Afternoon Drive
November, 2 — The trailer has been winterized, meaning, the water tank has been drained and nontoxic antifreeze added to all the lines. We could still go out, but we would be limited to only the 5 gallons the jerrycan holds. We decided to go for an afternoon drive to Buckhorn Lakes Park. The Park is comprised of two lakes that are owned by the City of Montrose. They are located about 11 miles south of town on US-550 then another 11 miles on a gravel road. It is supposed to be really pretty and only moderately used. Since it is November, probably very lightly used.
The only reason we know about the park is in our travels looking for houses we came across Buckhorn Road. There is a housing development that we briefly considered but ultimately decided against because we found a place we like more.
Turning off US-550, we traveled through several ranches then entered an area of semi-arid scrub.
Soon we hit dirt and started uphill toward Storm King peak. I still find the sudden changes in vegetation startling. As the jeep goes around a bend the sage brush turns to a mix of pine and juniper. Around the next bend it changes to Gambel oak then back to pine and juniper. As you climb higher it changes to Aspen.
Vegetation changes from brush to pinion and juniper
When I got home, I had to investigate this in more detail. I know from previous observation that conifers grow on one side of the mountain while deciduous trees on the other. The geology can’t be that different so I figured it had must have to do with hours of sunlight the different areas receive and how long snow stays on the ground. I assume duration of snow cover is related to how much water is absorbed by the ground versus running off. This is what I found out. Conifers grow more slowly and, obviously, don’t lose their leave which gives them an advantage where sunlight and nutrients are limited. In the spring they are ready to start photosynthesizing much sooner than deciduous trees that must grow new leaves. Needles are less prone to drying, due to their waxy coating and needles are more wind resistant than leaves. Deciduous trees, however, have large leaves that can take in more sunlight so they can grow faster and out compete the conifers. But they lose their leaves, so the ground needs to have nutrients to keep the trees living while old leaves compost. Then there are the effects of fire. Dropped needles cause fires to burn longer and hotter than leaves. Fires also kill off younger, smaller trees but some conifers are dependent on fire to release their seeds. So, the real answer is, it’s a complicated mix of sun, water, wind, and nutrients, with some fire thrown in to create grassland.
That got me thinking about Gambel oaks. Having lived in the southern and eastern US, I’ve seen lots of different species of oak but Gambels are different. They’re short and clump forming. So I checked out the extension service websites for Colorado and Utah to see what they had to say about them. Yes, clump forming as they can reproduce by root sprouts and tillers as well as from acorns. In case you’re wondering, a tiller is another shoot that develops from the main stalk and develops root. Tillering is more common in grass than in trees. So, Gambels have multiple ways to spread but mainly they spread from older plants. Even after a fire, they can sprout from roots making the clumps denser than the original one. While they make acorns, this is a minor method of reproduction since deer, bear, and turkeys use them for food. Cattle can also use oaks for food but if they eat too much, they can poison themselves. But here is the part I have been noticing, Utah says they grow at 4,000 to 8,000 feet in elevation. Interestingly, the Colorado site says they grow between 6,000 and 9,000 feet of elevation. Maybe the difference is due to rainfall which Utah says need to be between 12 to 25 inches annually. Regardless of the elevation differences between the two states, Gambel oak grow higher than pinon and juniper but lower than aspen and ponderosa pine. Good tip to know for identification that ponderosa grow at higher elevations.
Gambel Oak in Bloom,
But back to our afternoon drive. On the way up hill, there wasn’t much to see except to watch the tree cover change back and forth around each bend until it turned to all Gambrel. When we finally started to see aspen in the distance we came to a fork in the road. On the left was a small building, it could have been a cabin for a caretaker or perhaps an equipment shed for the ranch. On the right was mud. We turned around. Getting stuck in mud at the top of a lightly traveled hill didn’t sound like fun and these little oaks were not going to make good winching points. I suspect the road will stay muddy until is freezes and then there will be snow.
On the way down we had a much better view than on the way up. Going down we could see into the valley all the way from Hayden Peak at the far western edge of the San Juans to Montrose to the northwest. That little hill in the center of the photo is an unnamed hill with an elevation of 7,156 feet.
You can see the road here is muddy too. Not as bad as at the top but messy. When we get home we will wash the Jeep. Colorado mud gets everywhere and it’s very hard to get off.
Mud on top of the Jeep