Aspens populate the edges of our grasslands and occupy open spaces in the upper forests. With white smooth white-grey bark, these deciduous trees are easy to identify, often called trembling or quaking aspens.

A lesser known fact is that aspen groves are all connected by a common root system and trees of the grouping are clones of one another. The largest aspen grove is called Pando (The Trembling Giant), located in southwest Utah. It is the largest living organism in the world, estimated to be about 13, 000, 000 pounds of wood and has 80 000 stems. The grove has grown so large because of the succession of forest fires which have burned off all of the evergreens, while the root system survives on, putting up new shoots after each fire.

Less studied stands of aspen in Utah exceed 80 hectares in size and the root systems may be a million years old.

We hike, snowshoe, ski, and bike past stands of aspens, a favorite of ours, even if they are clones.