Bristlecone Pine On Sandia Crest
These Bristlecone pines are growing on a west facing slope at 10,600” elevation. There is about 3,500” vertical feet of drop from the top of the distant mountain to where the trees end out on the plains. You can tell the prevailing wind is the the right (West) by the way the branches on the near pine are shorter on that side. The cold, ice and snow kill the buds on that side. In this kind of really harsh environment trees grow really slowly; these are probably well over 100 years old.
