Getting the flavor of...California's twisted trees, and more

California's twisted trees

It’s hard to believe that anything can grow on the California-Nevada border, much less “the oldest living things on the planet,” said Dan Blackburn in the Los Angeles Times. In the mountains that straddle the two states, it rains less than a foot a year, strong winds blow almost constantly, and temperatures can dip below zero. But the area is home to “the ancient warped and twisted bristlecone pine tree,” a species that dots the landscape with specimens up to 5,000 years old. A big draw for painters and photographers, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest teems with trees that have been shaped by the harsh winds—some twisted like corkscrews. “Perhaps most remarkable is the color of the exposed wood, which glows with shades of orange and gold” that seem too intense to be natural. Plan on spending a whole day walking among the trees, because “the longer you stay, the more powerful the sense of their antiquity.”

Surfing the Rockies

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When the Colorado River is flowing strong through Glenwood Springs, Colo., you might swear you were in Hawaii instead of the Rocky Mountains, said Cindy Loose in The Washington Post. “River surfing” is catching on in Colorado, aided by white-water parks that improve on nature by erecting underwater structures to produce perfect waves for surfers, boogie boarders, and stand-up paddleboarders. At Glenwood White Water Park, my beginner’s skills weren’t enough to keep me upright on the featured “standing wave.” But “I watched in awe” as another surfer “zigged skillfully across the crest of the powerful white-capped wave, maintaining his balance even as it lifted and dropped him with hurricane force.” River surfers, I learned from a stand-up paddleboard pioneer, don’t hit the speeds they would on the ocean, but they can ride almost forever. The sport, he said, is “bringing the aloha vibe to the mountains.”