Monday Bristlecone Blogging
A few months ago, on a tip from Abel Pharmboy of Terra Sigillata, I paid a visit to some of this planet’s senior residents — the bristlecone pines of Windy Ridge, near Alma, Colorado. These magnificent trees stand at the very edge of treeline, in a landscape barren of anything much larger than a tuft of moss. They have the neighborhood to themselves because this is a rough place to make a living.
August 28th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Nice picture, but a 3.4Mb image on the front page is a bit big for viewing from here.
August 28th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Well, now, that’s exactly the kind of feedback an amateur like me needs!
It previewed just fine, so I paid no attention to the file’s gigundity.
It’s 300k now, and looks OK to me.
How does it look to you?
August 29th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Everything about bristlecones is pretty — the needles are nice, the cones are beautiful, the bark is stellar.
Any idea how old the oldest in this stand are?
August 29th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Multiple sources, including (if I recall correctly) the plaque at the site, give the stand’s age at “over a thousand years.” The oldest bristlecone in Colorado is believed to be one of the Mt. Goliath stand, at 1,570 years old. Even that tree is kind of a spring chicken among bristlecones, given that Methuselah has been with us for over 4,700 years.
Bristlecones are notable for more than their otherworldly beauty — a subject I hope to take up sometime soon.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Jim, thanks for the link and reminding me that we talked about this awhile back. The photo makes me long for the old stompin’ grounds.
October 19th, 2007 at 5:10 am
I just drove thru Alma last weekend, Jim. My buddy wasn’t one of those to pay homage so we kept going. Thank you for being on top of the important things.
Best,
D
August 4th, 2010 at 1:35 am
Bristlecone is really a nice place and this tree is looking so good. Thanks for providing this beautiful picture.
August 19th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I tip my hat to your algorithm, data recovery!