Bristlecone Pine

[maverick]

Inyo NF:

Until 1956, giant sequoias were considered the oldest trees on the planet. In 1953, Edmund Schulman cored several bristlecones in the White Mountains. He determined by 1956 that the bristlecone called Pinus Alpha (some simply refer to pine alpha) could be could cross dated at more than 4,000 years. His subsequent work in the summer of 1957 found older trees yet and the one he named Methuselah. Photo of Schulman coring a tree with an incremental borer.

[SSSdave]

A place of wonder every California mountain enthusiast ought make a pilgrimage to, especially photographers. One of our most remote destinations in Great Basin country of the White Mountains. As a young man recall thumbing through a large coffee table book of the trees by David Muench and reading Galen Rowell's account where he and another mountaineer did a mid winter ski traverse of the range. So as a photographer, if you want to find some pristine never photographed most worthwhile trees, treasures await. Ironically 90% of publicly shown tree images is the single isolated tree near the Schulman Grove junction that reflects the small thinking of most visitors.

We've explored the Schulman Grove beyond the trails. My 06-Y-12 image below is one such photography prize we came upon. Although we have explored modest areas, there are far more areas beyond where we walked where bristlecone grow that have never had tripods planted. Subjects need to be captured while the sun is at low altitudes because of the bright white barkless exposed wood and high altitude bright sunlight. One cannot overnight either as a car camper or backpacker within the boundaries of the Inyo National Forest, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest that makes exploration awkward. A prime reason is from the paved road end at the Schulman Grove Visitor Center, it is another 11 miles to the north end of the reserve at the Patriarch Grove on a level though horribly car rattling dusty flat hard surface dirt road with much embedded protruding small sized angular metamorphic rock. Thus be sure to have GOOD tires and if one's vehicle has any bolts less than tight, they may work themselves loose. That road is often blocked by snow early summer and if so, it is impossible to work Patriarch Grove subjects at sunrise unless starting the dirt road drive in the wee hours.

A few from my older 4x5 view camera work:

http://www.davidsenesac.com/images/print_06-Y-15.html

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_B/06-Y-28.jpg

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_B/06-Y-12.jpg

And my visit to the White Mountains last year:

http://www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_C ... 17-13.html

http://www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_C ... -2x1vw.jpg