Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

A road from Big Pine leads up to the Bristlecone Pines, which some scientists consider the world’s oldest living things. Up to 4,700 years old, these trees can be found on the seemingly barren summits of the White or Inyo Mountains. At 4,723 years of age, the Methuselah Tree has been called the oldest living thing in the world. The forest is a protected area, and there is a visitors center with walking trails that lead through the various groves. Despite the notoriety of the tree, its identity is not indicated on the walking trail in order to protect it from souvenir-hunters and vandals, making it an invisible attraction. Its status as the world's living thing is, not surprisingly, subject to some debate. A recently discovered creosote bush in the Mojave desert is said to be 11,700 years old while some Pennsylvanians claim the title for a rare box huckleberry plant near a highway.

The White Mountains are prime habitat for the "chukar" or Hungarian Partridge, actually the Kurdish national bird, introduced into the United States by the government in the 1950s. The chukar’s natural habitat consists of the barren mountain highlands of Asia and Southeastern Europe. A gray bird with black and white stripes on its front, the chukar is about twice the size of a quail and is called the chukar because of the "chuck-chuck-chuck" noise it makes. Apparently a tasty game bird in the pheasant family, the chukar is notorious for being hard to bag. A hunter lucky enough to chance upon a chukar will typically find it near water, low down on the mountain, only to face a long chase as the cliff-dwelling bird leads him up one side of the mountain and down another.