In this video we explore the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest located on the Inyo White Mountains near Bishop, CA. As the name suggests these trees are hundreds to thousands of years old, and the oldest trees exceed 4000 years old. We start by driving up the scenic byway on State Route 168 and then drive up White Mountain Road to the Park Entrance. It was getting late so we decided to hike the 4.5 mile Methuselah trail. These trees at Schulman grove are among the oldest living organisms in the world. The Methuselah tree is about 4,800 years old and was considered the oldest tree in the park until older ones such as Prometheus were discovered. These trees are somewhere along the Methuselah trail but the exact location of the ancients is undisclosed to protect them from vandalism and habitat disruption. The Methuselah trail is easily accessed from the parking lot and right behind the visitor center. The terrain of the Methuselah trail is very rough and has many elevation changes, pardon the extra shaky cam, but the essence of these trees and scenic views is captured. Exiting the Park we head back down the scenic byway with a stunning view of the snow-capped Sierra mountains.
Chapters:
0:00 Scenic Byway
1:30 Park Entrance
1:44 Methuselah Trail
13:47 Exiting Park
13:58 View of Sierra Nevada
