July 24 at lunchtime:
I am in the wilderness. The only people we've seen outside our crew have been in planes flying overhead. The pilot's voice will boom out of their speakers announcing Yellowstone on their right. I imagine the speaker saying, "On your left you can see the MCC Trailcrew in Shoshone." I'm staring a waterfall dead in the face. I can follow it all the way from the river to the snow line.
Wildflowers are blooming everywhere now. June is spring here. All the colours of the rainbow are steadily advancing with a vengeance on the mountain. There is one type of white flower with a very powerful perfume. When picked it slowly turns pink.
South Fork is gorgeous. We finished all of our work ahead of time. Despite a bear spooking our livestock. I love riding the horses. It gives us a break and a time to look around the valley at the amazing scenery. The horses and mules definitely brighten my day.
Some of the wildflowers I mentioned were:
Vinca, Larkspur, Indian Paintbrush (the State Flower), Baby's Breath, Blue Bonnet, Blue Bell, Iris, Lupine, Cactus flowers, Mountain Daisies, etc.
Ishawooa
July 10
Today was awesome. I saw a mother black bear and her cubs. Another bear. And, during lunch, there were wolves howling all around. We cut 35 trees. One was a thirty incher that Jake, George, and I took down with an axe.
Ishawooa is my favorite hitch so far. The wolf's howling is one of the most exciting experiences of my life. All of the previously mentioned wildflowers were joined by wild roses. It was our first hitch in the snow. Our first hitch seeing bears, and the most wood cutting work I have done. We removed a total of 101 dangerous and obtrusive trees from the trail. The pass was the most amazing part. You can see for miles and miles seated in a bed of wildflowers at the top of a mountain.
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