Jeremy Cohen Does Many Things And None Of Them Well

There is little that frightens me while tree planting. Being the tallest object in a clearcut, holding a metal shovel and standing in boots with metal spikes during a lightning storm however, does.
This is all to say, we’ve had a lot of rainy, wet, cold days this year. More than I can remember. We’ve had two days cancelled on account of snow, one of those days occurring only 2 weeks ago. The last 2 shifts planting in Quesnel, BC had rain falling on us each and every day. The problem with this is that after two days of rain…all the clothes are soaked and cold with no hope of drying.

Planting itself has been good this season. Too good. We spent those two rainy shifts planting trenched land(lines of dirt in neatish rows that require no thought) and most of us planted very high numbers. I broke my personal best and collapsed from exhaustion 200 trees away from a planting milestone.
I cannot properlly express that feeling of exhaustion to you. You stumble and talk to yourself and cannot think straight. It is a paradox in planting; if you don’t take breaks to eat during the day you’ll have more time to plant but if you don’t take breaks to eat you won’t be able to plant.

We are now in the surprisingly sunny Vanderhoof region of British Columbia and one day in I am looking forward to a day off.

I believe lifestyles that are based on a strong social aspect or common cause are the most difficult to leave. When I am in camp on a sunny day, surrounded by friends and not planting, I find it hard to think about saying goodbye.
The job itself is easy enough to imagine leaving. The people, lifestyle, my tent, campfires, occasional adventure and landscape however, not so much.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the comfort of a warm bed in a warm room in my lovely city as much as anyone else but I’ve come to really love and be comfortable in a tent.

The outdoors are another aspect of my life I can be geeky about. I went for a true-blooded city boy to one who can talk your ear off about tents and raingear material and hiking, etc.

When this is over, I mean really over, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself!? Maybe a bike tour next summer? Maybe a month on the Appalachian trail?

A lot of people have asked me about my Australia plans. As I expected, things are up in the air. It’s still a good possibility but certain aspects of the trip have not fallen into place. Updates will follow and regardless of what happens, an adventure is sure to come.

We are a plague of locusts. The black cloud of grime and dirt that follows a group of planters in a city is gross, icky and nothing short of smelly. We invade small towns on our days off and troll the coffee shops and libraries in search of internet connections and food. We stand out and we inspire smiles from happy shopowners and contempt from indignant locals. Nothing is more cringe worthy than the looks on the faces of the three locals whose hottub we invaded. A thick layer of grime settled on the water and they made a hasty retreat.

This was evidenced today when at least 3 planting companies invaded the small town of Quesnel. We reached our planting block only to find ourselves surrounded by a blizzard and a foot of snow on the ground. So here we are, back in town after our first day off. The pool is packed with planters and the locals can do nothing but grimace as the locusts reign.

We are now two shifts deep into the season. We found ourselves in a foremans backyard with cell reception and 3G internet access. When we had a tough day, we just had to drive 5 minutes into town and we could be in a hottub. Needless to say, it was not the “full” tree planting experience I was used to. Now we’ve moved to the other side of town and are deep into the woods. I’m camped beside a beaver dam and we’ve had to bury a few moose corpses; the true planter experience.

More on the actual plaanting next week.

The old saying If only I knew then what I know now is rarely more accurate than in the tree planting bubble. There is a wealth of information available on the internet but making your way through it without reference and arriving at a practical conclusion is next to impossible. If I had listened to some of the older members of certain tree planting message board 5 years ago, I wouldn’t have brought an iPod with me! How ridiculous that would have been in retrospect. There are essential items that I have done without for 4 years and it has always been at the expense of comfort and warmth. There are essential items I’ve had from day one and I do not know how I could have lived without.

With this in mind I’ve decided to make a short list of the items I believe to be absolutely essential to a productive, warm and comfortable tree planting season:

-Tent: People survive perfectly well with 50$ Canadian Tire tents. They are waterproof and offer the headroom most technical tents lack. But all it takes is one snowstorm, one windstorm or a deluge of rain to level your tent, leaving your expensive goods soaked or broken. Spend the money on a 3 person tent from a reputable company, take care of it and you’ll have it for years to come. During a heavy snowfall 2 years ago, my 250$ MEC tent was one of the only tents to not collapse overnight.

