Wiczynski's Happenings: American Basin

Last week we took an ATV ride to American Basin, with a stop at the Forest Service parking area near the old Sherman town site, and it was our great pleasure to have a brief visit with these young ladies, both college students, both engaged in a summer research project pertaining to their college major of Botany.
They had been hiking for 3 days in the adjacent public lands, aka U.S. Forest Service lands, gathering data for the project, and the cooling stream, they declared, felt wonderful on bare feet.

We were very attracted to the visual presented on the front of their rather old and battered vehicle, a Forest Service truck--it sported a robust winch, a government license, and a cowbell!!! We commented on the truck, and the ladies said, "She's a good old girl."

When they agreed to have their pic taken to appear in our blog, Carole, of course, invited them to click onto it and do as much vicarious living as they choose on either this one or the one from our Danube River cruise (http://ourdanubediscoveryrivercruise.blogspot.com/ ).

What began as a diversion to scout out the parking area for future ATV staging became a very pleasant interlude; it was uplifting to meet these young women who are obviously motivated to prepare for the future and are concurrently so obviously enjoying life along the way.

Before we reached American Basin and its typical flower display, along the way we were enchanted by this study in YELLOW.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the flowers in American Basin is the intensity, we well as variety, of color.

The snow is almost gone, now, replaced by lush green and the emerging mountain flowers. Carole judged that probably 75% of the columbine are not yet blooming, and we intend to go back probably July 23 (this week). We hope the showers that appear to be moving through the high elevations this week will keep 'em coming and prevent them from burning up in the hot sun we experienced up there on this trip.