The Sage

Bristle Cone Pine Tree at Moonrise. I used my head lamp that has a red bulb on it to "paint" the tree during the 30 second exposure at f/16. Brislte Cone Pine Trees are as old as the the pyramids in Egypt. The bristlecone pine only lives in scattered, arid mountain regions of six western states of America, but the oldest are found in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California which is whch is where this shot was taken. There the pines exist in an exposed, windswept, harsh environment, free of competition from other plants and the ravages of insects and disease. The oldest bristlecones usually grow at elevations of 10,000 to 11,000 feet. The oldest known tree is "Methuselah", which is 4,789 years old.