Back to the mountains

When we head up to the mountains each spring, we always wonder what we will find at the cabin. Everything with the cabin was OK, but 4 lodgepole pines up the hill,were twisted off all about five feet high, probably by a microburst of wind. It is a strange site, I took a picture straight down into the still standing base where a pinecone had blown after the damage. I'm not sure you can tell from the pie-pieces of the mandala, but there are ragged edges all around and a cavity in the middle where the pinecone lodged. I cannot image the force that is required to cause this damage. The trees were at least 12" in diameter. In the 1980's - the area straight south from the cabin was a blow down site also. The trees are all blown uphill. A wilderness site north east of Steamboat Springs had a many acre area involved in a blowdown about 10 years ago. It made the news.