Twin Cones

Photographed Oct. 2014 on a weekend trip to the Eastern Sierras at the Bristlecone Pine Forest near Big Pine, Ca

The trees of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains 15 miles to the east of Bishop are the oldest recorded living thing on earth. A millennium older than the Giant Sequoia trees in the nearby Sierra, many are well over 2,000 years old.

Bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva & aristata) grow in the White Mountains at elevations 9,000 to over 11,000 feet. The oldest trees grow on outcrops of dolomite, an alkaline calcareous, low nutrient soil. Only on the alkaline dolomite will you find pure, relatively dense stands of bristlecone pine.