Ancient Larch

In the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia: The tree pictured is Siberian larch [Larix sibirica]. We were unable to reach the center of the tree, but the inner rings reach back to the 1240s A.D. There is a good chance this tree was a seedling around the end of Chinggis Khaan's [Ghengis Khan] life, during the 1220s. As you can see, Mongolia is truly the land of blue sky.