The Trees of the Valley The most influential of the Valley trees is the yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa).

It attains its noblest dimensions on beds of water-washed, coarsely-stratified moraine material, between the talus slopes and meadows, dry on the surface, well-watered below and where not too closely assembled in groves the branches reach nearly to the ground, forming grand spires 200 to 220 feet in height.

The largest that I have measured is standing alone almost opposite the Sentinel Rock, or a little to the westward of it.

It is a little over eight feet in diameter and about 220 feet high.

Climbing these grand trees, especially when they are waving and singing in worship in wind-storms, is a glorious experience.