methuselah

methuselah is the oldest tree on earth, which makes its name very fitting. located in the inyo national forest, she is a great basin bristlecone pine. when i attempted to hike the john muir trail a few years ago, the thing i was most excited to see were the bristle cone pines. i mean, they have witnessed so much of human history and they have survived so long because of the harsh conditions they live in, not despite them. what could be more poetic? well i didn’t make it to inyo because some achilles issues and an irrational fear of black bears forced me off the trail in mammoth 🤪, but i am itching to get back to the sierra to complete my quest. this tree was nominated by @Zane who does not know how to use rec league yet but reminded me that this is indeed at the tippy top of my superlative tree bucket list