Ridge. White Mountains. July 6, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.

Last Saturday I found myself with a free day in the town of Bishop in California’s Owens Valley east of the Sierra Nevada. I decided to follow the road up into the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest high in the White Mountains, the next range east of the Sierras.

I drove as far as the highest grove at over 11,000 feet, something like 12 miles out on a narrow dirt track. The road continues another four miles to a locked gate, beyond which are UC research facilities including one at the top of 14,000+ White Mountain.

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