Kelso Mountain

"Sweet William, Mary Hansen muses in Sawbill: History and Tales, "sometimes the only remnant of an old homestead."

I neared the summit of Kelso Mountain and encountered a rock outcrop with a large splash of Sweet William. This old fire tower site contain other reminders of human habitation: a bear-clawed outhouse, deteriorating cans, an oil barrel mostly hidden in the brush. Probably, the brush leafed out with summer foliage hid even more from my view. Many scraps of civilization this in Canoe Wilderness, but none so beautiful as the flowers. Luckily I visited the site during the blooming season of Sweet Williams.
Rangers burnt the Lookout Tender's cabin to aid return to wilderness but after 50 years the flowers continue to bloom.

During a quiet time sitting among the flowers, I imagined the summer life of Vivian Johnson, who by day watched for smoke from the tower, and by night slept in the small cabin at its foot.