Date: May 23, 2026
Place: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Big Pine, California
Coordinates: 37.385676, -118.178785
Length: 1 mile
Level: moderate
This summer Pappa Quail and I had plans to go camping at the end of White Mountain Road and hike up to the research station where I saw rosy finches last year. Pappa Quail hasn't seen rosy finches before and he was eager to add a new lifer to his bird list. We had planned to go there early in July but because of a change of plans due to a family situation we had to forego this plan. A short time later I realized that we didn't make any plans for Memorial Day weekend, so I suggested going to the White Mountains on that weekend. The mega heat wave that came over California in Match had melted most of the snow pack in the mountains, and on a quick call I made to the Tri-Agency office in Lone Pine I was informed that the White Mountain Road was clear of snow all the way through.
 |
| Matted Brewer's Lupine, Lupinus tegeticulatus |
Pappa
Quail agreed to my suggestion and so we left on Friday afternoon on our
way east. We crossed the Sierra Nevada and stayed in Minden, NV at
night. On Saturday morning we headed south on Hwy 395 to Big Pine, then
to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, up on the White Mountains. We stopped at the visitor center of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Preserve to eat lunch and to get updated information about the road conditions and also about where we could see wildlife.
 |
| Wax Currant, Ribes cereum |
At the visitor center we were presented with the information that the road was, in fact, still closed because of snow. We could get only a mile and a half away from the Patriarch Grove, and certainly not all the way to the end of the road, where we had planned to camp for the night.
 |
| Pursh's Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum purshii |
We decided to drive up to the Patriarch Grove of bristlecone pines anyway, and see what we can find on the way, and perhaps walk the 1.5 miles to the grove. We saw on the way lots of wildflowers, and also a cute deer.
 |
| Mule Deer |
When we got to the end of the accessible part of the road and saw the snow field we decided to return to the Schulman Grove, which was at a lower altitude, and hike a short loop there.
 |
| Lobeleaf Groundsel, Packera multilobata |
We didn't see rosy finches, which was a bummer, but we did see other birds. We also turned for short distances on some side roads to explore a little bit.
 |
| Vesper Sparrow |
Eventually however, we got back to the Schulman Grove. It was already after 4:00 pm and the visitor center was closed. We were welcomed by a local squirrel who eyed us expectantly as we got our things ready for the hike.
 |
| Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel |
It was already late in the afternoon so we chose the shorter of the loops trails at the Schulman Grove - the Discovery Loop Trail.
 |
| Our hike as captured by my GPS |
We've hiked the Discovery Loop Trail several times before, on previous visits to the White Mountains, but I never get tired of hiking that trail. I was curious to see what I'd find out this time.
 |
| Discovery Loop Trailhead |
Pappa Quail started up the hill but I was seeing wildflowers right away, so I took my time in following him.
 |
| Yellow-eyed Popcornflower, flavoculata |
I caught up with Pappa Quail at the first curve of the trail. A large dead log that used to be a very old bristlecone pine was lying at the curve and the thin trail circled it, showing that people went around the log, with children likely climbing on it.
Pappa Quail didn't stop there to wait for me. He was busy looking at a bird that perched on a lower branch of a living bristlecone pine just off the trail. It was a pretty mountain bluebird.
 |
| Mountain Bluebird, male |
The centerpiece of the White Mountains has always been for me the ancient bristlecone pine trees. The were the first reason we started exploring the White Mountains to begin with. In time we explored other aspects of these mountains and for me that culminated in summiting the White Mountain Peak last year. Still however, those fascinating bristlecone pines are the height of my interest whenever I visit the White Mountains.
 |
| Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva |
Naturally, I looked for the wildflowers as well. We were there fairly early in the season and I wasn't sure what Id be seeing. One of the first wildflowers I saw was the Shockley's buckwheat. There were many of them around and they were at the peak of their bloom.
 |
| Shockley's Buckwheat, Eriogonum shockleyi |
The clouds were thick overhead. Although there were some gaps in the cloud cover, the light where we were was dim. It felt much later than it actually was.
 |
| Discovery Loop Trail |
The yellow aster-family wildflowers added some bright color, shining with blossoms along the trail. Nearly all the non-tree plants in that area, both annual and perennial shrubs are very low and flat to the ground.
 |
| Stemless Mock Goldenweed, Stenotus acaulis |
The harsh high mountain conditions and the short growth season don't leave plants much time and energy to bulk up. Remaining small also protects them from the high mountain winds.
 |
| King Bladderpod, Physaria kingii |
The bristlecone pine forest is not a very thick forest. Only occasionally do their canopies intertwine or even touch. In lower altitude forests where the sunshine can flow between the trees the forest floor would be reach with vegetation. Here the forest understory was also very sparse.
 |
| Bristlecone Pine Forest |
Many of the plants that did grow below the bristlecone pines were perennial plants: quickly budding out when the snow melts and the weather warms up, and quickly shifts phase to reproduction.
