Roughly 2,000 years ago, in the centuries when Julius Caesar was making war and Jesus Christ was speaking in Jerusalem, the oldest residents of the Truckee River watershed were taking root near Fallen Leaf Lake. They began their long lives as blue, pungent berries, which were eaten by a robin, or maybe a marmot, and then deposited as seeds on bare soil in good sunlight. The seeds germinated and trees began to grow. Those trees are still growing, still adding ring after concentric ring to the two millenia of wind, snow, and sun already recorded within them.
Or at least, that’s probably how it went. Local wildlife experts actually aren’t sure which living thing in our watershed has been alive the longest, because they don’t know how to measure the age of some of them; but of those whose age they can count, the oldest are trees, and of the many tree species along the Truckee River, the Sierra Juniper lives the longest.
Sierra Junipers can grow for 1,000 years or more, and occasionally they can survive much longer. The oldest known Sierra Juniper lives near Sonora Pass, south of Carson City. It’s 87 feet tall, 14 feet in diameter at breast height, and is estimated to be over 3,000 years old. So far, no one has found a Juniper that old in the Truckee Watershed, but researchers estimate that some of the Sierra Junipers growing near Fallen Leaf Lake have been alive for 2,000 years. There are also exceptionally old Junipers above Incline Village, on the slopes of Rose Knob.
Junipers that old can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. In fact, there isn’t an easy correlation between the age of a tree and its size. Junipers often live on steep, rocky slopes and exposed ridges, where soils tend to be shallow and dry. Because of the harsh climate and lack of nutrients, they sometimes gain only two inches of girth in a century and a half of growth. Trees five inches in diameter can be 300 years old.
To accurately date a living tree a researcher would need to take a core sample. He or she would bore through a trunk with a hollow drill, remove the thin rod of wood from the center of the drill, and then count the rings upon it – one ring for each year of growth. However, taking a core sample from a Sierra Juniper wouldn’t be easy because the wood is hard, and the pressure of drilling could break the core sample.
There is another way to date a living Sierra Juniper though. Next time you’re out hiking, keep a look out for a Juniper stump. There’s a chance you’ll find one felled by a trail crew. If you do, count the rings and compare the size of the stump to other Junipers nearby. Groups of Sierra Junipers on similar terrain grow at roughly the same rate because they live in similar conditions.
How to Identify a Sierra Juniper
• Check the bark: On the trunk, the bark will be brindle or cinnamon-colored and have a corded, hairy look. The new bark on small branches will be red.
• Look at the leaves: Sierra Juniper leaves are pale green, sharp, short, and covered in scales.
• Sniff a berry: If it’s blue and smells like gin, it’s a Juniper. Juniper is the flavor of gin.
• Check your elevation: In most of California, Sierra Junipers grow between 5,000 and 11,000 feet. Other forms of Juniper grow lower.
• And finally… Don’t be discouraged if it looks mostly dead. The sides of Sierra Junipers that are exposed to harsh mountain weather often die off, even while living wood in the lee of the tree continues to grow.
Many thanks to Tamara Sasaki of Parks and Recreation, Susi Urie of the Truckee Ranger Office, Dave Fournier and Scott Parsons of the Forest Service, and Alan Taylor of the Penn State Geography Department for their help.
Curious about the wilds growing slowly on the ridge above your house? Or anywhere else? Dispatch an email my way: bioregionboy@moonshineink.com.
