While visiting Bishop for my birthday, I decided to drive a bit north of town to visit a petroglyph area known as Red Rock Canyon (not to be confused with Red Rocks Canyon near Las Vegas).
The drive out the lonely desert road leads many miles north until finally, I notice the a sign indicating the panels. I hop out of the jeep and walk the short trail visiting all of the panels along the way. I know there are many petrolgyphs and other artifacts in this area, but those will have to wait for another day. For now, these amazing examples will have to suffice.
For my birthday weekend this year, I decided to spend some time in the Bishop, CA area. Bishop has a lot of great things to see and do. From petroglyphs, to the famous Schat's Bakery, to forests of the ancient bristlecone pines high above the city in the nutrient-poor soil of the White Mountains, the area boasts some great destinations. The last one in that list is the focus of this write-up.
I have visited a couple of bristlecone pine groves in the past, including the Methuselah Grove. Leaving the same trailhead as that trail, a shorter interpretive trail bobs and weaves through more of the ancient sentinels of this mountaintop forest. The Discovery Trail is much shorter, but just as awe-inspiring.
The like chess pieces rising from the checkered game board, the bristlecone pines poke through the white dolomite soil at regular intervals. Their trunks are gnarled and twisted, and can only hint at the millennia these elder statesmen have witnessed from up on high.
After a short stroll through the grove, I return to the jeep and make my way back to town. Visiting this plays always leaves me feeling minuscule to the vastness of time.
