It's been another excellent hitch for Team Bananas in the beautiful Shoshone wilderness. The fruity bunch saddled their horses and road 13 miles up the Ishawooa trail to their first campsite-Spruce Meadows. Nestled up in the nook of towering mountains, a rolling creek, and a fresh spring source, the crew set up tents and camped in heaven on earth.That evening, Team Bananas got together and surprised crew member Shiloh Silverman with Dirt & Worms dessert for his 22nd birthday. Everyone went to bed high in moral and excited for the 8 days to come.
The next day Team Bananas sawed, chopped, kicked, and limbed their way up the trail to Ishawooa Pass. At the end of the trail, looking over the Teton National Forest & the magnificent Thoroughfare, Banana member Kana Harden exclaimed, “That is the most beautiful view ever!I feel like I’m Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.” (Fact: The Thoroughfare is the most remote area in the lower 48 states).
Shiloh Silverman & Leianna Raadt reported seeing a mother grizzly bear and her cub only 25 yards from the trail. With excitement in his voice Shiloh said, “She took a threatening lunge at me, but Champ [his horse] must have intimidated her because she took off up the hill.” Shiloh was able to snap a photo of the momentous occasion. When the crew got back to camp Phil Quick, the USFS horse packer, spotted seven ewes on the mountain next to Team Banana’s campsite. The crew members watched as two of the baby ewes played on top of a snow bank.
The final day of work on Ishawooa trail was short and rainy. The team hammered out a new reroute, cleared trails, put in two water bars, and lopped the overgrowth. That evening pizza was on the menu and everyone ate their fill after a hard days work.
The next morning everyone got up, packed camp, caught, & saddled horses, then hoofed the 13 miles back out of the Ishawooa trail. That night the crew shacked up at the South Fork Work Center and enjoyed the luxury of soft comfortable beds.
Team Bananas’ next adventure lead them on horseback up and over Boulder Ridge to another campsite in paradise. Nine thousand feet above sea level, the crew set up camp and did an hour of trail work before dinner. Crew Member Justin Leon made his famous Just Rice. In a muddy French accent he joked, “I am Justin Leon, French Chef from Paris, and this is my special recipe for you all to enjoy.” Judging by the empty pot and full stomachs it was evident that Team Bananas enjoyed every bite.
The next three days the crew pushed seven miles by foot up the trail along Castle Creek to the 10,640 foot Boulder Basin Pass looking over the neighboring ranger district, including the Jack Creek and Anderson Creek drainages. Much of the trail is surrounded by burn area. Ben Gibson commented on the spectacle, “All the trees look like big tooth picks. If I were a giant I would not walk through this forest.”
It rained every day and hailed a couple of times during work. The cold weather was the hardest to deal with. Crew leader Mike Hassett cried one morning, “It is July 30th. It should not be 34 degrees!”
There was one afternoon when the fog was so thick you could not see further than ten feet in front of you. Tim McCurtury-Hauptman commented, “It looked like a scene straight out of sleepy hallow.” A spooky sight that translated into another beautiful memory of the area Team Bananas cleared for hikers and horses.
On this second half of the hitch every member brought something back with them home to Billings; memories, an elk antler, and a ram skull worth over 2,000 dollars-(that is before Ben Gibson and Shiloh Silverman sawed off the horns, rendering it practically worthless…) To top the trip off just right, Mom and Dad (Crew leaders Mike Hassett and Erica Schmoeger) bought everyone pizza in Cody, Wyoming.
What an awesome, successful hitch Team Bananas! WHOOP-WHOOP!
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