Yes, we could have driven into The Grove. The snow wasn't that deep. But the fellow who beat us to this place walked in.

So we did, too. It was only about a mile.

The bad news?

Two of the magnificent ponderosas in this place are dead now.

Beetle-killed.

If we don't get a long, severe cold snap this winter to kill off the beetle larvae hiding in the tree bores, the rest of the centuries-old trees in The Grove will be gone, too.

In a year or two.

Maybe, three.