It lives in boulder fields under the snow and eats the grasses it has stored during the summer. Lower Halleluja Bowl is such a place. The dominant tree at the base area and part way up the mountain. This pine has needles in groups of two and thick scales on the cones. Young lodgepoles grow very straight and were used by Indians for teepee poles.
Lodgepoles have a greenish yellow color compared to other evergreens when viewed from a distance.
This is the predominant tree of the higher elevations of the subalpine forest. It has single needles on the branches and the cone scales are finer than pine cones and hang down from the branches. Englemann spruce can live to be 500 years old. The needles are also singly attached to the branch, but the cones are upright on the branch. The only deciduous tree in the area.