Ancient Larch Tree

I have something with trees. I’m extremely fascinated by them. There’s almost nowhere I feel the same sense of tranquility as I do in an ancient forest. For a moment, everything seems to slow down and time comes to a stop. These trees live on such a different timescale from us humans that simply being among them makes me slow down too - something that can be hard in a world that is increasingly connected and fast-paced.

I came across this tree while hiking the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. On the second-to-last night of the trek, high above the Zermatt Valley, I was looking for a place to camp when I spotted a few enormous old trees far below the trail. I was exhausted, and getting down there looked like quite a hassle, so I actually sent up my drone first to scout the terrain. Once I saw that it was possible, I scrambled down the steep grassy slope and found this beautiful place beneath the tree.

Based on its size, I estimated it to be somewhere between 250 and 400 years old. Just thinking about that fascinates me. This tree may have stood here through 400 winters. How many people has it watched pass through this valley? What was the biggest snow year it ever experienced? How large were the glaciers when it first started growing?

And has anyone else ever camped beneath its canopy?

If only it could speak and tell its stories.