The Ancient Bristlecone Pines

Today's key learning is this.  When the ranger tells you that a trail will be difficult because there is snow on it, one should pack gloves and warm hats.  We drove up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pines this morning.  These are the most amazing trees.  There is one in the grove that is 5,000 years old.  They grow very slowly and they're very hardy.  An inch of rings represents 100 years of growth.  The drive itself is an amazing thing.  It starts at 4,000 feet and you're done at 10,000 feet.  About 10 miles of the route are 8% grades.  However, it enables you to see this.  Those are the Sierras, we're looking across Owens Valley at them.

I left this one big, double click for more detail.

We set out to see if we could do the Methuselah Trail to visit the grove of really old trees.  Unfortunately the answer today was no.  The snow was really deep.  We gave it a go, but it was too deep, and the trail was obscured.  Jim and I were both freezing here, our hands were very cold!

We ended up doing the Discovery Trail, which is only a mile long, but one still sees some of the trees.  They're like sculpture.  Roots of the trees are very shallow, so that they can pick up any available water. There is a lot of erosion, and the roots of the trees become exposed. 

Life is tough there.  The soil is not good, and the weather is harsh.

The view from the top of the Discovery Trail.

There are many really adorable chipmunks.

This is the root ball of a tree that died when it was 3,200 years old, in 1676.  Isn't that amazing?  The age of these trees just boggles the mind.

If you're in this part of the state, this is a must do.