As the poet said, "...only God can make a tree," 
probably because it's so hard 
to figure out how to get the bark on. 
~Woody Allen

DH and pooches take a break in the shade of a shaggy barked juniper. 

As the trail returns to its lower elevation, the Juniper Pine and Pinyon (Piñon) Pine (Pinus monophylla) grow near each other in the limestone rock.  As seen below, the Pinyon Pine is the only one needle pine tree in the world:  

It's one of the slowest growing pines. It's a slowpoke.

A 100-year old tree is a mere 6 feet tall with a trunk diameter of only 6 inches.  But good things come in small packages, and this tree produces those delicious pine nuts that 's "Oh, so delicious!" in pesto.

This plant is extremely important to local wildlife, as its pine nuts are eaten by many mammals and birds, notably the Western Scrub Jays and others. The edible nuts are a delicacy for humans, too. The Native Americans ate the pine nuts raw and used them in their cooking as soups for babies and baked into cakes.  

The pine pitch was used medicinally as a cold and sore throat treatment, as well as to draw out splinters and heal cuts.  It was also used to seal water jugs and as a hair restorer. 

John Muir said, "This...is the Indians' own tree and many a white man have they killed for cutting it down."  The ancestors of the Paiute, Goshute, Shoshone, and Washoe survived harsh and cold winters
by almost exclusively eating the seed, or pine nut. 

>> Annalisa Miller: Single Leaf Pinyon Pine
>> Pinyon Pine Tree

We come from a land that is wholly volcanic (Hawai`i) and geologically, a mere infant, so limestone still feels like a unique experience.  It blows my mind that here we are at the tops of the San Bernardino mountains and here's limestone -- sedimentary rock -- that was deposited 300 million years ago.  There's even crinoids in the rock!

What are crinoids?

They're fossils of starfish-like organisms that -- listen to this -- lived in an ocean, once upon an ancient time!  

If you look down, you might notice the broken rock formations along the trail.  They look like pebbles embedded in cement.  It's sandstone and just more proof that this area was once under water.

Mind-boggling, isn't it?

>> Everything you wanted to know about crinoids...and more.

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