Walking Among the Ancients
White Mountains, CA - Saturday, 30 June 2018, 6:30pm.
High in the remote White Mountains of California is an interesting protected area, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Standing at elevations of approximately 10,000' - 11,000' (3,050 - 3,350 meters) these trees can only be reached by common means a few months out of the year. And they have to be tough to survive the extreme weather. In fact they are the oldest living organisms*, with the oldest tree in the grove recently found to be over 5,000 years old.
Bristlecone Pines growing above 10,000' elevation, with the glaciers atop the Sierra Nevada in the distance
BTW, in the picture above you can see snow near the peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the distance. Those are actually glaciers. The southernmost glaciers in North America.
We hiked a nature trail a few miles around the Schulman Grove of these ancient trees. The grove is named for the scientist who discovered them in the 20th century. One interesting note is that he founded the oldest of these trees by accident.... He'd initially thought the straighter, taller trees would be the oldest because they looked healthiest, but among this species it's the shorter, twisted, gnarled trees that develop a tougher wood that's more resistant to climate, disease, and insects.
Bristlecone Pines survive if even one small part of the tree has leaves and bark
The climate's tough on us, too. Though the summer weather is temperate, the thin air up here above 10,000' elevation had us panting through the whole walk. BTW, that red rock in the background is red quartzite, which formed on a sea bed. Now it's sitting almost two miles above sea level. That's a testament to the enormous geological forces that formed the dramatic cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains.
High in the remote White Mountains of California is an interesting protected area, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Standing at elevations of approximately 10,000' - 11,000' (3,050 - 3,350 meters) these trees can only be reached by common means a few months out of the year. And they have to be tough to survive the extreme weather. In fact they are the oldest living organisms*, with the oldest tree in the grove recently found to be over 5,000 years old.
Bristlecone Pines growing above 10,000' elevation, with the glaciers atop the Sierra Nevada in the distance
BTW, in the picture above you can see snow near the peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the distance. Those are actually glaciers. The southernmost glaciers in North America.
We hiked a nature trail a few miles around the Schulman Grove of these ancient trees. The grove is named for the scientist who discovered them in the 20th century. One interesting note is that he founded the oldest of these trees by accident.... He'd initially thought the straighter, taller trees would be the oldest because they looked healthiest, but among this species it's the shorter, twisted, gnarled trees that develop a tougher wood that's more resistant to climate, disease, and insects.
Bristlecone Pines survive if even one small part of the tree has leaves and bark
The climate's tough on us, too. Though the summer weather is temperate, the thin air up here above 10,000' elevation had us panting through the whole walk. BTW, that red rock in the background is red quartzite, which formed on a sea bed. Now it's sitting almost two miles above sea level. That's a testament to the enormous geological forces that formed the dramatic cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains.