Woodsie
Trail Wise!
Colorado
Posts: 272 
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Post by Woodsie on Aug 2, 2015 7:20:16 GMT -8
800 years old, in fact. And they live at 11,714 ft.
Yesterday Mtngrl and I headed out for another one of our big adventures. Sometimes things don't go as planned but it turns out great anyway. We had planned to go to the bristlecone pine forest on Mt. Evans (CO), but the road was closed. I had checked a website before going, and it said the road was open to Summit Lake. Wrong! But that didn't stop us from heading for another bristlecone forest located on Windy Ridge just outside the town of Alma. We took a side trip up to Guanella Pass, which is a favorite trailhead for hikers wanting to bag the 14,065' Mt. Bierstadt. We just did a drive through - the parking lots were full, and cars were parked along the side of the road for at least a mile. It was crazy! We couldn't wait to get away from there.
Anyway, the bristlecone pine forest at Windy Ridge was peaceful and quiet, just what we needed. We drove up the rough road, and ended up parking about 1/2 mile from the bristlecones (road got too rough). Hoofing it uphill at 11,000+ feet certainly took our breath away, but was worth every step.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 8:18:15 GMT -8
Nice. I hope I look that good when I'm 800 years old and perhaps a mere skeleton of my former self.  |
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 13,372 
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Post by BigLoad on Aug 2, 2015 16:56:25 GMT -8
Bristlecones are paragons of tenacity. Mrs. big_load and I got to spend time with some old White Bark Pines last week, which I can't readily distinguish from Bristlecones.
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,895
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 3, 2015 9:21:17 GMT -8
The needles and the cones are different. But just at the moment, I'm drawing a blank on how. "I know it when I see it."
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 13,372
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Post by BigLoad on Aug 3, 2015 9:42:12 GMT -8
The needles and the cones are different. Well, apart from the needles and the cones, they're pretty much the same.  Unfortunately, most of those that interested us didn't have either. They were the remains of lonely sentinels perched on the rims, somewhat beyond their last fruiting. |
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 3, 2015 13:07:41 GMT -8
Unfortunately, most of those that interested us didn't have either. They were the remains of lonely sentinels perched on the rims, somewhat beyond their last fruiting. At that point, does it matter?  |
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 13,372
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Post by BigLoad on Aug 3, 2015 14:23:20 GMT -8
Unfortunately, most of those that interested us didn't have either. They were the remains of lonely sentinels perched on the rims, somewhat beyond their last fruiting. At that point, does it matter? I would regret misidentifying anyone who had prevailed so long under such harsh conditions. (Meanwhile the late summer flowers flaunt themselves, heedless of the coming frost.) |
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,895
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 3, 2015 15:37:22 GMT -8
I would regret misidentifying anyone who had prevailed so long under such harsh conditions. Good point. It does seem rather inconsiderate. |
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