Ponderosas Interpreted

It's day three on ROW's "Snake River in Hells Canyon" itinerary. You're hiking along a trail to Suicide Point for a panoramic view some 300 feet above the river. Suddenly Dustin, your guide, veers off the trail and points skyward.

"See this pine?" he asks. You crane your neck, peering up at the tree towering over you.

...Now at this point your Average Joe guide may have gone on to tell you that the Ponderosa Pine stands about 150 feet tall and that it typically has thick bark and three needles per fascicle...prompting you to a) yawn, or b) flash back to 10th grade biology class and rack your brain for the definition of 'fascicle.'

Dustin's got another take on it, though.

"This pine here-can you see the top? It's about 50 yards tall--that's half a football field. It was only 3 feet tall like this little guy over here at the time Lewis and Clark came through over two hundred years ago. In fact, they may have taken a specimen from this very tree and sent it back east to President Jefferson."

A vision of Lewis and Clark bush-whacking their way through the woods flashes in your head.

"Got any idea why the bark is so thick?" Dustin continues, patting the trunk of the tree.

Someone ventures a guess: "To keep it from freezing in the winter?"

"It's actually to be fire resistant." Dustin points to a gash in the tree: "See this scar? Here, you can touch it. Anybody know what might have caused it?" Turns out, the tree had been hit by lightning. And if it hadn't been for its thick bark, the stray bolt might have burned it to a crisp. Now that's interesting.

And that, folks, is interpretation: experiencing nature and culture in a wow-that's-really-cool-I-get-it kind of way. In a way that's relevant, meaningful. And the best part is, all of ROW's guides are Certified Interpreters. In fact, they're the only ones in the industry who are.

And you thought trees were boring.