A Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Groves, Part 6 - Snake Divide Grove

See Part 1 (Overview), Part 2 (Wheeler Cirque), Part 3 (Mt. Washington), Part 4 (Magic Grove), and Part 5 (Eagle Peak) of the Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Pine Groves.

In this blog post, we're going to visit the Snake Divide Grove of bristlecone pines. On the map below, it's lumped in with the Mt. Washington grove. It's actually just east of the "n" in Mt. Washington as its own little grove. The bristlecones grow on white limestone (see photo above). They are accessed via a slight detour off the Snake Divide Trail, which stays in the forest to the north of the bare limestone knobs.

The trees are actually on two bare knobs, but they grow as regular forest giants in between. Even when the trees are tall and closer together, they are still amazing.

The wood is also exceptional. You can see this tree right from the Snake Divide trail (which starts at the end of the Snake Creek road).

The trees aren't super big, but they are twisted and tenacious.

Part of the fun of visiting the bristlecones is to see how odd they have become.

They are so good at clinging on to life, even when they fall over.

Prevailing winds can often be figured out just by looking at the trees.

This is one of the least visited bristlecone groves in the Park, mainly because most people don't know it exists. If you want to see the more popular Magic Grove, it's not too hard to add on a detour to the Snake Divide Grove to see some underappreciated but gorgeous trees.

 The last part in this series is coming soon!

A Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Groves, Part 5 - Eagle Peak

See Part 1 (Overview), Part 2 (Wheeler Cirque), Part 3 (Mt. Washington), and Part 4 (Magic Grove) of the Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Pine Groves.

One of the least-visited bristlecone groves in Great Basin National Park is the Eagle Peak Grove. Eagle Peak, also known as Peak 10842 (its elevation in feet) is between Snake Creek and Kious Basin/Pole Canyon. 

There's no trail to access it. I've gone up several times via the Snake Creek side, and it takes about 3 hours of hiking up very steep terrain with some bushwhacking. 

Although this grove doesn't get many visitors, it is fascinating due to the array of twisted trees and amazing backdrops.

A few of the trees have grown to adapt to the surrounding geology.

I really enjoy seeing how the trees twist around the rocks.

Near the top of Eagle Peak, you get views of Baker Peak, Wheeler Peak, and Doso Doyabi.

The weathered wood is beautiful.

The balancing act some of these trees have is amazing. This one nicely frames Pyramid Peak.

I  did find tags on some of the trees, so dendrochronologists have looked at some to determine their ages.

Some are too small to be of interest to the dendrochronologists, but they're still beautiful. In the fall, you can get great views of the Snake Creek watershed and the aspen changing color.

This is an exposed area, so not the best place to be during summer monsoons.

We practically ran off the mountain this day to avoid the lightning. The bristlecones just keep growing, showing the dominant wind direction. 

This is one of the hardest groves to get to in the Park, but if you make the effort, it's likely you'll have it all to yourself.
 

Two parts left to this series, check back soon!

My Favorite Books of 2023

A fascinating journey into remote Siberia to find fish owls; notable for the wilderness and cultural aspects.

I love to read. I also have stopped finishing as many books. If I don't like a book, I stop reading. There are more books out there than I have time to read, so why waste time with something I don't like? I may have stopped reading/listening to more books than I've gotten through this year.

I love getting book recommendations so that I can hone on in the "good ones." I figure it's only fair if I share my favorites to help pay back those who have helped me. 

Without further ado, here are my 2023 faves.

I learned a lot about the hearing impaired community from this one.

Lots of great ideas that go beyond giving money to giving time, compliments, and more.

Very fun sci-fi, listened to with Desert Boy.

This one made me so sad, but I'm glad the story is coming to light. 

An interesting trip to the jungles of Belize and the culture and politics of a little known country.

This is a long listen, but was interesting seeing how Russia changed over time.

Some insights into the National Park Service and what it's like to work there.

John Scalzi in a very different type of sci-fi novel. Desert Boy and I found this delightful.

Fictional history of Hedy Lamarr. I'd like to know more about her and also want to check out more books by this author.

A little long in some parts, but interesting journey of a coming of age story in Appalachia.

The kids and I have enjoyed listening to this one. Such a different life than we live (thank goodness!)

For those who like EMS and national parks, this is a great combo.

Tips to keep you moving at any age. I'll be incorporating some of their recommendations into my daily habits.

And my favorite book of the year:

This one takes me back to my political science roots. It also helps make so much sense of where we have conflicts in the world and why some economies work better than others. 

What are your favorites?

Here are some of my past:  2021 books, 2022 books

A Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Groves - Part 4 The Magic Grove

See Part 1 (Overview), Part 2 (Wheeler Cirque), and Part 3 (Mt. Washington) of the Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Pine Groves.

The Great Basin Bristlecone Pines in the Magic Grove are some of the most amazing in Great Basin National Park. Some people consider this grove, which is to the northeast of Mt. Washington, to be part of the Mt. Washington grove. It's a 45-60 minute hike down to the grove on a steep mountain slope with no trail and no trees, so I'm going to consider it as separate grove. A co-worker coined the name The Magic Grove, and while you won't find that on any map, it's one that has been adopted by many park employees and locals. 

