Located about 10,000 feet up in the White Mountains, about an hour outside of Bishop, California, the ancient bristlecone pines are the oldest living things on Earth. The oldest tree, nicknamed "Methusaleh," is over 4,700 years old, although there may be trees yet to be identified which are older. The trees' true age wasn't determined until the 1950s by biologist Edmund Schulman, who examined tree rings. A grove of the trees has been named in his honor at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Inyo National Forest. The bristlecones exist only in the White Mountains, a mountain range smaller and much drier than the Sierra Nevada. The lack of rain, the rocky soil (which looks more like decorative rock chips than soil), and intense cold all combine to limit the pines' growing season, and they may only grow a fraction of an inch per decade. High winds twist and polish the trees so that they usually have a stark, broken appearance with smooth bark of variations in color from white to brown to black.
Some of the trees are accessible by hiking trails through the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Inyo National Forest. Methusaleh's exact spot is concealed for its protection, but they are all mind-bogglingly old. They are fascinating, oddly beautiful trees in a dry, oddly beautiful desert-like forest. Snow may keep you out for part of the year, and it can be cold well into spring. Definitely worth a trip if you are in the area.
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