While acclimatizing to altitude in preparation for an ascent of 14,000ft+ Mt. White in California we spent two days hiking photogenic Ancient Bristlecone Forest – Inyo National Forest – out of Bishop.
The Schulman Grove Visitor Center is situated way up at 10,000ft.
The oldest known live tree in the world is dubbed “Methuselah”. But the exact location is top secret. The Methuselah Trail passes within site of this tree. But you must guess which it is.
An even older one, nicknamed “Prometheus”, was cut down in 1964.
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine – Wikipedia
Studying weird, warped trees is one of the great highlights of hiking the Sierras.
Patriarch Grove – my favourite of the established day hikes
all my photos of hiking Bristlecone – flickr
Nature Ali (Alison Sheehey) also has a nice Bristlecone page:
I am on a quest to discover, identify and photograph all of the conifers of California. Part of my quest led me to the oldest living tree on earth. Estimated at almost 5000 years old, the most ancient of bristlecones are considered one of the oldest continuously living plants on earth.
But watch out, they are surpassed in age by the 11 to 12 thousand year old creosote bushes (clones of the original bush) in the nearby Mojave Desert. Amazingly many of the oldest living things on earth occupy a very small niche in central and eastern California.
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