Photos

Bristlecone pines are among the oldest living things in the world (present company excepted); some trees are over 4,000 years old. They exist only in a few places in the American West, at high elevation (over 9,000 feet / 2700 m) and low rainfall. They are very slow growing, have extremely dense wood which resists fire and insects, and even when they appear to be dead, they can still have some life.

The Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California, south of Bishop, contains one of the largest strands of these trees, including the tree said to be the oldest. (That tree is not identified, for its own safety.) The forest is a protected federal reserve within the national forest.

This shot shows a detail of a tree, taken on the Discovery Trail, which starts at the parking lot next to the ranger station at 10,010 feet (the ranger insisted on that last ten feet), and climbs 300 feet / 100 meters up. Not much of a rise, but at that altitude you feel it.

Technical: Sharpened in RAW at 105%, 1.2 radius, and again in CS3 using Smart Sharpen. Slight Levels and Curves work, because TE darkens images. Also some slight burning of the bright areas in the upper right.