Alberta B: Radium Hot Springs to Banff

Forests on the eastern slope of the Canadian Rockies are dense stands of Lodge-Pole Pines.  These trees stand 60- to 100-feet tall and are packed so closely that mature trees only have branches on the upper 20-30% of their narrow, arrow-straight trunks.  These branches are quite short, and are sloughed off as they become shaded by higher branches.  Trunks at the base are only 6 to 10-inches in diameter, but their spacing is so close that you can see less than 50-feet in any direction between the trees.

These dense forests enable a very prolific logging industry.  Each major city and many small ones include a saw-mill as one of their major employers: supported by major encampments of harvesters (timberjacks), truckers to fetch the lumber, road-builders to keep the traffic flowing …  Lodge-Pole pines have a finite (50-year) lifetime.  As they grow and drop seed-bearing pinecones, these pines germinate and terminate in large patterns on the mountainsides.

About the only competition to the Lodge-Poles are Aspen trees.  When the pines begin to die, the Aspens have their shot.  Aspens propagate by sending sprouts up from their roots. This means their basic need for water is immediately met, leaving only the needs for air and sunshine.  They prosper only by adaptation: In this region, they grow as tall as the surrounding lodge-poles; They grow very closely spaced straight, thin trunks - depending on the forest to protect them from winds that would ordinarily bend them double; They only put leaves on the top-most section of branches, and scuttle the lower, shaded ones.   The Aspens essentially become deciduous Lodge-Poles

… Seems Mother Nature loves a good fight. 

Today's Route: Tour Miles 250-338