day of the course. At the end of the second day, I was so tired I just wanted to be able to drive home safely. I was so tired, I almost stopped by the side of the road to have a nap in the middle of my 50-minute drive home!

And it's been a very busy week – so much typesetting and also a family BBQ with some visiting relatives.

But I really do want to report on the second day of my Chainsaw course – so, better late than never!

Our second day was focused on falling trees.

Again, breakfast was at 8am and we got going pretty promptly after eating. We spent a little time in the classroom and then went out to the "simulators" to practice our notches and back-cuts.

A fellow participant practicing a notch in the "simulator"

I think these are my notches, but I can't really remember...

The weather was cool and grey. Around lunchtime, it POURED! We went inside and ate and the rain had slowed up by the time we were ready to go out into a stand of trees and fall trees for real.

Our instructor, Patrick, felled the first tree in a semi-clearing to make a bit more room in the hope that none of our trees would get hung up.

Then, each participant took a turn falling a tree – relatively big ones – maybe between 8-12 inches in diameter and 30-40 feet high. Once it was down, each tree needed to be limbed.

A fellow participant notching a tree.

I put down a spruce: notch, back-cut, hinge, pushed it over with my shoulder and stepped back into my escape zone. Then, the limbing. I had safety glasses, but I wished for a face mask as the chips flew up into my face while I took the limbs off the top side of the tree. The sides and bottom where easier and more comfortable to do. Limbing felt like it took forever, and I was very physically tired by the time it was done.

Tired and also exhilarated.

It was a really good course – thorough and a nice mix of hand-on and theoretical learning. And the food was awesome! And so was the company: I had great conversations with our volunteer hospitality co-ordinator, Anne, and the other participants in the course.

Good times.