jack forsberg
06-21-2014, 9:32 AM
On my moms side we have family with a ranch way up in the Uinta mountains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uinta_Mountains
The ranch is at 8000 feet and is really still very wild. most of the farms are free range. most of the land does't support farming anymore and now has oil that rigs have taken the land over. My last visit there was in the late 80s to see my grand dad who was close to 90 at the time. One thing i will never forget is the smell of the pinyon pine that grew in large groves there. the oil rigs crews where up rooting the pinyon tress around the oil pumps and they where just left to brush piles as waste. the pinyon pine is the tree the edible nuts come from and are closely related to the oldest trees in the world the bristle cone Pine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristlecone_pine
I may have read by then George Nakashims the soul of a tree as i did for many years collect odd trees for there wood after reading it. I was at the least sawing through and through by then.
Any way as i said there were these trees left in brush piles in the baking Deseret and so i cut what looked to be a trunk i could use, I ended up with a 36" long log that was placed in the trunk of the car until i returned to Ontario where my friend with a saw mill cut it into timber.
I remember one thing about the wood and that was that its scent was very strong when we cut it and the saw dust was fine and oily.
that was 25 years ago and i came across the wood today in my stash. I pick it up and gave it a smell and that scent was still there as i remember it. I knew the wood was old but how old i did not know. I cut a small piece off the end of the flinch to count the rings but i could not read them. I sanded to 600 until i could count the rings with a magnifying glass.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine006_zpsb193a54c.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine006_zpsb193a54c.jpg.html)
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine007_zpsfa9ae0c3.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine007_zpsfa9ae0c3.jpg.html)
I could only count the rings in what i call the early growth (the first 150 years) as the rings were about as wide as that pin needle in that area of growth. I marked off my life of 52 years and mark it off in 10 years marks to get an idea of age.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine012_zps77b11abe.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine012_zps77b11abe.jpg.html)
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg.html)
My life was 17/16" of growth in it fast growth years.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine009_zps277b7324.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine009_zps277b7324.jpg.html)
my eyes went buggy and i could not count after.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine010_zps4474c913.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine010_zps4474c913.jpg.html)
slow growthhttp://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine011_zps17ee403a.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine011_zps17ee403a.jpg.html)
fast growth
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg.html)
My best estimate is the tree is 350 to 400 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uinta_Mountains
The ranch is at 8000 feet and is really still very wild. most of the farms are free range. most of the land does't support farming anymore and now has oil that rigs have taken the land over. My last visit there was in the late 80s to see my grand dad who was close to 90 at the time. One thing i will never forget is the smell of the pinyon pine that grew in large groves there. the oil rigs crews where up rooting the pinyon tress around the oil pumps and they where just left to brush piles as waste. the pinyon pine is the tree the edible nuts come from and are closely related to the oldest trees in the world the bristle cone Pine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristlecone_pine
I may have read by then George Nakashims the soul of a tree as i did for many years collect odd trees for there wood after reading it. I was at the least sawing through and through by then.
Any way as i said there were these trees left in brush piles in the baking Deseret and so i cut what looked to be a trunk i could use, I ended up with a 36" long log that was placed in the trunk of the car until i returned to Ontario where my friend with a saw mill cut it into timber.
I remember one thing about the wood and that was that its scent was very strong when we cut it and the saw dust was fine and oily.
that was 25 years ago and i came across the wood today in my stash. I pick it up and gave it a smell and that scent was still there as i remember it. I knew the wood was old but how old i did not know. I cut a small piece off the end of the flinch to count the rings but i could not read them. I sanded to 600 until i could count the rings with a magnifying glass.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine006_zpsb193a54c.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine006_zpsb193a54c.jpg.html)
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine007_zpsfa9ae0c3.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine007_zpsfa9ae0c3.jpg.html)
I could only count the rings in what i call the early growth (the first 150 years) as the rings were about as wide as that pin needle in that area of growth. I marked off my life of 52 years and mark it off in 10 years marks to get an idea of age.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine012_zps77b11abe.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine012_zps77b11abe.jpg.html)
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg.html)
My life was 17/16" of growth in it fast growth years.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine009_zps277b7324.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine009_zps277b7324.jpg.html)
my eyes went buggy and i could not count after.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine010_zps4474c913.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine010_zps4474c913.jpg.html)
slow growthhttp://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine011_zps17ee403a.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine011_zps17ee403a.jpg.html)
fast growth
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/tool613009/pinionpine013_zpsd5676fe5.jpg.html)
My best estimate is the tree is 350 to 400 years old.