-Rain gear: My first year tree planting, it rained for 21 days in a row! It sucks to be wet and cold, I cannot tell you how much it sucks to be cold and wet. Spend a little bit of extra money on good rain gear. Don’t buy 50$ plastic crap and don’t buy a cheap poncho. Seriously. You need something that will keep you dry after a full day of torrential rain and something that will breath during those sunny gaps. Good rain gear will also cut the wind and keep you warm(I wear a fleece sweater underneath my jacket and bike in the winter). Gore-Tex or other membranes are probably your best bet but if you cannot afford it, there are less expensive and great alternatives(North Face Hyvent or MEC Yoho as an example).
Also, it’s a good idea to bring an extra jacket. A 60$ K-Way packs up super small and is great for emergencies. I lost my rain jacket 2 weeks into my 2nd season and can clearly remember hiding behind a giant spruce tree with my hands down my crotch, shivering furiously for an hour. This was followed by a moment of madness and the stripping off of my clothing for the rest of the day.

-Sleeping Bag: A synthetic -7C sleeping bag with a fleece liner. Do it.

-Sleeping Pad: 4 years of tree planting and I have never owned a proper sleeping pad. You’ll usually find me running to the dollar store a few hours before my flight to buy a 1$ “yoga mat”. I am an idiot, don’t be one too. Because your body squishes the insulation on the bottom of your sleeping bag, you end up losing a lot of heat through the ground. A good sleeping pad will insulate you, keeping the cold away. Buy a short pad with an R-Value of at least 2.5 and you’ll be set.

-iPod: Anyone I’ve met who didn’t bring an iPod or an MP3 player larger than 4gb’s, either regretted their decision immediately or were of a disposition that edged closer to ‘sociopath’ than anything else. Music is a lifesaver. You are alone for 8-12 hours a day and without music you will find yourself going mad. An upside is that music blocks out the sound of mosquitos. A down side is that is also blocks out the sound of that wasp nest you just planted your shovel into. Bring an extra pair of shitty headphones and make sure to store your MP3 player somewhere clean(I wrap mine in clear lunchbags and duct tape).

-Fleece/Layering: It wasn’t until last year that I discovered the magic of fleece. Cotton is the worst material you can have in the woods. When cotton gets wet, it gets cold and stays cold. Go to Value Village and buy a fleece zip-up. Fleece and wool help regulate your body temperature and stay warm when wet. I winter bike and wear a fleece zip-up with a waterproof hardshell and wether it’s 0C or -40C i’m always warm and dry. Learn to layer properly with the right material and you will have a comfortable season.

-Gloves: My biggest issue are my hands. They get insanely cold and I become insanely miserable. I would recommend keeping a pair of gloves in your day bag to warm your hands up during breaks and I would recommend wearing a warm and waterproof glove on your shovel hand.

-Frisbee: One half entertainment and one half dinner plate. Enough said.

Money is always an issue. Most people who tree plant are poor students and it can be hard to justify spending so much money on gear. Look at it like an investment. Spend the money on good gear, pay it off during your first season and you’ll never have to worry about it again.
I’ll add to the list if anything else comes to mind.

There is always a silver lining to bad situations. If the tree planting motto is Hurry Up And Wait, it could very well be followed by Don’t Panic.
For those who are thinking of going tree planting or are waiting to start their first year, let me tell you that patient is the only real virtue in the north; and money…is money a virtue? You will no doubt be told that you are absolutely starting your season on May 5th. You will almost certainly book your flight with this information in mind only to be told several days later that you are in fact, only starting on the 9th. You will call you airline and indignantly agree to the 250$ re-booking fee. The ultimate kick in the metaphorical testicles will be when the very next day, you’ll receive word that you are in fact starting on the 10th; information which could have saved you 150$ had you known of it the previous day. You will no doubt begin to experience odd heart palpitations and an Arkansas tornado season style headache. Be prepared.
The silver lining of course is that this will give you a few extra days to prepare for the long summer that awaits you.

This is all to say that yes, I am returning for a 5th season. A 5th season! This year though, I do not plan on staying long. The sunny beaches, burning barbies and Foster’s of Australia(<3 Chris) are calling my name, as well as the possibility of spending a good part of my summer in a rather beachless Montreal. It has been a wonderful year so far. School went extremely well and I spent the last few months working with some great people in a camping/outdoor goods store. The latter has given me the technical know-how and confidence that I lacked in previous years. As such, I feel that I am going to at the very least be a little warmer, dryer and comfortable this season. New and lighter coat, new bag, new sleeping bag, less clothing, less camera gear, warmer socks, fleece, fleece, fleece.