Bristlecones to Mono Lake

 

Bristlecone Pine & Mormon Tea, Schulman Grove

After camping overnight we headed back up the mountain to hike the Shulman Grove's Methuselah Trail the day after visiting the Patriarch Grove. It was sunny and cool in the morning, making the four-and-a-half-mile hike about as comfortable as it gets at 10,000 feet of elevation.

This was the view from my camp chair the morning we drove up to the Patriarch Grove.

I couldn't resist trying to photograph the birds that passed through our camp, like this Blue-grey Gnatcatcher.

The only familiar face from San Francisco was this Hairy Woodpecker.

Gray Flycatcher

Juniper Titmouse

Western Warbling Vireo

This was the view at a pull-out above Grandview Campground the morning we drove up to hike at the Shulman Grove. Later in the day we'd break camp just ahead of a storm.

Morning Light on the Methuselah Trail

The bristlecones thrive wherever the soil is at its most hideously dolomitic best.

We were finally caught in a hailstorm as we drove up I-395, and I was amazed that our windshield didn't shatter under the assault. We stopped by Mono Lake since we were an hour early for our 4 o'clock check-in at the Lake View Lodge in Lee Vining. The osprey above was still occupying this lone burnt tree when we left.

There were several active osprey nests on the tufa towers, including one that you can just make out on the left-most tower above.

A few people were exploring the tufa formations despite the rain, but we took in the view from (mostly) inside the car.

P.S. I first visited the Bristlecone Pines in 1985, five years after I was a sailor aboard the USS Eisenhower when it set a record of 152 consecutive days at sea during a different crisis with Iran. That record stood until the USS Roosevelt beat it in 2002, only to be regained by the Ike during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. 

Now in the midst of Trump's war on Iran, the record has been blasted to pieces by the USS Lincoln with a massive 240+ days and counting. 

Back in my day, many crewmembers, especially those with families, were so eager to return to Norfolk after setting that 1980 record that the captain cancelled a brief liberty port call at Mombasa, Kenya. We'd even already gotten all our necessary vaccinations for the trip. I was sick of being at sea too, but I still voted to make the port call. 

Anyway, congratulations to the resilient crew aboard the USS Lincoln for setting a record that will hopefully last forever.

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