Why are all the dead, rime frost killed trees on the hillside behind Grand still standing? There are one or two on the ground out there, but most of them are standing, just like they were when I first visited in 1980. You'd think that by now, with the shallow lodgepole pine root systems typical of the thermal areas, the wind would have knocked them down. It's knocked them down all over the rest of the Sawmill and Grand groups. It's taken care of many of the burned trees from 1988. (I even got to witness that a few times.)
On the other hand, many of them, especially those at the top of the hill directly behind Grand, are surrounded at their base by a wide area of small, young brushy trees. (Or maybe a single tree that's just not producing a single tall trunk.) Maybe the roots of these trees are helping to act as anchors, keeping these ancient dead trees standing.