Today we head up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, east of Big Pine, CA. DO NOT make the mistake of following various GPS and map programs that say to take the road out of Bishop, CA. That is a very serious 4x4 only road. The one out of Big Pine, Hwy 168, is paved all the way to the Schulman Grove, where the Visitor Center is located. In the past we have done the 1 mile Discovery Trail here at the Schulman Grove, and then driven the 13 mile gravel road out to the Patriarch Grove. However, this time we decided to hike the 4.5 mile Methuselah Loop Trail, which starts at around 10,000 feet and has an elevation gain of around 900 feet. We were thoroughly exhausted when we finished it, but it was worth it! Somewhere along this trail is the Methuselah Tree, which is over 4,860 years old, and still living! While the Methuselah Tree is along the Methuselah Trail, it is not marked in order to avoid vandalism. So, it is very likely that in my photos here, one of them is of the Methuselah tree, but I have no way of knowing which one it is.