The first grove of Bristlecones is in the Methuselah grove. The Bristlecone Pines grow out of Dolamite. When this 12000-14000 ft mountain was at the bottom of the ocean, it was covered in Limestone ane Sandstone. As it was thrown up to its present height, it got super-heated and melted the limestone and sandstone. Dolamite was created from the limestone and red quartzite was made from the melted sandstone. So, the mountain has red and white areas.

The Bristlecone Pines grow about 1 inch in diameter every century. That gives mother nature quite a bit of time to abuse the trees. There is very little rainfall each year and these trees grow in stone, yet they keep growing. The trees are stunning in apearance even though they are not very large.

These trees are all part of the Discovery Trail at the Methuselah grove. The Methuselah tree is 4700 years old. Its location is a highly kept secret. It used to be on the trail and marked, but someone took a chainsaw to it and ripped off one of the limbs. Now this ancient wonder is kept a secret from the rest of us.

 Once done with the Methuselah grove, we headed down towards White Mountain to see the Patriach grove. It requires a 4x4 to get to the next grove. Can you pick it out in this photo?

 One of the most striking items in this area is how barren it is. These trees grow out bare rock. How can these trees survive? You can see many dead branches one each of these. The trees only need one strip of live bark to continue growing.

These are the ancient timberline trees. The timberline changes over the centuries. As the weather heats or cools the timberline increases or decreases. Centuries ago, the tree line was much higher than it is today. At the Patriarch grove there is a grand collection of Mature, young and ancient trees. Some of these trees fall down during a winter storm, only to continue growing from that angle. Since they grow so slowly, their rings are very tight together. This leaves very smooth displays. You can see from the leaning trees that the wind gets extremely high here. The trees all bend back from the prevailing winds. The front sides of the trees usually die and provide a wind break for the living back side of the tree.

 The morning of my Birthday, we drove down the White Mountains, across the street and up the Sierra Nevadas to the John Muir Wilderness. It is definitely named wilderness for a reason. There was a nice river running through the campground. Being mean dog owners we threw a rock in and told Mordred to go get it. One more step after this photo and whoosh, down the river he went. Luckily the large branch in the back ground stopped him. Scott rushed to his rescue. He got out of the water and almost tried for the rock again. He didn't seem to mind it at all.