To get there, it's a two-hour drive, including over an hour on a very rough, very 4WD road. Then it's about an hour hike down the side of a mountain with no trail. An alternate way to get there is to hike 6-7 miles up the Snake Divide Trail from the Snake Creek trailhead. Some of the trail is marked, and some of the trail is still a sparkle in someone's eye. 

One tree in this grove (the one pictured at the top of this post) is so iconic that it was chosen to grace the Great Basin quarter in the National Park series of quarters. It was issued in 2013, and there was a special ceremony and unveiling in the Park.

This particular bristlecone pine is over 1,400 years old. One of the reasons it stands out is that it is a little isolated from other bristlecone pines on the Magic Grove. 

I love the "Quarter Tree," but I also have some other favorites. This one may have started as several trunks that joined together. I believe it's over 2,400 years old. That means it started growing before the first Christmas! 

If you move to one side, you can frame Mt. Washington in the dead branches.

Here's a view of the same tree at night, the night sky photo that launched my photography hobby. The orange glow in the background wasn't visible with the naked eye, I only saw it with a 20 second exposure. It was from the Hampton Creek fire, and when I saw that, I realized I would never get a photo like this one again.

Sunrise is also an awesome time to admire bristlecone pines.

The early morning light enhances the wind-shaped wood. This particular tree that has fallen over is featured by one of the Great Basin National Park Artists in Residence.

Back to the Quarter Tree at first light. I've enjoyed each opportunity I've had to visit this special bristlecone pine grove. With some luck and God's blessings, maybe I'll get to visit it again.

 Check back soon for another post about the bristlecone pines in Great Basin National Park!

A Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Pine Groves - Part 3 Mount Washington

See Part 1 (Overview) and Part 2 (Wheeler Cirque) of the Tour of Great Basin National Park's Bristlecone Pine Groves

The Mount Washington Bristlecone Pine Grove is quite extensive and is the only grove in Great Basin National Park that can be reached by vehicle. However, the road is extremely rough and requires a high clearance 4WD with an experienced driver to go up a technically difficult set of switchbacks and along some areas with a lot of exposure and other areas that are eroding with every rainstorm. It's located in the west-central part of the Park.

One of the unique things about the Mt. Washington grove is that it experienced a large wildfire in 2000 (Philips Ranch Fire) that burned through many bristlecone pines. Often, bristlecone pines are fairly solitary, especially at higher elevations, so when one catches on fire, it's hard for the fire to spread. In this case, the fire started at lower elevations in other trees, and then strong winds blew it uphill, blowing embers from tree to tree.

Even some rather isolated trees burned. Fortunately, young trees are growing back in portions of the burned area, and overall the fire seems to have stimulated growth of saplings. Here's an article about how the bristlecone pine recovery is going.

The top of Mt. Washington,  at 11,658 feet (3,553 m), is too high for bristlecone pines or any other trees. 

If you look closely, though, as you approach the summit, you might spot pieces of dead wood. Where did they come from? Well, during the Altithermal (Holocene climate optimum) roughly 9,500 to 5,500 years ago, it was warmer than it is now. This allowed bristlecone pines to grow higher on the mountain. When it cooled off again, the highest trees died, leaving their wood. In most cases, the wood disappears in a few hundred years, but bristlecone wood is so dense that it can stay on the landscape for thousands of years, which is why it is so important for climate studies.

Some bristlecone pines right outside the Park, on property owned by the LongNow Foundation, are being studied by the Desert Research Institute and University of Nevada, Reno to learn more about how they grow and interact with their environment. Sap flow measurements taken every 10 minutes for five years (wow!) show how these trees relate to soil moisture and other climate variables. Read more here. 

Most people who go up Mt. Washington just enjoy the beauty of the bristlecones. The trees take some amazing forms. 

Generally, the higher up the mountain you go, the smaller the trees are. Some interesting things are happening with the bristlecones in the upper zones that they inhabit. This study found that they have wider tree rings, meaning higher temperatures, in the last century than in the past 3,500 years. Another thing that has been changing is that we can now find more limber pines at higher elevation, as they "leap frog" over the bristlecone pines in some cases to live even higher on the mountains, as this study found.

Bristlecone pines can be 30 years old or even older before they produce their first cones. There are two different kinds of cones. Below are the pollen cones, very small.

The other kind of cone is a pine cone. You can see why they call it a bristle-cone pine. These cones are almost spiky! The seeds in them are very small.

There are some amazing cliffs and views in this area, and I like to wander along the edge. Here's a view looking east at sunrise.

This tree is quite amazing as it balances on the edge. 

Pretty much every time I pass this tree I have to take a photo! My nickname for it is Perseverance. It keeps on persevering even though the cliff is crumbling away, no longer supporting it like it used to. Nevertheless, part of the tree is still alive!

Part of the appeal of these trees is just how twisted they can get, and how colorful the wood is.

Mount Washington is an amazing place to soak in the atmosphere of bristlecone pines, both day...

...and night.

More bristlecone groves still coming...