Along for the ride: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest CA

In the morning, we're able to better explore our camp area as we arrived after dark the night before. Looks like we stopped in a large parking lot before the main camping area.

Miller's Rest Area

Camped at Miller's

Oh well, our first night sleeping in a rest area didn't turn out too bad. It's a very nice rest area and sure beats sleeping next to a noisy casino.

Nice grassy area around restrooms

It''s so clear we can see Tonopah 12 miles to the south

After a quick breakfast, we're back headed south on Nevada Hwy 95. Since the two clerks at the Mizpah Hotel told us about the rich gold strike under this part of the highway, we busily speculate on exactly where it might be.

How about that ridge coming up?

... or under the town of Goldfield NV?

... or in those distant mountains?

We turn westward onto Nevada Hwy 266 and start heading towards the snow capped Sierras. Just before we reach California, we stop to explore the ruins of the ghost town Palmetto NV. According to the historical marker at this stop:

Thinking that Joshua Trees were related to palm trees, the 1866 prospectors named the mining camp Palmetto. Although a local 12-stamp mill worked the silver ore, the town died for lack of profitable material. New discoveries in the 1860's brought Palmetto back to life, but once again meager deposits caused its demise...

Westward to the Sierras!

Remains of Palmetto

Back-filled mine entrance

As we cross into California, Nevada Hwy 266 becomes California Hwy 168; however, we don't see any "Welcome to California" sign at the border. We surmise the lack of traffic makes the sign unnecessary as the locals know where they are. Soon we start to climb into the White Mountains and take the turnoff to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.

No "Welcome to California"?

Coming into the White Mountains CA

Entrance to Ancient Bristlecone Pines

Although it's a little early in the season for the Visitor Center to be open, we decide to drive up to the Schulman Grove as several trails start there. According to a plaque on Dr. Edmund P. Schulman:

In 1953, Dr. Edmund P. Schulman was searching this grove of bristlecones for old trees to extend his tree ring chronology. With his discovery of the "Pine Alpha" tree, he became the first person in the world to document 4,000-year-old trees. He continued his persistent search and in 1957, discovered the oldest living tree in the world, the Methuselah Tree. This ancient is located in Methuselah Grove...

The significance of Dr. Schulman's discovery can scarcely be overstated. The continuous bristlecone tree ring chronology, including living and dead wood, now extends back nearly 10,000 years. Data from these tree rings supports important scientific research on radiocarbon dating, past climates, air quality, frequency of fires, and water supply trends...

Entrance to Schulman Grove

Visitor Center

Snow on trail

The age of these trees is truly remarkable. It's hard to conceive of living in the same place for thousands of years, through heat, drought, floods and fires. A plaque on a small downed tree says that tree was alive before Columbus discovered America.

Over their long lifetimes, these trees can grow into fantastical shapes. Then again, we'd be pretty gnarled if we lived several thousand years too. A closer inspection of a youngster shows how densely packed their needles are - probably enabling them to better collect what little moisture is available in this high dry climate.

Adult Bristlecone Pine

Live tree grows over dead section

Gnarled tree trunk

Closely packed needles

From informational plaques along the way, we learn more about these fascinating trees:

... Although all of the bristlecones in this area are of the same species - the Great Basin Bristlecone - individual trees reveal genetic differences, demonstrating that the species continues to evolve. ... [photo below] are two old bristlecone pine trees; one grows straighter and taller...
... the light colored dolomite promotes cooler soil temperatures by reflecting heat, thereby making more water available to the trees by reducing evaporation of moisture from the soil.

Straight and tall tree versus twisted and shorter tree

Bristlecone pine with white dolomite boulders

The expansive views from the top of the trail and from an overlook on the road are worth stopping to admire.

View from the top of the Nature Trail

View from Overlook

All of us enjoy our short hike and are glad we stopped. Unfortunately, it also means we now need to drive down the steep winding road we came up. Peter does an excellent job manuevering the heavy van down the steep grades and I promise not to try and talk him into visiting the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest again.

Road snakes downhill

Wow - A lone bicyclists starts up the road.

Whew - almost down

As we approach the wide mountain meadows along the eastern slope of the Sierras, we see signs warning us of free range cattle. We laugh at the difference between California's meek cattle sign versus Nevada's bulls. Hummm - wonder if those signs are any indication about the nature of the local residents as well?

Meek California cattle ahead

Strong Nevada bulls ahead

Drunk crossing in Bishop CA?

With clear skies and air, we thoroughly enjoy our drive up Hwy 395 - one of our favorite scenic drives in California. We stop at Mono Vista RV Park in Lee Vining for the night. We are surprised to be completely surrounded by European visitors - all driving rented RVs. I make friends with a young German family camped close to us and happily share routing possibilies on our paper maps. Apparently almost all of Europe is accessible to the Internet, so they have come to rely completely on their smart phones for route information. They are not used to the large open spaces of the American west without any connectivity. I encourage them to purchase at least a few basic paper maps of the states they are planning to visit.