A visit to the White Mountains in California to see the
bristlecone pines is sure to be an unforgettable experience. Everything about them is amazing; their
spectacular location, their strange shapes, and the statistics about their age.
There is a good, paved road to the visitor’s center, but I
was on my annual spring camping trip and we like to find more adventurous routes. We took the 4WD Silver Canyon Road from
Bishop to Patriarch Grove. The road has
four stream crossings and switchbacks up the mountain from 4000’ to 11,000’.
At the top this sign announces the entrance to the Ancient
Bristlecone Forest, but there aren’t many trees around, and several more miles
of driving on a dirt road will finally get you to Patriarch Grove.
This is a typical scene at Patriarch Grove. The Bristlecone pines survive in incredibly
harsh surroundings. They grow in
alkaline soil that discourages competition from other plants. They thrive at the tree line in extremely
cold, windy conditions, and the area is closed in winter. Their surreal shapes often include a mix of
dead wood and living tree. Sometimes a
narrow strip connecting a root to the crown is all that remains alive in a tree
that looks like it died centuries ago.
Great Basin bristlecone pines are the oldest living single
organisms on earth! One recently dated
tree here in the White Mountains is 5064 years old. Its location is secret. Think of that… many of these trees have been
alive for thousands of years before the birth of Christ!
The trees grow extremely slowly because of a lack of water,
dry soil, cold temperatures, and short growing seasons. Their wood is extremely hard, and after death
the exposed wood does not rot. As a result,
snags can stand for centuries and their fantastic shapes are created by wind
erosion. The wood is sandblasted and
eroded like rock.
This tree took my breath away when I saw it. I found myself talking to it as I walked
around it with my camera. “You’re
beautiful – gorgeous! You have
incredible curves!” I think I had been
out in the desert too long.
Photography is so much fun with these amazing trees. Their fantastic shapes are irresistibly
surreal. The best days for photographing
landscapes of the area will have good sunlight and fluffy clouds, but exposure
can be tricky. HDR is a good tool to
pick up detail in the bright clouds while balancing exposure on the trees. A wide angle lens can be used to exaggerate
the bizarre shapes and angles of the eroded snags.
When the fluffy clouds obscure the sun, it is a great time
to look for closer photos of wood grain and twisted branches. A macro lens and tripod is a good choice if
you want to get really close.
Black and white is also a great choice to show the wood
grain or to show the trees against dramatic high elevation sky.
If you decide to visit the Bristlecones, it is best to be
acclimated to the high elevation, especially if you are coming from very low
elevation. So, spend a couple of days in
the Bishop area before trying the White Mountains, and don’t overdo it until
you are sure you are acclimated. Be sure
to stop at the new visitor’s center at Schulman Grove. There are more bristlecones to see there and
on the strenuous Methuselah Trail.
Please note that all photos are copyrighted and must not be
used without my permission.
