If you want to really get calibrated, get way up high and look down. That's what we did this week. We traveled to Great Basin National Park near Baker, NV and hiked up to 10,600' elevation in the basin below Mt. Wheeler (which is 13,100'). In the glacial cirque below Wheeler peak is a grove of ancient Bristlecone Pines. Bristlecones are the oldest living things on the earth and are up to 5000 years old! These pines live in places where little else survives. The wood of the tree is very tight grained and resistant to insects and decay. Dead trees often last over a thousand years after dying! Dating is done with core drills to count the growth rings.
We stopped on the way at a quarry to pick up some Wonderstones.
We picked up this really neat guy just outside of Baker, NV. He is MUCH bigger and MUCH more colorful than his relatives in Idaho.
As we climbed from the upper trailhead below Wheeler peak at 10,000' we started finding amazing trees. Some of the damaged and dead ones were more impressive than the normal beautiful ones.
The inside of this tree has rotted out. Bristlecones don't do that. Their hearts are rot resistant. So should ours be.
This is the cirque below Wheeler peak The trail goes up to the grove of Bristlecones. We all need trails to guide us and make the going easier. That's what we have parents for.
This is a bristlecone female seed cone. The needles are in clusters of 5. They make the limbs look like bottle brushes.
When the bristlecone tree dies, it still stands for something for a long time to come. So should we.
Lightening, fires, and physical damage from snow and storms often kill part of the tree, but the rest of the tree keeps growing, nourished by narrow strips of bark and the cambium beneath which carries nutrients to the live parts of the tree. We often sustain damage too, from hard times, hard spots in life, even from thoughtless people who offend. We can, however, continue on. If a tree can do it, then with God's help so can I.
At the end of our lives we should look like this tree. Having worn out our lives in the service of others, no finer goal could there be than to hear the words, "Well done."
As patriarchs and matriarchs of our families we stand, first as living testaments that we CAN DO, WILL DO, and eventually HAVE DONE.
Then comes a time of peace and rest, but it is only a prelude to the great things to come after.
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