The weather forecasters predict this will be one of the worst British Columbian summers in decades. Of all times to be right…

Day 10 marks the tenth day of rain. I’ve spent the days following bands of sheep to document their habitat use, scouting photography locations and setting camera traps.

Snow in July? Yep. Todagin has it all.

Big thanks to Innate Gear for their thermoses that keep the tea hot all day.

Camping might be one of the most efficient means of getting to know a person. I met Steve Ablitt for the first time as we boarded the helicopter to fly to Todagin. In this short time I have come to know Steve as perhaps the most unique and gentlest person I have ever met.

Steve splits his time between a seagoing sailboat he built himself over nine years and a remote bush camp hidden deep within the Sacred Headwaters, where he lives in a trailer packed with high-tech video equipment.

When a pair of swallows flew into his trailer one spring, rather than usher them out he allowed them to build a nest and raise their young on his bookshelf. He kept the door open for the entire season. When he awoke before the birds he would take care not to disturb them. The bugs eventually got so bad in the trailer that he opted to move into a pup tent.

He gave up his home to a young family of swallows. Gentlest man ever.

It took only five days of having to hike uphill for three hours before finding sheep to convince us to relocate base camp. Our new home is on a lovely piece of sheltered waterfront property. The best part about it: views of sheep.

Months of research, planning and fundraising capped by two weeks of logistics madness has landed me on Todagin Mountain, my home for the next four months. I could finally let out a breath held for weeks as the helicopter left me in silence. It is refreshing to shift from the abstract and administrative to the tangible and real.

Joining me for the first two weeks is videographer Steve Ablitt. We set up base camp in a sheltered clearing tucked in next to a cliff often used by the sheep. From here I will spend the next four months photographing the herd and mapping their habitat.  

The world’s largest lambing herd of Stone’s sheep lives on Todagin Mountain in remote northwestern British Columbia. The importance of the herd to the local Tahltan people, sport hunting and the species as a whole prompted the protection of its winter range via the creation of Todagin South Slope Provincial Park in 2001. The herd’s spring, summer and fall ranges, however, remained unprotected and in December 2010 were opened up to mining exploration.

Our team of scientists and journalists are taking a preliminary step to ensuring sustainable development by researching the habitat needs of the herd. We will spend six months living on Todagin Mountain to map the herd’s habitat use and tell the story of their changing environment.

Please visit www.survivingtodagin.com to learn more and follow along through blog updates.