Bristlecone Pine Forest

Another rest day and for once we didn't find ourselves sucked into the black hole of Kava coffee shop. Instead we went to the Bristlecone Pine forest which is located in the White Mountains at 10,000 feet. The bristlecone pine is the most successful tree at growing at such altitude and in such harsh conditions and in such alkaline soil. The trees themselves look dead but when you look closely they can have just a strip of bark to a small part of the tree where the pines tell you they are alive. These trees don't only look amazing but some of them are over 4,000 years old. The "Methuselah" tree is 4,767 years old and is the earth's oldest living inhabitant, it has lived more than a millennium longer than any other tree. These trees have also been used in dendrochronology which is the dating of past events (such as climatic changes) through the study of tree ring growth and has aided in the calibration of carbon dating. Anyhow, besides all these interesting facts which we learnt from a video in the very warm ranger hut we then donned our down jackets and braved the cold weather at this height and walked the Methuselah trail. Although only 4 1/2 miles at this altitude it took us the best part of 2 hours!! We stopped many times to admire the view :) There was lots of snow and in some places it was quite icey underfoot but it all made for a spectacular walk.