TITLE:

38.613322, -106.221339 (The Ancient Bristlecone of Mount Shavano)

MEDIUM:

Black ink drawikng on 100% cotton paper

SIZE:

77 inches wide and 42 inches high.

STORY:

As my daughter stated, this was “the coolest lunch spot.”

Featured in this ink drawing is an ancient Bristlecone pine tree in its habitat at treeline on the East slopes route to the summit of Mount Shavano, just below the trail. I was hiking between these trees in Colorado in the month of June, 2025. This pinus species resides in high elevations and dry conditions. Wood is dense and resinous which protects the tree from insects and fungi. The wood erodes like stone over time due to wind and precipitation which creates the gnarled and twisted trunks. This species can live up to 5,000 years old. I was truly standing in front of a living fossil, just taken back by the way it bends and twists off the mountainside at the very edge of the wind blown forest near 12,300 feet in altitude. Our summit group sat next to this living wonder and ate lunch before our successful push to the summit at 14,229 feet. The Bristlecone is known to 3 states in the US: Colorado between 7,000 and 13,000 feet, New Mexico between 10,000 to 12,100 feet and Arizona between 9,500 to 12,000 feet in altitude. However, this species can be found in other less common areas.. Red squirrels and the Clay’s Nutcracker bird (featured in this work), along with Elk rely on the Bristlecone for forage and refuge. The reference for this drawing is in Chaffee County, Colorado.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/fshga6iwzJMFS1kj9

Along our acscent of Mount Shavano, our hiking group found a great spot to stop and rest to refuel with some choice hiking early lunch options. As we settled in, I surveyed the landscape. We had hike for many miles and just met the edge of trees giving way to the rocky slopes and snow fields that must traverse until the saddle and the final summit bid.

Our group is a mix of my two daughters and two of their friends. For the friends, this was their first 14k+ summit.

Almost a half year later, I was searching through the photos taken from this summit day and keep coming back to this Bristlecone tree twisting off the side of the mountain landscape and felt inspired to research this species, the environment in which it grows, and lay down a composition in ink that captures the moment and history of this ancient tree.