Ponderosa Pine - Dying, But not Gone

I encountered this beautiful old ponderosa pine on 03/07/2011 along the Robber’s Roost Trail off NV State Road 158, also known as Deer Creek Road. Though it certainly appears dead, you can see from the picture on the right that it was still firmly rooted in the ground stretching towards the heavens - clinging onto life. Surely a once majestic tree, one can only wonder what caused its early demise. Was it struck by lightening, caught in a fire or did it catch a form of blight or disease. “The oaks and the pines, and their brethren of the wood, have seen so many suns rise and set, so many seasons come and go, and so many generations pass into silence, that we may well wonder what "the story of the trees" would be to us if they had tongues to tell it, or we ears fine enough to understand.”  ~ Author Unknown To see yet another shot of the tree converted to a black & white photo, check out my  Ansel Adams Wannabe Series – B&W Photo No. 03