The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine is one of the oldest trees in the world and it can be found in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of Bishop, eastern California.
These wizened trees are known to be between 1,000 and 4,800 years old. The Bishop visitor's website gives us a good perspective on just how old these trees are, by pointing out that these special tress were "young and growing at the time stone axes were being used in Europe, the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) was being built, and cuneiform clay tablets were being used in northern Syria."
Located between 10,000 and 11,200 feet above us, it won't be that an easy task to visit these trees on foot—but we imagine that if you did, it would be well worth it.
Enjoy the charming, old-world beauties in the photographs below:
[Photography by: Space Cadet]
[Photography by: Space Cadet]
[Photography by: Truyen Nguyen]
[Photography by: Mac Danzig]
[Photography by: Nolan Nitschke]
[Photography by: Bob Carmichael]
[Photography by: Mac Danzig]
[Photography by: Aravind Krishnaswamy]
[Photography by: Michael Shainblum]
[via Mymodernmet.com and Bishop Website, images via Space Cadet, Mac Danzig, Nolan Nitschke, Bob Carmichael, Aravind Krishnaswamy and Michael Shainblum]