HOMES START WITH TREES

On a recent trip to the Canadian Rockies, I chatted with a gentleman who is currently writing a book about the oldest Limber Pine tree in the world.  This particular pine tree is predicted to be between 2500 and 3000 years old.

Being in the residential home construction business, I became intrigued with this story since homes are mostly made of wood.   I set out to see this limber pine, also known as white pine for myself.  There was no parking lot, trail head or sign highlighting its location, so it took a little time to finally locate this old tree. It stood along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River.  With numerous tired and drooping branches, it certainly looked its age.  It is refreshing to know this tree escaped the logging industry and was not turned into a cabinet or a table.

I also did some hiking in the sub-alpine areas of Jasper National Park and learned another new thing about some very unique trees called Flag trees. They look like flags because the branches on the windward side are killed by constant strong winds giving the tree a flag like appearance. Pretty neat.