![[Image Description: Two MCC members taking a brief break; one is sitting on a rock, the other is standing nearby. They are both in their uniforms, looking out at the expansive, mountain view surrounding them.]](https://cdn.firespring.com/images/c3f85e97-43a9-4810-8081-e8e6338173d0.jpeg)
If you've ever heard the story of Truman Everts getting lost in Yellowstone for 37 days in the 1870s, you probably thought the same thing I did: "How could someone get lost for that long? Wasn't he right next to the rest of the expedition when he got separated?" And then on our second hitch to the Park, we got lost. In the same area as Truman Everts...
Over our three months in the park, we saw 9 moose, 8 bears ( 2 grizzlies), 1 coyote, and countless bison, elk, and bird species. We peeled hundreds of logs with our teams (ages 14-17) to be made into buck and rail fences to protect visitors from the thermal features. We worked with the National Park Service to remove invasives species like musk thistle, bull thistle, and Russian thistle (which is the fancy name for tumbleweed) all across the northern end of the park. The best part of our job, however, was when a expedition participant would tell us that they had had a fun time.
There were a lot of challenges working in 2.2 million acres of public land, whether it was the many thunderstorms, or using a Garmin to communicate with staff. One time a massive bison even sat in our worksite and prevented us from doing our job for a few hours! There were many days that pushed us as co-leaders to the edge of our physical and emotional limits.
But in Yellowstone, we found that we were able to look out for each other and our team. We learned what it meant to collaborate on the fly, or to "pivot" as staff likes to say. We became a stronger co-lead pair through it all. So, like Truman Everts, we got lost, in more ways than one, but we found stronger and more capable versions of ourselves on the other side of this season.
