Rex Trulove
This image is of the hillside about a mile farther down the road. Because of the snow, the nearly-verticle bands of slate can be seen on the cliff faces. Before the Rocky Mountains began the period of uplift, the rock was horizontal and at the bottom of a vast inland sea that covered most of what is North America now.
The fir trees in this image are only about 50 feet tall, but they are probably 75 to 100 years old. For a fir tree, that is old. The trees in the background are almost twice as tall but are quite a bit younger. That is because they are growing in soil and don’t have to attempt to get nutrition from almost bare rocks.
