Quick trip to Timber Gap

rksoon said:
Stunning, I hope we get to meet at the next CA BushBash, your pictures are always amazing :) I must confess it is a dream of mine to accompany you and your group to visit even a fraction of the spectacular spots you've shared with us.
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If you are serious about that, and if you are in good physical condition, I probably have space on my permit for a six-day trip the last week of July. We will be going in at Onion Valley, over Kearsarge Pass, then over Glen Pass to Rae Lakes and Sixty Lake Basin. From there I hope to take a dayhike to Gardiner Basin.
 
Lambertiana, how old would you guess the fox tail pines to be? They certainly look ancient. Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
 
Stunning trees and views! I'm really enjoying these pics!

Imagine if you could see everything these trees have witnessed over the centuries. Pretty humbling to me.

I haven't been out to California in fifteen years or so. We spent time up north in the Redwoods. I'd love to get back someday soon to do some backpacking. Your pictured are making me think about making plans for the future. Wow!
 
x39 said:
Lambertiana, how old would you guess the fox tail pines to be? They certainly look ancient. Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
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The oldest confirmed foxtail was 2110 years old, but there has been no effort to find the oldest one, as there has for the longer-lived bristlecone pine. It is generally believed that they can reach 2500-3000 years.

That is still young compared to bristlecones. Back in the 1960's, when the chase was on to find the oldest tree, a researcher from the University of North Carolina found a good candidate in the grove on Wheeler Peak in what is now Great Basin NP. Due to the shape of the trunk, he couldn't get a good core sample to count the rings, so he cut it down. They counted 4844 rings, and the original center of the tree was gone (eroded by milennia of wind-blown sand and ice). It is estimated that it was approximately 4950 years old when it was cut down. The Methuselah tree on White Mountain is about 4841 years old now (counted at 4879 in 1957). It is entirely possible that there are some bristlecones over 5000 years old. The really old ones have growth habits that make it very difficult to get a good age, and I would bet that a lot of good candidates for the oldest tree have not been dated, or even identified yet. I have been in the grove on Wheeler Peak, it is an interesting feeling to be in a grove of trees where some of them were alive at the time of Moses.

The oldest confirmed sequoia (logged in the 1870s) was 3266 years.

No matter how you slice it, a lot has transpired in human history in the lifetime of these trees.

The reason foxtails and bristlecones live so long is because of their preferred environment. Both grow at timberline in widely spaced groves. Because the trees are well separated from each other, there is no danger of forest fires (although individual trees can be killed by lightning). Disease and insects also do not spread easily in this type of grove. The weather is harsh, and the growing season is short. The wood has a lot of resin and resists rot well. And no, I have not looked for fatwood in the foxtail groves, that would be blasphemy.

Sequoias live in thick forests, and they do suffer from forest fires. Their foot-thick bark is fire-resistant and offers some protection, but most older trees have multiple fire scars. For example, look at this one (and look for my daypack at the base):
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It takes a big fire to kill off a large sequoia, and they usually regrow bark over the old fire scars. Normally what eventually kills them is falling over. Their roots are very shallow, so any surface disturbance can cause them to lean and eventually topple. But fire claims some. The second-largest sequoia, the Washington tree, lost the majority of its mass a couple years ago. An earlier fire had burned a chimney in the upper trunk, creating a three-foot diameter hollow in 100' of the upper trunk. A few years ago, there was a lightning-sparked fire that was being watched by the park service (they usually let the natural fires burn because it is essential for the long term health of the sequoia groves). The fire bloomed quickly and reignited the chimney inside the Washington tree, and the result was that the top 175' of the tree collapsed, leaving a 75' tall stump (over 20' diameter). I happened to walk by the Washington tree the day before this happened, so I was one of the last people to see it before this happened.
 
lambertiana said:
If you are serious about that, and if you are in good physical condition, I probably have space on my permit for a six-day trip the last week of July. We will be going in at Onion Valley, over Kearsarge Pass, then over Glen Pass to Rae Lakes and Sixty Lake Basin. From there I hope to take a dayhike to Gardiner Basin.
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I am serious, though I do not think I will be in good enough physical condition by the end of July. I also don't have the right gear yet for a six-day backpack trip. I do hope to join you on a later trip though, if another opening pops up :).
 
Lambertiana, thank you very much for taking the time to post the information on those trees. Very interesting, I would enjoy seeing them.
 
I'll finish this with more pics of foxtail pines. These were taken at about 11,500' just south of Sequoia NP.
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