Wind Effects on Trees in the Canadian Rockies

This past weekend, I hiked up Junction Hill in Kananaskis and it is known to be a VERY windy ridge in the area. Found some very cool trees impacted as they grow on sharp angles and all one sided due to the high winds that they face consistently.

Besides the obvious wind lean that shapes these trees, there is also a LOT of lichen growing on them, which seems to be able to withstand the high winds. The winds here always come in from the west over this ridge and the lichen is all growing on the upper side of the east banches, so I assume these are somewhat sheltered by the wind that blows up along this hillside.

These trees don't get very large since the wind breaks off the upper branches, which you can see a old upper branch laying on the ground from the tree in the center.

Despite the rough look of these trees, the background scenery certainly is nice here. This is looking west towards the Alberta/BC continental divide mountain range.

And finally, even the dying trees and branches end up with the lichen growing on them here. Adds some great color to the otherwise grey remains!

See my previous post of all the various lichen I found on this same hike.

Moss and Lichen in the Canadian Rockies

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