Ancient Bristlecone : Prints Available

For a little field trip from Bishop one evening in late October, we drove up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains, a high and dry mountain range on the east side of the Owens Valley. It’s a special feeling to walk amongst these statuesque trees, knowing that they have been standing there in this barren landscape longer than any living being on Earth!

Next up, we headed to the town of Bishop, in the shadow of the mighty Eastern Sierra, to visit some friends who recently moved there from Colorado. We spent the better part of a week there, relaxing and checking out the area, and enjoying our friends’ generous hospitality.

When I was a kid growing up in San Diego, my dad used to take me on fishing trips around Bishop, but I don’t remember much about the mountains from then, except for the memories of the things we did. Back then, mountains were just mountains to me; I didn’t have the appreciation of different ranges that I do now, and I cared more about shooting my BB gun and throwing rocks into the lakes (which pissed off the fishermen to be sure!). Anyhow, when I see the Sierras now, I can’t help but be impressed, especially with fresh early season snows dusting the rugged peaks!

The mountains were calling my name loudly and I was dying to do some “serious” mountain photography while we were there, but we didn’t have winter hiking or camping gear with us, and besides it was windy as hell in the mountains and would have been admittedly miserable camping up there. So we just took it easy, went on a snowy day hike up the Rock Creek valley, and soaked in one of the wild hot springs near Mammoth.

We’ll be back for sure in another season for some summer trekking through the range. The Sierras are not only calling my name, but Claudia’s now too!