Images of Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest – Central California, taken in September 2021.

Above 10,000 feet in the White Mountains of the Inyo National Forest are several groves of the oldest trees in the world. In fact, somewhere on this mountaintop in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of Eastern California there lives an unnamed tree which was discovered to be 5,068 years old. The exact location of the tree is a secret to protect it from vandalism.

I toured the Schulman Grove where the trees are known to be between three and four thousand years old. It is awe inspiring to walk among living things which sprouted around the time the Egyptian pyramids were built! I also had this kind of feeling when I walked through the Sequoia Groves of the Sierra Nevada Range; in that case it was not only their age but their size which moved me. Here it is definitely all about age; to imagine the life of these trees and how the world has changed around them is hard to wrap your mind around. And in comparison, we have so little time on this earth and will see so much less…time is of the essence.