The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees that can reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known; up to nearly 5,000 years. Currently, the oldest (acknowledged) living organism known is an individual of Pinus longaeva nicknamed "Methuselah" is located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of eastern California, and measured by core samples to be about 4,700 years old.
Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves at and just below the tree line. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, the trees grow very slowly. The wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. As the tree ages, much of its bark may die in very old specimens often leaving only a narrow strip of living tissue to connect the roots to the handful of live branches.
This trail is on the Mount Evans road.
As I hiked the below trail, I kept expecting a Hobbit to jump out. . .
