It was another day of flagging road in Saskatchewan. Myself, Kirk and Colton drove out to our regular area down the Otter Lake Road. It was close to two hours total of driving. After about half an hour of highway driving we come onto the logging roads. On a sunny day it is a beautiful drive, through rolling hills down smooth silt roads and generally nobody else was around. On that particular day it was very pleasant. There was not a cloud in the sky, the roads were dry as could be and there was very little traffic so we had no trouble getting in.
Upon arrival, everything was routine. We unloaded the four wheelers and packed a bunch of flagging tape into our vests. From there we rode into the woods to pick up from where we left off the day before. Our atv ride went smoothly as well, there were times when the small atv and foot trails were flooded or muddy which made the commute a bit more interesting however with everything being so dry it was easy on this day. After parking the bikes and making a GPS point of where they were we finished our journey on foot. Walking through the woods in this area could be a test of patience at times. You might walk through the most picturesque patch of forest you have ever seen only to moments later find yourself in a sea of shrubs and rose bushes taller than you (These dense areas are most frustrating for flagging as you can only see a few feet ahead which slows the process down). We walked for not long, only half an hour or so until arriving to where we left off from yesterday. From here everyone knew what to do. We spent the coming hours repeating the same process over and over again of shooting a bearing on our compass and hanging our ribbons in as straight of a line as possible. The sun rays were shining through the forest canopy and we lucked out on this day with less dense woods meaning the walking was fairly easy. We were going for hours and at some point close to noon we stopped for some lunch and water. While having a quick break we took notice of the sky graying over. Being in an area with no cell service we never bothered checking the weather forecast.
We did not allow the gray sky to put a damper on our mood and we continued on. As our work went on I had a feeling we were in for some nasty weather but I never said anything and we worked into the afternoon. Eventually we came onto a big pond which meant we had to alter the course of our road and figure out the best spot for a water crossing. We were there for about half an hour trying to figure out what to do. We eventually decided to adjust by a few degrees so that it passes through a very narrow and shallow part. This meant we had to backtrack and take down some ribbon we had already hung and re hang them along our new bearing. I was walking back along our trail taking down ribbon when I was startled by a sight of someone else in the woods about twenty five meters from me. I quickly realized it was Aidan. It was fairly late in the afternoon so I asked him why he came out ( With such a far drive we were planning to leave in an hour so it did not seem worthwhile for him to join us so late). He told me there was a storm on the way and we needed to leave but since we had no cell service he had to come get us. We went to let Colton and Kirk know and we started to make our way out.
At this point the sky was gray and nothing seemed out of the ordinary but now I realized how eerily calm it was outside.
We arrived at the trucks a while later and we did not take our time loading up and getting ready to go.The sky quickly became dark and as I was attaching the final ratchet strap on my ATV I felt some rain drops begin to fall so I hopped into my truck. Everyone else was ready to go at this point and the storm came on very suddenly. A couple small raindrops turned into torrential downpour. I could barely see out my windshield but I saw water pooling up on the road after not even five minutes of rain. I quickly realized the rolling hills and smooth roads which I found so pretty on the way in will now be a mess to get out of. Since being in Saskatchewan we were always warned of rain on these silt roads because once they are wet they wash out easily and turn into a slippery mess. It was to be avoided at all costs and now we found ourselves in the middle of a wicked rain storm over one hundred kilometers down these roads. The rain was getting worse as we all agreed over the radio it was time to get going. The white pickup truck in front of me was only a white blur on my windshield aside from the moments when my wipers cleared a view which lasted less than a second before the beating rain on my windshield obstructed my view once more.
We were driving in a small convoy going no more than thirty kilometers an hour slipping all over the road being as careful as we could. The severity of this situation sunk in when someone came over the radio in a static-y mess. I could just hear over all the crackling him saying to look out our side to the trees. I turned my head to see trees being bent so far by the wind that their tops were touching the ground while others that would not withstand the wind were being blown over. Trees were falling all over the place and the lightning was non stop at this point. Some lightning bolts were so close the flash was almost blinding. Looking back we must have been right in the eye of the storm. Despite the urge to floor it and try to get out as quickly as possible we kept our cool as the lightning crashed down and slowly made our way down the slippery road through the falling trees. I was most worried of a tree either falling in our path and blocking the way (There was no way any of us were getting out to clear it with how close that lightning was) or a tree falling on one of our trucks. At some points hail was falling as well and some pieces were so big I was concerned about my windshield breaking. We continued on taking our time in our little convoy until we eventually made it out of the worst of that storm. Eventually I could see clear sky in the distance and I had a moment to breathe. I noticed my hands were shaking. Once we made it home and spent the night exchanging stories of what we saw.
This was easily one of my most memorable days this summer. It was a terrifyingly cool experience but I also count myself lucky for making it out without a scratch. We were lucky Aidan showed up to get us when he did because we were not planning on leaving any time soon. The storm came on in a matter of minutes and if we had still been out in the woods as it rolled through we most likely would have had to stay put, take shelter for the night and hope for the best.
I only wish I would have taken a picture or video to share.
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