Tree Tuesday--Aspen Arborglyphs

Good Tree Tuesday evening! Today my tree entry is the beautiful Quaking Aspen. I took these photos of some Aspen at a meadow near my home when I was working for the Forest Service. We were putting up a temporary fence to keep the cows from destroying the meadow, and the newly sprouting Aspen. As I wandered through the Aspen I came upon a interesting carving, or Arborglyph, that was quite old. These carvings were left by Basque sheepherders who summered their flock in lush sierra meadows, supplying mutton to miners. The sheepherders would often carve things into the bark of the Aspen tree--names, dates, animals, and of course naked women! This carving had a date of either 1903, or 1913, and is one of the oldest I have found.