Searching for the Oldest Trees in the World - Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is located about 24 miles off Highway 395 in Inyo County, California, and is home to the oldest trees in the world. In July 2020 we visited the park and did the Methuselah Loop Trail, a little over 4 mile hike that takes you to the Methuselah Grove, where the world's oldest trees reside, including the Methuselah Tree, the oldest confirmed tree in the world at 4,851 years old.
In addition to seeing trees that were around before the pyramids, the hike offers great views of the surrounding area, including Death Valley National Park.
Getting to the park is fairly easy, it is a short side trip off Highway 395 and the road is paved the entire way to the visitor center. The hike is not too strenuous, but is at over 10,000 feet elevation for the majority of it, with and 800 foot elevation drop/gain. It is not wheelchair accessible. But we managed to do it with sea-level living city folk and a 7 year old, so not too bad.
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Oldest Tree On Earth (The Methuselah) : Oldest On Earth - 08
Pinus longaeva (commonly referred to as the Great Basin bristlecone pine, intermountain bristlecone pine, or western bristlecone pine) is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree found in the higher mountains of California, Nevada, and Utah. Methuselah is a bristlecone pine that is 4,852 years old and has been credited as the oldest known living non-clonal organism on Earth. To protect it, the exact location of this tree is kept secret. In 1987, the bristlecone pine was designated one of Nevada's state trees.
The tree is extremely vulnerable to fire, and is damaged by even low-intensity burns. The resinous bark is capable of igniting quickly, and a crown fire will almost certainly kill the tree. However, populations of Pinus longaeva are known to be extremely resilient, and as a primary succession species, it is believed that populations of the tree would reestablish itself quickly after a fire. That said, large-scale fires are extremely uncommon where the species grows, and are not a major factor in the species' long-term viability. Historically, Pinus longaeva stands experienced low to high severity fires, and fuels structures changed considerably across elevational gradients.
A specimen located in the White Mountains of California was measured by Tom Harlan, a researcher with the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, to be 5,062 years old as of 2010. This would make it the oldest known non-clonal tree in the world. The identity of the specimen was kept secret by Harlan. Harlan passed away in 2013, and neither the tree nor the core Harlan studied have been found, making the age or existence of this tree unable to be confirmed.
The climate and the durability of their wood can preserve them long after death, with dead trees as old as 7,000 years persisting next to live ones.
The Oldest Tree | Blessing or Curse ? A 4852 years old tree in the white mountains of California.
Description
Hi, Guten Tag ???????? & Namaste ????????,
We spent a weekend in the Ridgecrest California to explore Death Valley, BristolCone Pine and Mount Whitney.
The Highway US395 is one of the best spots to visit most unique sites and landscapes in Eastern California.
BristolCone Pine forest, the home of the oldest tress in the world forced us to think that the
trees play a diverse and central role in people's lives. It's not a coincidence that trees all around the globe, in all religions are known as trees of life, trees of fate or trees of knowledge.
Trees appear in fairy tales and legends, in paintings, poetry's and music's, as a place of communication, love, death, protection and justice.
But also as straightening trees, dance trees, tress of happiness, freedom trees, Christmas trees, family trees and so on.
If you think about it you will realize how much we have in common with trees.
We got the chance to visit Methuselah, a 4852 years old tree in the white mountains of California. It is the oldest known living tree in the world.
Have you realized that old trees are usually not a part of a forest but stand alone and lonely somewhere in the middle instead?
I thought its kind of sad. It made me think that we all wish to live as long as possible, but if we do live longer than everyone else around us, than we will be alone.
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We are two souls from different parts of the world. Me (Yoggi) I am from India and Susi is from Germany.
We come from different cultures and religions and yet we feel it was our destiny to spend our lives together.
Our dream is to travel the globe, visit incredible places and meet people from different cultures all over the world.
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The Oldest Trees in the World
Schulman Grove contains Methuselah, a nearly 5000 year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine tree in the White Mountains of Inyo County. It is recognized as the oldest non-clonal tree in the world. Shot with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and GoPro Hero 8 in 4K on a smokey afternoon as a result of the numerous fires blazing throughout California.
Inyo National Forest / White Mountains
August 2020