We Found an Old Forest
Ever have those days where you stumble upon something that just blows your mind? Well…yesterday was one of those days!
We went for a Christmas Day drive (a new tradition of ours) to go see if we could find elk. There’s a wildlife preserve not far from our home that they frequent and we thought it’d be cool if they were there. They weren’t so we kept on driving and stumbled upon something truly amazing!
Now…we like exploring through the trees. We even marvel at how big some of them get. This time we found massive Ponderosa Pines, Tamarack’s, AND Aspen’s. All within a few miles of each other!
This guy was about 32 inches to 35 inches in diameter! 🤯 We found a similar size tree down and counted the rings and estimate this tree is probably around 1,500 years old.
There’s something about old growths forests that take our breath away. It makes us feel so small and so in awe at the same time. There’s also a feeling you get when you’re standing in the old growth forests that you can’t get anywhere else. They’ve stood the test of time and they’re still standing.
This Aspen was about 30” in diameter and it’s roughly 120–150 years old, which is crazy! We have Aspen’s around Montana in quite a few places, but I don’t Think I’ve ever seen one this tall or this big around. And the feeling you got around the Aspen’s….well that was different.
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We still had the awe and amazement, but it didn’t have as much of the magical feeling that the Ponderosa’s and Tamarack’s had. It had a lived-in, settled feel, which brought a peace to it that was different than the other forest. Plus we found some bear claw marks climbing one of the Aspen’s.
Then you add in creeks running through the old growth forest and it feels like a place where fairies live and wizards walk. The magic you can find in those places makes us feel like a little kid.
I could’ve sat and watched in the creek bottom for hours waiting to catch a glimpse of the fairy wings or some magical being walking through.
All to be said, Christmas Day was pretty magical for us this year! We spent it out in the woods exploring and doing what we love the most. No presents were exchanged, just us connecting with each other and Mother Nature. Then you add on the forests that we stumbled upon as well and that adds to the experience.
Thanks for joining us on our adventure! We look forward to bringing you along next time.
Let me know if there’s anything you want us to explore or anything you’d like to hear from us!
Merry Christmas!
