The environment near timberline is always harsh, but it is doubly so in the lava fields along the summit of the Cascades. Here at McKenzie Pass there are lots of silver snags in the lava fields. As plants colonize the lava fields, it would appear that the process has a "two steps forward, one step back" nature.
This lava is only about 1000 years old, so sometime during that period of time there may have been a period of drought or an episode of disease that killed trees living in the most borderline of conditions. Another possibility is that these trees gained a toehold during a period when conditions were somehow more favorable than they are now.
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