Great pix! Thanks for sharing.

One reason bonsai never 'lights my intellectual fire', although I appreciate the time and work put into it, is it can never match nature!

I agree about pinyon pines -- growing in places no other tree other than the junipers are able to grow. The only thing that seems to stop them is the soil gets just too extremely alkaline (no trees around the alkaline lakes).

I have seen limber pine grow in some desolate places that match the pinyons and junipers.

I go to Flaming Gorge each summer to boat and fish and you see the Utah junipers growing in the craziest places. They smell great.

@maackia Thank you for sharing your gorgeous views of nature! Deep blue sky, red rock and sculptural plant life that can spread roots and survive in that landscape!

Beng, idk , that looks like a limber pine‘s cone to me. The cone doesn’t look quite right for lodgepole. however, I’ve seen lodgepole growing in rather dry sites, too. Lodgepole, when out in the open, grow quite wide and bushy.

L Clark, no way they were limber or lodgepole pines. Cody is dry desert -- lodgepole pines didn't show up until we had driven well into the east end of Yellowstone and considerably higher elevation and cooler, moister conditions. Of course, lodgepole pine is THE pine of Yellowstone itself. I'm familiar w/limber pines -- a couple nice planted specimens not far from me.

Well I’m stumped! My mother is from a town about 40 min from Cody so I am well familar with the area. Wish you had a pic. I’m exceedingly curious. Can you tell me the exact location?

The pines were all over the hillsides just outside Cody -- of course very widely scattered and only like 25 -30 ft tall. Stayed at a friend's house about 2 -3 miles east of the Buffalo Bill reservoir & southwest of Cody. Drove south one day to Thermopolis & seen the same -- scattered pines and junipers on the dry hills -- they were less numerous or even absent from lower areas, tho I examined one closely in a rest spot growing in rocks -- looked exactly like maackia's first pic in this post. Pretty sure it was either single or 2-needled.

Edit: I found one pic in Thermopolis that shows something that might be useful -- the green pines on the hillside in the distance (not the planted trees down low) were typical.

I also found a pic of Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River a bit northwest of Cody. This is a moister area than Cody, so not sure if the trees on the hillside in this pic are the pines in question or not, but I'll post it.

.