Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
Schulman Grove
Richard Rathe, June 2025 (Plants)
We recently visited the Bristlecone Pines within Inyo National Forest in the White Mountains of Eastern California. While there we took a five hour hike on the Methuselah Trail amongst some of the oldest trees in the world!
This forest
consists of a steep scree slope with almost no ground cover. The trees are roughly spaced about fifty feet apart. It is a remarkable ecological niche for a tree species. Many of these trees are thousands of years old!
Down in the small valleys there were more normal looking trees (more water, less stress?). This is a particularly nice example. Notice how it has the droopy look of a weeping willow.
YoungBristlecone
I've been teaching myself how to use a slit scan camera and it gave some interesting results.
It appears we hit the transition between early spring and summer wildflowers, including lots of Indian Paintbrush (a reliable favorite).
I was surprised to see Equisetum (Horsetail) above 10,000 feet!
-sm.jpg "0029 Bristlecone Pine Forest California 2025 Roadside Flowers 2025 Purple Sage Salvia Dorrii")
