Bristlecone Pine Snag, Kachina Peaks Wilderness, December 2011
Back in mid-December of 2011 I climbed up to the west summit of Fremont Peak to visit with the Rocky Mountain Bristlecones. It was a beautiful day, I was just beginning to feel strong on the snowshoes again, and it felt great to be up there in the wilderness. I ate my sandwich among the ancient trees and listened to the raucous calls of Clarks Nutcrackers down in the Inner Basin. Later, as I turned to leave I snapped the above photograph. It turned out to be one of the better ones of my 2011-2012 snowshoeing season. The craggy old tree seems to be pointing to something off the left side of the frame, perhaps something that has been gone for a half dozen centuries, something only it remembers.
While I was up there I noticed that someone had worked over one of the dead bristlecones with a saw of some kind. It had a slice of wood cut from its trunk and a couple limbs showed clear evidence of cutting. There have been several dendrochronology studies done over the years using the bristlecones on the Peaks so it was probably an old research site. At least I hope it was a research site... It would be a damned shame for someone to damage one of those old methuselahs for something as short term as firewood or pure maliciousness.
In more recent news, I picked up a new camera the other day courtesy of the IRS: a Canon PowerShot G12. It's another point-n-shoot, although it does have a larger form factor than my current camera. I agonized over making the jump to a DSLR, but as much as I would like one I just couldn't justify the expense and added weight of those big cameras. I don't have a camera case for the G12 yet so I haven't taken it on any walks in the woods (I won't make that particular mistake again.) In my limited testing the G12 seems to take much sharper pictures than the SX210 IS that's been driving me nuts lately, so I think the G12 was a good purchase. Once I learn more about the G12's personality I'll start hiking with it and I guess we'll see how it does.