25 Thursday Aug 2016
Posted in Photography
Cee’s Black and White challenge, Trees, is at this link: https://ceenphotography.com/2016/08/24/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-trees-2/
I took the following photos at Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest near the town of Bishop, CA. These trees are said to have lived for several thousand years, some over 4,000 years, at elevations of about 10,000 ft (3,300 m) and above.
Bristlecone Pine.
Bristlecone Pine trunk.
Bristlecone Pine roots.
Dead Bristlecone Pine.
17 Saturday Oct 2015
Posted in Photography, Road Trip
Tags
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, bristlecone pine, Great Basin National Park, photography, postaday, road trip
Bristlecone Pines are trees that live at high elevations, as high as 11,200 ft (3,400 m), in extremely harsh conditions with little rainfall, and can be thousands of years old. The two oldest trees are 5,065 and 4,847 years old, and their exact locations in the White Mountains of California are kept secret to prevent damage from vandals.
We saw Bristlecone Pines at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in Inyo county in California and at Great Basin National Park in Nevada. Both locations required arduous hikes, especially at Great Basin where the trail kept going up and up the slope of Mt Washington for 1.3 miles! However, it was all worth it.
Bristlecone Pine at Schulman Grove in the Ancient Bristlecone Pines Forest near Bishop, CA.
Bristlecone Pines at Schulman Grove.
While hiking the Discovery Trail at Schulman Grove, I saw a group of Japanese making a clothing commercial under a Bristlecone Pine.
Japanese crew after filming commercial under a Bristlecone Pine at Schulman Grove.
Bristlecone Pine at Schulman Grove used in Japanese commercial.
At Great Basin National Park the Interpretive Trail at Bristlecone Pine Grove had signs explaining how the trees grew and died.
Bristlecone Pines at grove on Mt Washington in Great Basin National Park.
Writing on sign: “Reluctance to Die: This 3000 year old remnant has been dead for 250 years. It has two buttresses. The one on the left died about 1100 A.D., the other continuing to grow for six more centuries. This great reluctance to die is common among bristlecone pines; they may cling to life for centuries after reaching old age. Born 1300 B.C. Died: 1700 A.D.”
Bristlecone Pine along Interpretive Trail at Great Basin.
Bristlecone Pines do not hold the record for the oldest living trees. That honor belongs to a group of aspen trees cloned from a single tree, known as Pando or The Trembling Giant near Fish Lake in Utah. The clonal colony covers 106 acres (43 hectares), contains 40,000 trunks, all cloned from the same original tree. Its roots are estimated to be 80,000 years old.
21 Monday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
Bristlecone pines are among the oldest living trees on our planet, with some specimens over 4,000 and 5,000 years old. They grow at high elevations between 5,600 ft and 11,200 ft, in conditions where other plants cannot survive.
Today I drove a very tortuous and steep road to reach Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains near Bishop, CA. It took an hour, uphill all the way with a total climb of 6,000 ft (1,828 m), not a particularly enjoyable ride, but the views and the Bristlecone pines were definitely worth it. The sky was blue, and the clouds were spectacular, a photographer’s dream.
My car at road side half way to Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.
Bristlecone pines. Size does matter, only in reverse. Sometimes the smaller trees are older and able to survive better than the bigger trees.
Bristlecone pine.
Dead Bristlecone pine. The wood does not rot. Only erosion affects it, like with rocks.
This tree could be over 4,000 years old. The location of the oldest trees are kept secret.
View of Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Near Bishop,CA.
