John Muir wrote: "I never saw a discontented tree.  They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do."This pine, I believe a Pinyon Pine, clings to existence on rock at the edge of a cliff.  It seems there is little to keep it in place, and it might blow over with even the slightest wind, but it holds fast to the rock and survives through the seasons.