Heading Home

Libby points out some growth rings on a Bristlecone Pine.

On the morning after our backpack trip we packed up the truck and got back on the road right after breakfast. We were going home, but on the way we wanted to make a couple of stops. Our first stop being in the wrong direction, we didn't want to waste too much time!

It didn't take too long to reach Mono Lake. We were hoping to see some of the birds that stop over there on their southward migration. We did, and then we got ourselves some ice cream at the Mono Cone. That ended up taking over an hour!

Anyway, our next stop was more exciting. We turned off of 395 at Big Pine, heading into the White Mountains toward Westgard Pass. This was our first visit to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. There are trees in this forest that are nearly 5,000 years old! It's a long way above Big Pine, though, with the Schulman Grove Visitor's Center (recently burned down and replaced by a temporary trailer) located at 10,000 feet.

In Schulman Grove, we went for a walk on the Discovery Trail, learning about Schulman's discovery of the first tree over 4,000 years old in that very grove. We had a good time ooh-ing and ahh-ing over each gnarled and wind-carved semi-snag for an hour or so, and then got going south again so we could say goodbye to Bill and Becca, who were flying out that night. We decided, though, that it would be nice to come back and visit the Bristlecones again when we had more time. A trip we just made over the Labor Day weekend!

Anyway, a mercifully small gallery of pictures is uploaded on Flickr: Homeward Bound Set.

The pictures from the entire trip to Mammoth have now been uploaded, and you can view all of them within the Peeler Lake to Snow Lake Loop Collection.