The Amazing Aspen Colonies

The Scuba Diver, Aspen Detail #1. RMNP, Colorado

I have always loved the aspen colonies (yes, they are colonies…more on this in a jiff). Climbing up into the aspen forests meant you were finally up at cooler altitudes, usually approaching 9,000 feet in my familiar Arizona and Colorado haunts…a thinner, clearer, purer atmosphere tinged with the comforting (for me) moist scent of pine and fir.

In Arizona, in years past, the annual fall trek with a group of friends to the golden aspen groves on the San Francisco Peaks was a tradition I loved. Here in Colorado, our aspen groves tend to be even bigger and grander–Independence Pass in autumn is the classic example.

Unfortunately, many folks over the years have taken their knives to the thin aspen bark, simply to record their visit or, more often perhaps, to record their current love life status.

With time, though, as these trees grow and expand, these old marks eventually heal themselves and take on a scarred, abstract look. Thus, today’s images.

Now, as to the colony thing. Aspen trees grow up from a connected root system (called “clonal colonies”) that spreads below the earth from a parent tree. The trees (clones!) themselves may only live 80-150 years, but this underground root system can live on for thousands of years, surviving even major forest fires. You can sometimes see which groups of aspen belong to which colony as they will tend to leaf out or turn color together (although temperature will affect this, too).

Now, here is a final and most mind-expanding factoid: There is one aspen colony in Utah–the Pando colony–that is said to be one of the Earth’s oldest living organisms at some 80,000 years old!

Interesting stuff, eh?

Camouflage, Aspen Detail #5. RMNP, Colorado

Angie the Angelfish, Aspen Detail #6. RMNP, Colorado