Rocky
Mountains Ponderosa Pine Sniffing This
is a recreational activity that takes about 30 seconds
of practice to master. It's the ancient sport and
science of ponderosa pine sniffing. It's easy
to do in the Rocky Mountains.
The
sport came close to dying out a few decades ago. However,
in recent years, a new crop of ponderosa pine aficionados
have taken to the forests in search of the best specimens
of ponderosa pine to sniff.
The
technique is quite simple. Once a likely specimen
has been chosen, the sniffer sticks his or her nasal
orifice up as far as possible into one of the cracks
in the truck of the tree. Begin sniffing. The resulting
aroma is quite therapeutic and has been varyingly
described as resembling vanilla, or butterscotch.
Whatever your opinion, it's nature in the raw.
The
best trees to sniff are the big old "yellow bark"
mature trees. These typically have a yellowish or
orangish bark, with big charcoal-colored gaps in between
the slabs of bark on the tree.
The
ideal ponderosa pine tree sniffing days are the first
warm or even hot days of spring. The heat seems to
sweat out the most magnificent aromas.
Rocky
Mountains "Ponderosa Pine High"
Once
your lungs fill with the ponderosa pine aroma,
the goal of your sniffing will be nearly complete.
Your brain cells will being swarming, your stress
level will drop, and you will mellow out into what
veteran ponderosa sniffers refer to as the "ponderosa
high."
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