On Tuesday I went out to look at some forest stands along a ridge between Peterson Flat and the boy scout camp. It was a nice day and I ended up going almost all the way to the camp—a round trip of about eight miles. There were a number of aspen groves on my hike, and, as always, I scoured them for carvings. I am, of course, most interested in the oldest carvings because they provide a clue about the past. The one pictured is from 91 years ago. George Dobson hiked the ridge on August 2, of 1923. The amazing thing to me is that the tree is only 10.5 inches in diameter. It couldn't have been much smaller than that at the time of the carving, otherwise Mr. Dobson would not have been able to fit his name. The tree is still alive, which means that over the past 91 years it has grown almost not at all.
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