It was quite the weekend. Jackie and I were partners in a broadcast assignment in which we were covering this new group that's formed on the west coast called the Ancient Forest Alliance who are in place to protect old growth forests. They were running this rally to bring awareness to the whole issue... and, well, they used Avatar as a vehicle to get a more pop culture kind of reference. Because apparently people can't seem to wrap their heads around big ol' trees that need protecting because they're wicked cool without some 3-D 10-foot tall blue dude waving his arms in their faces. Any reason for people to dress up, I guess. :p Kidding. It's a cool idea... it just seems slightly campy to me... but, if that gets the attention of people, fair enough. It was wonderful in terms of shots for the video at the very least. And, enabled me to go over to Vancouver Island for the first time in 23 years (my parents swear they took me for Expo 86 and are indignant that I should not remember them doing so...).
We woke up at 5 a.m. to catch the 7 a.m. ferry, went up to UVic (bunnies!), met up with 80 other people, drove out to Gordon Creek near Port Renfrew, hiked through the underbrush for a couple k, and there it was. Canada's gnarliest tree. Two huge gnarls wrap around the trunk, signifying a fungal infection that had affected the tree in its early years but not killed it, and the tree grew around it.
I only brought my 70-300 so this is the best shot I got...
This tree had been found in a stand that the AFA dubbed the Avatar Grove, probably for the same reasons they'd mascotted the rally with Na'vi (the native people of the planet being plundered for those of you who haven't seen Avatar :p). There's an upper and lower Avatar Grove on opposite sides of the logging road and the upper one has been surveyed for logging - several of the old growth trees have been tagged with spray paint for cutting, while flagging tape is scattered among the trees to show boundaries and where a potential road could go in to haul these forest giants out.
(picture, T.J. Watt)
It was painful to see even though we were told that this was just a survey, that the permits had not yet been acquired and therefore the public would have 60 days to intervene once they had been. I mean, this is part of the 1% that remains on the Island. How much has been taken away before people could experience it? How much is lost that will never be returned. These trees can be up to 2000 years old. I certainly don't have that much time to hang around waiting for the present seedlings to shoot up. Do you?
Anyway, seeing the support this group got from just this excursion was mind-boggling. I've never seen 85 people interested in and going on a trip for something like this. It was impressive. Hopefully something can be done...
Today was lovely - last minute agreement to go out for a ride with Moses, Meat, and China. Stanley Park laps, three of them. I can't remember the last time I was on my road bike for training purposes. I almost can't remember the last time I'd even trained. Eep. It wasn't painful on the body (we'll see tomorrow [today, whatever]), it was gorgeous out, and it was lovely company. The only negative point was a near death experience China had with the Vancouver Police Department Forensics Unit - the dude honked at us up at Prospect Point, trying to get ahead before construction cut the road down to one lane and when he failed to do so, tailgated her until there was space. He drives up beside her, tells her that she should be up on the sidewalk (false), that it's illegal for her to be on the road (also false), and then proceeds to edge her towards the side a bit before roaring off and pulling over a car in front of us to take his rage out on (I'm assuming). How... unprofessional, how... ignorant, how... d-bag. Don't you know your own rules? Aren't you paying attention to the signs all the way along that tell you to yield to cyclists? Don't you have any sort of common decency? She's on a bike. Unprotected. You're in a giant beast of a box van. Who should be paying more attention? Who should be more careful? And who should be trying harder than the VPD to ensure that cyclists are comfortable on the road so they don't freak and get into accidents? Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, good times were had by all in the end. Life goes on... all you have to do is hope that at the end of the day, the good outweighs the bad...
Pic du Jour:
(I don't think I'll ever get tired of the ferries)
Song of the Day: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Home
