The Whirlpool Point Pine

Wendy had a conference in Calgary in early March and, as is my wont, I tagged along for a mini vacation. I took the opportunity to catch up with Dave ahead of Quest New Year. 

He toured me around some of his favourite trees. Dave loves trees, so that doesn't narrow it down much, but in this case it meant Douglas Fir. They were majestic in a very classical sense. Broad, straight, and tall. Calgary has number of them along the banks of the winding Bow River.

We talked about trees a lot during the visit, and at one point he told me of a tree that he had seen, where the North Saskatchewan River exits the Rock Mountains, known as  The Whirlpool Point Pine. This tree is thought to be one of the oldest trees in Canada. The actual age is not known with precision (the reasons are various and I'll avoid trying to sound like an authority), but 2000 years is a modest estimate. Dave dropped a pin on my map and told me, if I had a chance, to go walk around. He let me know that the locaiton was not exact, but with absolute certainty, he said, "You will know it when you see it." 

"You will know it when you see it" is an interesting phrase. It implies a lot without saying much. How will I know? With what level of certainty? Obviously, I had to find out. Wendy was indulgent as usual.

We had planned to go camping this summer, so I tipped the scales a wee bit to insure that our trip would have its first night of tenting suspiciously near my tree's reported location. After a rainy first night, we drove to nearby Whirlpool Point and began to hunt around near the pin on my map... I looked for an hour. "Are you my tree," I would ask.

Above: My main search zone

Below: one of the many that was "not my tree"

They were all pretty exciting, gnarly, half dead, and old, but nothing blew me away. I had driven 8 hours and spent a rainy night in a tent only to be met by an arborial "meh!" I desperately wanted to find this tree, but I was also keenly aware of my tendancy to dive obsessively into a poorly thought out plan. I had no desire to drag Wendy and Brad into a day long search that might have no better resolution than, "yeah, I guess that's the tree?"  I decided to give up my search. I had seen a dozen great trees, but had come to the conclusion that I had, in fact, not known it, if I saw it. I was prepared to chalk it up to Dave's tree prowess and live with knowing that I might have seen Canada's oldest tree. Oh well.

Thank goodness for my fellow explorers. Brad found me, forlorn, on the slopes of tree mediocrity and said that Wendy thought she might have found 'it' on the other side of the highway. Fine. I was done here, anyway. I crossed the highway, walking towards the North Saskatchewan River. As I came into proximity of what indeed turned out to be my tree, I felt I was somehow in a sacred space. I certainly don't think of myself as "spiritual," but my breath was taken from me as I walked up to it... and then I got a good look from the side!

Nowhere near the widest or tallest tree. Not even in the top 100 that I've seen, but WOW. The Whirlpool Point Pine is gnarly, twisted, and its roots are so entangle with the rock that it isn't clear where it has taken advantage of weathering or caused it. It precariously leans into the a strong bend in the river-- one of the most spectacular locations in the region. The core of it's knotty, main trunk is as endlessly spiralling as the whirlpool for which it is known. 

In movies (as in life) you often hear someone asking how to know you are in love, or if you are "the one" in some context. I'll be married 31 years in August. I've often asked this question of myself. I can't describe that either. I've tried in my puny existance. Humanity has spent millenia trying to write poetry, dance dances, and make images that convey the concept. But, in the end, it always comes to the ineffable. 

Before you "know it" you might wonder... "do I?" But, when you do actually know it, you just do, "... through and through--Balls to Bones."