 |
| Prairie Junegrass, Koeleria macrantha |
Just about all the wildflowers that I saw at this altitude and higher were perennial plants. Having an already established body helps getting the flowers out earlier in the season.
 |
| Dwarf Phlox, Phlox condensata |
Other than an occasional bird or squirrel, we didn't see much wildlife on the hike. On previous visits to the Schulman Grove I've seen many insects but the cold and cloudy weather must have decreased the insect activity at the time. I did see one black beetle though, slowly moving on the grayish earth.
 |
| Black Beetle, Eleodes nigirina |
Another curved of the trail brought us to a place where we had a nice view westward, to the still snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains. I chose an enlarged image from that view point to head this blog post.
The wind was slowly picking up, although it wasn't a bother yet. We kept moving slowly up the trail, Pappa Quail looking for birds and me looking for wildflowers.
 |
| Cooper's Rubberweed, Hymenoxys cooperi |
Going up a flight of stairs, we followed the trail up into a stand of very old bristlecone pines, the rugged, weathered forest elders.
I close up inspection of the old tree's trunk shows the exposed dead wood of the tree, streaked with lines of color, the color of the weathered wood. The bark, which is the living part of the tree, covers only part of the trunk.
An old, or ancient, bristlecone pine is a mixture of the dead and the living, the wood and the bark, which supports the green needle-bearing branches, connecting them to the roots.
 |
| Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva |
Not all the trees in the forest are like that, of course. In fact, most of the bristlecone pine trees appear fully green, healthy and robust. It is the ancient, weathered trees however, that give this species its magical uniqueness.
 |
| Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva |
We got higher above the road and the trail curved out of the main forest area and into the open. The open area was covered with low, silvery shrubs separated by mosaic-like flat stones of reddish-pink colors.
Below the shrubs and between the mosaic stones were more wildflowers, of species different than what I've seen within the forest.
 |
| Nuttall's Linanthus, Leptosiphon nuttallii |
The plants blooming in the open area were also bigger than those I'm seen blooming below the bristlecone pine trees.
 |
| Freckled Milkvetch, Astragalus lentiginosus |
From a distance, the treeless areas looked bare. Up close however, it was clear that there was plenty of vegetation covering those seemingly barren slopes.
 |
| Fernbush, Chamaebtiaria millefolium |
The open area at the edge of the forest still had little forest "islands", tiny stands of pines, some dead ones that are still standing.
The standing dead old bristlecone pines are subjects to many dramatic photos and paintings. I made sure to create a little collection of my own.
We descended slowly down the switchbacks. Below the White Mountains Road seemed to separate the Schulman Grove from the bare eastern-facing slope. No cars were on the road. I wondered if we were the last people there.
 |
| White Mountains Road |
Pappa Quail was a good distance ahead of me. He wasn't seeing birds out in the open but he could hear them below where the trees were.
 |
| Discovery Loop Trail |
I was seeing more wildflowers so I lingered behind, making sure that I didn't miss any. The bright red blossom of the paintbrush was easy to spot.
 |
| Wavyleaf Paintbrush, Castilleja applegatei |
Along side the paintbrush were also lobed-leaf groundsel plants, sporting beautiful, bright yellow blossoms. The groundsel infloresences looked like little bright suns on earth.
 |
| Lobeleaf Groundsel, Packera multilobata |
When I caught up with Pappa Quail he had found the bird that was active below the trees. It was a little chipping sparrow.
 |
| Chipping Sparrow |
The sun didn't come out at all during our hike. We could see the bright evening sun rays peeking below the cloud cover on the west. The air was getting colder.
Below, at the bottom of the slope the trail curved back east again toward the visitor center, and back into the grove of trees.
 |
| Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva |
The visitor center was already closed of course, but we did see a few people hanging by the parking area. One visitor was aiming her camera at a nearby tree stump. Pappa Quail went over to see what she was looking at and found a squirrel.
 |
| Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel |
There was also a little gray bird in the branches of one larger bristlecone pine. It was a dusky flycatcher and it took flight the moment that Pappa Quail clicked his camera.
 |
| Dusky Flycatcher |
Of Pappa Quail's last series of photos I found a really nice close up of a bristlecone branch with mature female cones. The little bristles on the cone scales are what gave this pine its common name: the bristlecone pine.
 |
| Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva |
The species name of this pine is longaeva, representing the long lived, or 'ancient', part of this tree's name. No tree gets to the ancient stage of of live without being young first. Between the old and venerable pines were also much younger trees, the next generation that will carry on the forest's life and longevity.
 |
| Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva |
It was late in the afternoon when we finished the short, but packed with sights Discovery Loop Trail. It looked much later in the evening though, with the dark clouds hanging low and the chill air. We drove down the mountain to the Grandview Campground to settle for the night.
