Climb on

Ponderosa pines are known for growing perfectly perfectly straight, but the ones along the Deschutes River are gnarled old things. My sister-in-law says the porcupines do that. She says that when a porcupine builds a nest in a ponderosa, it splits the trunk, forever altering the tree.

Last Sunday while barbequing near the meadow at Cow Camp, my son and I discovered the only ponderosa we will ever be able to climb. It grows sideways, straight out of the bank and over the river. We all walked up and down it.

Thanks, porcupines.