Time

Photo: Tannis

I forgot to mention one of the most important "lessons learned" I had from my trip to Parent Quebec and Casey.  I realized how much time it takes to really see and explore a location.  Last year, with DA, we went camping at the end of August and I already knew (or thought I knew) where most of the buildings were, what was there, what was to be expected, and we were able to hit those locations and see what there was to be seen in a few hours.  We missed a few things, and we didn't wander through the forest looking for lost treasure, but my point is I was already acquainted with the layout of RCAF Station Parent and I was able to quickly navigate around the surrounding area.

This year the Casey airstrip was nearby; we had to see it, and Parent, in the same day.  I had not accounted for the unknown, and should have as I didn't know much about anything I couldn't see/guess from Google satellite imagery or topographic maps.  The Casey airstrip could have consumed at least a day, if not a week, of treasure hunting.  RCAF Station Parent would have been a day or so, since I already had a good idea where everything was.

The lessons I've taken away from this are

• Research the snot out of the location exhausting all avenues before going on site, it saves a lot of time.
• Allocate one day (minimum) per Pinetree Line site.  Even if it is totally demolished, it will take that long to photograph, find all the overgrown trails, stomp around the property, etc.

Also, this throws out the window my previous Chibougamau, and Sioux Lookout schedules.  

To see 4 Pinetree line stations (Chibougamau+) I'll need  closer to 8 days, not 4 days.

To get to Sioux Lookout and back... almost two weeks in order to see ~7 Cold War locations along the way and properly investigate their grounds.

This wouldn't be a problem if I'd won the lottery, but so far, I haven't, and I still have to work :)