Earth Is Cool ~ Bristlecone Pines @ Great Basin NP 30Jun18

Near the end of our 1st day's 9 hour drive to Ely, NV we stopped at the Great Basin Natl Pk. The Great Basin is a huge endorehic basin (capturing water and. and streams which will not flow to the ocean) covering basically all of Nevada. Entering the park we drove from 5Kft elevation to 10.2Kft - the area is like a sky island; we passed through many different zones on the 16 mile drive to our trailhead. We hiked up toward Wheeler Pk a couple of miles to about 11Kft elevation. We sought to see and experience a bristlecone pine grove there. Bristlecones are the oldest living things on earth and can be as old as 5000 years. The grove we experienced included trees ~4000 yrs old! It was awesome. Scientists use the ring structure, DNA and size of dead trees as well as core samples of live ones to help assess the history of climate & weather in this area. The trees are gnarly but gorgeous. Kala and I had a blast.