Tioga Pass and Bristlecone Forest hikes

[Burnham]

On our recent trip M and I really enjoyed several day hikes in the general area of Tuolumne Meadow and the east end of The Tioga Pass Rd. Pothole Dome, the T. Meadow and T. River, Lembert Dome, Dog Lake, Gaylor Lakes and Granite Lakes. Gorgeous high elevation classic Sierra Nevada mountains.
Some pictures...

 

[Burnham]

More...

 

[lxskllr]

Fantastic! That looks amazing up there. Bet the water was cold!

 

[Burnham]

Last ones, I promise ...

 

[lxskllr]

Do you know anything about the ruined structure?

 

[Burnham]

A little. It was an old (100 years ago or so) silver mine site. There were 5 or 6 partially standing stone buildings. It only was a working mine for a relatively short time, less that 15 years iirc. A few deep narrow vertical shafts stand open. Never a big producer. At over 10,000 feet, a hard place to get to back then, and a short operating season. Must have been a hard life, as a miner.

 

[treesmith]

That fourth pic in the second set brings back memories of the 70s…Marlin Perkins! 😁

Great pics, Burnham!

 

[flushcut]

Nice scenery!

 

[SeanKroll]

Amazing!!

 

[Burnham]

Our trip to the Sierras also took us to a USFS managed site called Ancient Bristlecone Forest, in the White Mtns. NE of Bishop, CA. Visiting stands of these trees is a bit of a thing for us, and this site is a bucket list sort of place.
Here are some pics, again .

 

[Burnham]

The Patriarch Grove is at even higher elevation and is home to the record holder for the largest (not the oldest, as this one is a mere 4800 years of age) bristlecone pine in the world. The oldest is over 5000, and still ticking along.
Pics from this grove...

 

[lxskllr]

Those trees are very visually appealing. I'd like to have a couple here that looked like them.

 

[Burnham]

We were pretty pleased with ourselves, hiking miles at +10,000 feet; on one trail with over 1200 vertical feet lost and gained over 4 miles, at 70 years of age. You can tell the air is thin, but neither of us had any issue so far as high elevation symptoms.

Of course, we generally are covering ground pretty darn slowly, because the whole point for us is to soak up the whole experience of being there .

 

[Burnham]

They truly are gorgeous trees, and to contemplate how long they have been alive, under such harsh conditions...it is humbling to consider.

 

[Ed L]

Awesome trip!
Thank you.

Ed

 

[vharrison]

Goodness, the wood on those dead trees was beautiful. Where did y’all stay? Usually, we get a picture of the campsite.

 

[flushcut]

Bunch of happy little old trees!

 

[Mrs.B]

Awesome, B! How were the fall colors going up Tioga from 395? I've been trying to get Jerry to take that trip again. Did you go to Bodie?

 

[flushcut]

You really need to come to Wisco for fall color.

 

[Burnham]

Awesome, B! How were the fall colors going up Tioga from 395? I've been trying to get Jerry to take that trip again. Did you go to Bodie?

No color changes for fall yet, Terri. It's a nice climb up that canyon...you get 8 miles per gallon going up and 80 miles per gallon coming down .

 

[Burnham]

Goodness, the wood on those dead trees was beautiful. Where did y’all stay? Usually, we get a picture of the campsite.

The crazy part is that many of them are still alive, with just a bit of a strip of live bark still feeding a single branch.

We stayed in a decent motel in Bishop, Gigi. Without reservations made a year ago, we couldn't get a site in the park. Thus, we had about 3 hours per day in travel times to get to and from the trailheads in Yosemite, and camping takes time .

Later in the trip we camped, on the Oregon coast with a cadre of friends.

 

[Kaveman]

Epic trip, beautiful pictures, but I have to say,
that is an incredibly awesome hat, B.

 

[Burnham]

One of the best warm weather sunhats ever made, in my opinion. It is old, but still getting the job done, like me .

 

[treetx]

B - Amazing pictures. I would like to visit that place someday.

I know the trees are awesome but I find some of those dry stack structures amazing as well.