Re: What kind of trees are found in the Animas Canyon?

There are apple trees on the north side of the highway 550 crossing in the "S" turn. There are apple trees at Tacoma and there are a bunch of them that overhang the railroad somewhere before or after Tacoma......I can't remember where exactly. The bears love them. I remember one year Bill Billingsly who lived in a small house at Tacoma and ran the power generating plant, caught a bear in the big apple tree near his home eating his fill of apples while in the tree. Now this was not a good career choice for this bear because Nancee got her apples from that very tree and Bill had a shotgun that used rubber "shot". There was a mighty yelp from the bear who jumped out of the tree and found another apple tree to feast on.

I do not know whether apple trees are native to the area or not, but they are definitely there. Maybe Johnnie Appleseed rode the Silverton route some time in the past.

Dan Markoff